Who Was Chuck Norris Really? From the shy teenager in Oklahoma to the legend who took down the world champion kickboxing!

Chuck Norris built his screen stardom and image as an invincible hero on real effort and performance. Beneath the thick layer of memes and “Chuck Norris doesn't wear a watch, he decides what time it is” jokes lies the story of one of the most disciplined, technical and influential contact athletes in 20th century history.

And the story began in the small town of Ryan, Oklahoma, in March 1940. Christened Carlos Ray, the future actor was born into a family marked by financial difficulties and the heavy burden of his father's alcoholism, a car mechanic/bus driver with English and Cherokee Indian blood running through his veins.

His mother, Wilma, had Irish roots. Chuck Norris had two younger brothers: Wieland, who predicted he would die before he turned 27 – which he did, because Wieland was killed in the Vietnam War – and Aaron, now 74, a Hollywood producer and stuntman. After his parents' divorce, Norris moved with his mother to California.

Carlos, the withdrawn and scrawny kid, became Chuck, a martial arts practitioner and Hollywood actor

As a child, Norris was a withdrawn kid, not very physically strong, lacking in self-confidence. The radical change occurred with enlistment in the US Air Force in 1958. Sent on a mission to Osan Air Base in South Korea, young Carlos discovered something that America of those years was just beginning to glimpse: Eastern martial arts.

From there he got his nickname “Chuck” and also from there he started studying the martial art called Tang Soo Do. This Korean style of fighting, focused on spectacular kicks and iron discipline, transformed the unsure young man into a precise and organized fighter.

He himself is also the father of two styles of martial arts: American Tang Soo Do, a mixture of Tang Soo Do, judo and karate, and Chuck Norris System, (Chun Kuk Do) – based on self-defense, various weapons and an extremely good physical shape.

During his life and career, Chuck Norris studied many other types of martial arts: shotokan, goju-ryu, shito-ryu, kyokushin, judo, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo and kenpo.

Returning to the US, starting in 1968, the American was a six-time world champion in bare-knuckle karate, a style of karate that is fought according to the rules of a boxing match. The competition was held in a professional system, and Norris, who fought in the middleweight category, recorded, in the ring, a total of 183 victories, 10 defeats and two draws. These matches were played according to the “full contact” or “semi-contact” regulation, without protective equipment.

In 1969, Chuck Norris was awarded the “Triple Crown” in karate for the most victories in a single year and was named “Fighter of the Year” by the prestigious Black Belt magazine.

Other “battle feats” of the athlete Chuck Norris? He once beat Joe Lewis, the heavyweight kickboxing champion of the world, who still beat him twice, and held an hour and a half sparring match with Bruce Wallace, the kickboxing king of the world, with whom he starred in the film A Force of One (1979).

Chuck Norris could lift a 140-kilogram barbell from a lying position, although his body weight barely reached 80 kilograms. His opponents (in the ring and on screen) said that Norris was extremely physically strong and were wary of getting caught in his grip, because once caught, they couldn't break free.

Chuck Norris was good friends with Jean-Claude Van Damme, who initially said he would never fight him

The Belgian Jean Claude Van Damme, also known for action films, once declared that he would never want to fight Chuck Norris, even though he was a world kickboxing champion and years younger than the American. However, the two trained together for two years, becoming good friends.

Chuck Norris had a 10 Dan Black Belt in Chun Kuk Do, a 9 Dan Black Belt in Tang Soo Do, an 8 Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo, a 5 Dan Black Belt in Karate, and a 3 Dan Black Belt in Jiujitsu.

The turning point that united the world of sports and cinema for Chuck Norris took place in 1972. Bruce Lee, already a Hollywood star, contacted Norris for a role in the film Way of the Dragon. The scene of the final fight between the two, filmed inside the Colosseum in Rome, is still considered by many fans to be one of the best fight scenes in film history.

The fight between the two was no mere choreography for the camera, but a clash of styles and philosophies. Although Norris's character lost, his evolution catapulted him to the attention of the Film City producers. His chiseled physique, moustache, seriousness and composure displayed during technical executions made him a highly salable commodity for Western screens.

After the success of Bruce Lee, Norris realized that his future was in film. He enrolled in acting classes, aware that physical presence and martial arts were not enough. In the 80s, Chuck Norris became the definition of the lone action hero. Movies like Missing in Action (1984), The Delta Force (1986) and USA Invasion (1985) reinforced its image as an insurmountable obstacle.

Norris' style was different from that of Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger. He relied not on muscle but on cold efficiency. His roundhouse kick became his trademark, often being executed so quickly that the film needed to be slowed down to be seen and understood by the audience.

If the 80s made him a movie star, the 90s turned him into a constant presence in the homes of millions of people around the world through the series Walker, Texas Ranger. For 8 seasons (1993-2001), Cordell Walker represented the embodiment of conservative values, moral righteousness and law applied through the discipline of martial arts.

Chuck Norris, a devout Christian, had five children and 13 grandchildren. He died while on vacation in Hawaii after becoming ill and being rushed to hospital. However, the film will be released in 2027 Zombie Planes, an action comedy in which the American played with the singer Vanilla Ice as his partner.

In 1990, with the support of former President George HW Bush, Norris founded the Kickstart Kids Foundation, which introduced martial arts into schools as a tool to combat violence, drug use and dropout. To date, more than 120,000 young Americans have graduated from this program.

Around 2005, the Internet spawned a phenomenon generically called “Chuck Norris Facts,” consisting of a series of absurdly comical claims about his mythical power (“Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice.”).

Initially surprised, Norris accepted this new form of celebrity with humor. He understood that even though the youngsters were making jokes, they were a form of respect for his “unbeatable” image. This wave of digital popularity extended his cultural relevance, introducing him to a generation that wasn't born when he was karate world champion.