“Chuck Norris does not turn years, it is the time that Chuck Norris meets”, reads in a 2017 tweet, alluding to the 77 years of Carlos Ray Norris.
This Tuesday, the immortal “Texas Ranger” reaches 80 years and surely many of these peculiar congratulations or jokes (the “Chuck Norris Facts”) will be viralized with the hashtag #MartesDeChuckNorris.
And it could not be less so, throughout his filmography, Chuck has measured forces against the Soviets, the Mafia, the Nazis, police corruption, serial killers, mercenaries, terrorists everywhere and of course, to whom I dared to commit crime in Texas.
In the royal vira, he was also not far from weapons or combat, since he was part of the armed forces of his country and then, a military police in Korea, where he discovered the martial art of Tang Su Do, Korean version of Taekwondo.
This allowed him to become a martial arts instructor; but not before, mix their knowledge with those of taekwondo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, muay tai and shotokan and give rise to the “martial art made in Norris” known today as the “chunk kuk do”.
This martial art is governed by a code of 12 rules of life that, in addition to teaching how to fight and defend themselves, guide the practitioner along a path to become a better person.
His only defeat
When Chuck implemented, through his gymnastics chain in Los Angeles, the teaching of chunk kuk do, he almost went to the broken bench and one of his students, Steve McQueen, “the King of cool” in Hollywood’s 70 told him: “If you can’t do anything else, you always have the acting.”
The next to induce him to that path was the famous Bruce Lee, who eventually invited him to be the villain in the “Dragon’s Fury.”
Bruce was in that film the director, screenwriter, protagonist and the great star of martial arts cinema; to the detriment of Norris. Who would win? The answer was obvious.
For the first time, and only once in his life, Chuck bit the dust when he was defeated by Bruce Lee in a fight of more than 10 minutes at the Colosseum in Rome.
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His last great battle?
After that mythical fight, the appearances of Chuck in the cinema increased and his roles, of an invincible man able to put still anyone who attempts against the social order and the country itself, were more frequent.
His last film role was in “Los indestructibles 2” (2012), where he credits the “facts” attributed to him by ensuring that, after being bitten by a royal cobra, he died “after five days of insufferable pain” .
On television, yesterday they claimed in newspapers around the world that the actor will have a cameo in the final chapter of the series “Hawaii 5.0”, where he will give life to Lee Phillips, a retired senior sergeant who is helping his apprentice, Lincoln Cole , to hide from the authorities to protect their anonymity.
This role, perhaps also the last one or, knowing who Chuck is, another one on his long list, after in 2017 he announced the definitive retirement of the cinema to devote himself to his wife, actress and model Gena O’Kelly, who suffered a bad praxis in 2013.
According to the actor, O’Kelly was given an injection of gadolinium (a highly toxic chemical element) prior to performing a body scanner to check the characteristics of the arthritis he suffered.
“(The gadolinium) damaged his nervous system, deteriorating his kidneys and causing him to lose abilities. He feels that his whole body burns him,” the actor described.
The couple has spent almost $ 2 million on medical treatments and have sued 10 million to 11 pharmaceutical companies for gadolinium use.
For all this, Norris would have decided to put an end to his work. “I have abandoned my film career to dedicate my entire life to keeping Gena alive. That is the most important thing, that she continues with us and that what has happened to her is not suffered by anyone else,” said the actor.
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