“My Flying Kick Through the Car Windshield”: Chuck Norris’ Martial Arts Skills Once Helped Him Save the Blushes From ‘Bad’ Acting

Published 12/19/2022, 7:15 AM EST

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Besides being a part of a repository of satirical factoids on the Internet, Chuck Norris is a legitimate martial artist and a Hollywood icon who, along with Bruce Lee, introduced martial arts in Hollywood. While Martial arts enabled Norris to foray into Hollywood, critics weren’t kind to him for his acting abilities. During an interview with Geoff Thompson for ‘Front Magazine’, Norris revealed how he found solace in martial arts, which shaped him to be an actor. Let’s explore.

Chuck Norris played ‘Major John T. Booker’ in the 1978 movie ‘Good Guys Wear Black’. He was also the ‘Martial Arts Choreographer’ in it, and it became the breakthrough film for him. Thompson asked him a few questions about the same.

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Chuck Norris struggled with acting initially, but Martial Arts eased him into it

When Thompson asked Norris about his experience in the film, he said“I didn’t realize how hard acting was and of course, the critics crucified me because my acting was so bad.” Sharing his undiplomatic opinion about his performance, Norris felt very satisfied when the movie did well at the Box Office. Poor reviews could have hampered his confidence, but fortunately for Norris, the movie’s storyline had enough martial arts content for him to shine through.

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He added, The martial arts in the film was adequate and people loved it, my flying kick through the car windshield and stuff like that. referring to the specific sequences that the audience enjoyed in the film. Thus began a glorious journey for Norris in Hollywood, where unbothered by his critics and cynics, Norris lived his dream doing movies with a fair bit of martial arts sequences in them.

READ MORE – “We Hit It off Pretty Well”: Chuck Norris’ First Meeting With ‘Special Guest’ Bruce Lee Proved to Be a Career-Defining Moment in 1968

Norris’ following movies were ‘A Force of One’ and ‘The Octagon’ where he played a champion kickboxer and a retired karate champion, respectively. These were exciting times for him. And, irrespective of his acting abilities, Norris became a popular household name.

Norris’ constant learning process and his eternal love for Martial Arts

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However, Norris isn’t content after everything he was doing and had achieved by this point in his life. He said, “But I was always learning, I am always learning and that’s what’s so great about it”. Norris, at 82 today, hasn’t given up on that attitude toward life.

He also said, “People ask me if I still enjoy it and I say ‘what’s so great is that I’m still doing the martial arts and I’m still doing everything I love but I’m making more money doing it (laughs)'”. Norris made a glorious career despite being a self-admitted mediocre actor.

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WATCH THIS STORY – Bruce Lee: Top Five Movies Of the Legend You Need To Know

Be it Norris’ crazy action sequences, or his fight with Bruce Lee in the Colosseum in ‘The Way of the Dragon’, Chuck Norris has left an indelible mark in people’s minds. Do you think Chuck Norris is one of the greatest martial artist-cum-actor? And was he really a bad actor? Let us know your opinions.

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Written by:

Tanmay Roy

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Tanmay Roy is a US Sports author for EssentiallySports. He has done MBA and B.Tech in Civil Engineering.
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Edited by:

Simar Singh Wadhwa