Chuck Norris Biography

Fast Facts

• Joined the Air Force after high school and was stationed in Korea, where he first became interested in the study of martial arts
• From 1968 to 1974, he won six consecutive World Professional MiddleWeight Karate Championships
• Appeared opposite martial-arts expert Bruce Lee in Return of the Dragon (1972)
• In 1990, started a foundation called Kick Drugs Out of America (which later became KickStart) whose objective was to help kids stay away from drugs by giving them martial-arts training
• In 1997, was awarded 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master recognition in the Tae Kwon Do system, the first man in the Western Hemisphere to be so honored
• An devout Christian, he joined the Board of Directors for the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools in 2007
• In addition to coauthoring his 2004 best-selling memoir Against All Odds: My Story, he cowrote the Western adventure novels The Justice Riders (2006) and A Threat to Justice: A Novel (2007) and penned the nonfiction, politically focused Black Belt Patriotism (2008)
• Endorsed and campaigned for 2008 Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
• Is the founder of the United Fighting Arts Federation, which governs and teaches the martial-arts style of Chun Kuk Do