Chuck Norris

(http://www.nypress.com/images/chuck_norris.jpg)

Chuck Norris was born Carlos Ray Norris on March 10 1940. Chuck Norris was named after Carlos Berry, his father's minister. Chuck describes his childhood as dispirited. He was nonathletic, shy, and scholastically average. When Norris was sixteen, his parents divorced and he later moved to Prairie Village, Kansas and then to Torrance, California, with his mother and his two brothers. As a young boy Chuck was ridiculed for his mixed ethnicity, he regularly dreamed about one day beating up his harassers. Chuck's father had a very serious problem with drinking and Chuck in his autobiography described how his father "wasn't there" a lot for him when Chuck was growing up. When Chuck was 18 he joined the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman, in 1958 and was sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea. It was there that his nickname Chuck was acquired. This is where Chuck began his training in Tang Soo Do, which lead to interests in black belts in that art and the founding of the Chun Kuk Do.

Chuck then began competing in Martial Arts tournaments in 1963. His tournament competing went on until 1972 where he finished with a career record of 183 wins, 10 losses and two draws. In 1969 Chuck Norris made his acting debut in The Wrecking Crew, which lead to Chuck being in over thirty more movies.

Through the sixty nine years Chuck Norris has been alive he has won many martial arts tournaments, became an author of many books, created a martial art, given the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master in Tae Kwon Do and creating many organizations that help children. Chuck Norris is clearly a extraordinary hero.