AboutOurFounder

Chuck Norris was born Carlos Ray Norris in Ryan, Oklahoma. The eldest of three children, he helped his mother raise his two younger brothers in Torrance, California, where his family moved when he was 12. He has educated a High School education. He has two brothers, Aaron, a director, and Weiland who died in Vietnam.

Norris joined the Air Force after graduating from High School. Duirng a stint in Korea, he began to study the Asian martial art of Tang Soo Do. After returning home, Norris worked for Northrop Aviation and moonlighted as a karate instructor. Two years later, he was teaching full-time and running a number of martial-arts schools.

About Our Founder

From 1964 to 1968, Mr. Norris won many state, national and international amateur karate titles. In 1968, Mr. Norris fought and won the World Professional MiddleWeight Karate Championship by defeating the World's Top Fighters. He held that title until 1974 when he retired undefeated.

Mr. Norris was the first person even voted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame. Mr. Norris received the Competitor of the Year Award in 1968. In 1975, Mr. Norris received the Instructor of the Year Award, and in 1977, the Competitor of the Year.

In 1997, Mr. Norris was the first man ever in the western hemisphere to be awarded an 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master recognition in the Tae Know Do martial arts system. This was a first in 4,500 years of tradition.

Mr. Norris was also a renowed teacher in the martial arts. Some of his many students included Steve McQueen, Bob Barker, Priscilla Presley and Donnie & Marie Osmond.

In 1988, Mr. Norris wrote his autobiography, "The Secret of Inner Strength" (Little Brown Publishing), which reached the New York Times Best Seller list. He followed up a few years later with a second book, "The Secret Power Within: Ten Solutions to Real Problems", also with Little Brown Publishing.

Mr. Norris intense drive and determination extended beyond his martial arts and acting career. He was offshore powerboat racer with speeds of 140 mph. In 1991, Mr. Norris and his team, with sponsor "Popeye's Chicken", won the World Offshore Powerboat Champoinship. Mr. Norris went on to set a new world record by racing a 38 foot Scarab boat 605 miles accross the Great Lakes, from Chicago to Detroit, in 12 hours and 8 minutes.

Mr. Norris expressed he would like to be remembered as a Humanitarian. Among his Humanitarian accomplishments he counts the following:
1. Spokeperson for the United Way, doing an eight-minute commercial, which helped bring in
     over two million dollars.
2. Spokeperson for the Veterans Administration - visiting over 12 veteran hospitals and speaking
     with World War II, Korean and Vietnam war veterans including one from World War I.
3. Winning the 1998 Epiphany Award on Walker, Texas Ranger for the best Christian Episode.
4. Winning the Jewish Humanitarian Man of the Year Award.
5. Active involvement with the Make-a-Wish Foundation for twenty years by making dreams
     comes true for terminally ill childen.
6. Placement on the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.
7. Working as a commissioned police officer in the city of Terrell, Texas.
8. Motivational speaker for many Christian ministries, including the T.D. Jakes Ministry, Trinity
     Broadcasting, and Bill Glass crusade.

Mr. Norris thinks his most rewarding accomplishment was the creation of the Kick Drugs Out of America Foundation, currently Kick-start. With the help of former President George Bush, Mr. Norris began teaching martial arts as part of the curriculum at the M.C. Williams Middle School in Houston, Texas. The program was incredibly successful in helping the students to raise their self-esteem, instill discipline and respect, and get them out of gangs. The program is now in thirty schools with over 4,200 young boys and girls actively participating. Hogg Middle School in Houston, Texas is a proud participant of the Kick-start program and this is our website.

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When you think of Chuck Norris, often what comes to mind is two things: action movie star (recalling Mr. Norris' numerous feature films), or television star, because of his long-running CBS television series, "Walker, Texas Ranger". But prior to that, Mr. Norris was a martial arts star that won many championships including being a six-time undefeated World Professional MiddleWeight Karate Champion.

Mr. Norris is also founder of the United Fighting Arts Federation with more than 2,300 Chun Kuk Do Black Belts all over the world. To the Chun Kuk Do Black Belts of UFAF he is Mr. Norris, our founder, instructor and inspiration to be great martial artists.

Below is a short biography of Mr. Norris' achivements, if you would like more information about Mr. Norris' acting career or are seeking fan merchandise, please visit www.chucknorris.com.