Chuck Norris – A living legend with a dream

Chuck Norris’s tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

Wilt Chamberlain claims to have slept with more than 20,000 women in his lifetime. Chuck Norris calls this “a slow Tuesday.”

Chuck
Norris does not sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris frequently donates blood to the Red Cross. Just not his own.

Outer space exists because it’s afraid to be on the same planet with Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris doesn’t read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris is, quite simply, fast becoming a legend. Many people believe that he is a legend already. He is certainly possessed with a great deal of self-belief and religious conviction and these have given him the ability to aim much higher than most people and to achieve the targets that he sets.

Norris was moved as he watched Martin Luther King on television as he spoke outside the Lincoln Memorial and like King, Norris has a dream.

King’s posing of ”Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”’ has remained with Norris all this time and has been the catalyst for a lot of what he is doing.

Norris states on WND “Your sphere of influence may not be as expansive. Your cause may not be as grandiose. And your sacrifice may not be as costly or noticeable. Nevertheless, your calling to serve others is as inherent in your design as it was in his.

That’s the one thing King couldn’t do — as powerful as a figure as he was, he could not force anyone to follow suit in using their influence to help others. He could inspire others to dream, but he could not drive them to sacrifice for those dreams. No leader can. As King said, ”Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

Norris strongly believes that by using your gifts, talents and influence for others’ good, rather than your own you can help change the world and society as a whole. No matter how little, any change is a good change.

Norris follows the 12 maxims below, using them to guide his life;

1. I will develop myself to the maximum of my potential in all ways.
   
2. I will forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements.
   
3. I will always be in a positive frame of mind and convey this feeling to every person that I meet.
   
4. I will continually work at developing love, happiness and loyalty in my family and acknowledge that no other success can compensate for failure in the home.
   
5. I will look for the good in all people and make them feel worthwhile.
   
6. If I have nothing good to say about a person, I will say nothing.
   
7. I will give so much time to the improvement of myself that I will have no time to criticize others.
   
8. I will always be as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.
   
9. I will maintain an attitude of open-mindedness toward another person’s viewpoint while still holding fast to that which I know to be true and honest.
   
10. I will maintain respect for those in authority and demonstrate this respect at all times.
    
11. I will always remain loyal to God, my country, family and my friends.
    
12. I will remain highly goal-oriented throughout my life because that positive attitude helps my family, my country, and myself.
    

He has also adopted these maxims as the tenets of Chun Kuk Do (chun gook do) using the creed of Discipline, Integrity, Loyalty and Respect.

For 30 years Norris has dreamt about turning the excitement of the individual sport of combat martial arts into a team event that will capture the imagination of the masses. The culmination of this dream has been the formation of the World Combat League (WCL).

Norris states that “The WCL brings together martial arts experts by region in a team format – six combat warriors against six combat warriors. Each team represents their city, their team, and their individual skills in an all out striking war. There is no wrestling or grappling to slow down the action.”

In addition to this, the rules penalise fighters who waste time or avoid fighting. There is no gamesmanship allowed, the action is non-stop and the website is full of awesome knockouts.

Norris isn’t stopping there however as this is one part the dream that he and his wife Gena share. The official charity of the WCL is Kickstart. This is where Norris’ true nature shines forth. Not satisfied with creating a new combat format that has excellent revenue prospects he has decided to take all of the profits to help at-risk youth across the United States.

Norris continues “That is what we have purposed in our hearts and is our life’s mission, by far my most important undertaking.” This isn’t just an important undertaking, it’s a monumental and heart-warming undertaking from someone who (had he been inclined) could sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labour selfishly. It’s a shame that many other celebrities and exceedingly rich people aren’t seen to be doing this. Other notables known for their charitable nature include Bill Gates (see he’s not such a bad guy) and Jackie Chan (bet you expected that though).

Norris’ charity, Kickstart is a character building, life-skills program whose fundamental purpose is to give students the tools to strengthen their self image. The result of a child developing a strong sense of self-awareness and inner strength is that they are better armed to resist peer pressure, including drug and alcohol use and involvement in gangs. As we all know, martial arts training provides students with the core values, beliefs and philosophies that people associate with leading a productive and healthy life. With society going the way it is, isn’t this something that every country needs?

Norris’ continues “That is what we are all about: to give every child a chance for a productive life in which they can achieve their goals and dreams.

Kickstart is actively working in 37 of the public schools in Texas. We have over 5,000 middle school students learning the philosophies of the martial arts in order to live a more productive life and make healthy choices for themselves.”

Not one to aim too low Norris says “Someday, it is our vision to have this prevention program in every school in America! I want to see the 5,000 students multiply into millions of students and beyond.” This is indeed a great undertaking and indeed a breathtaking vision for anyone who wants to see the sport they love spread whilst being able to help society.

Norris continues, “I heard it said once that it only took 2 percent of our population to create our nation … So if you don’t like what you see, be a part of the 2 percent!”

It took somewhat longer and more people to found this country but the message cannot be denied. Society needs strong role models and these role models need to be part of society. Aside from religious leaders who, in our increasingly secular and non-Christian society have less and less influence, martial artists are often the most prominent members of our society. Who else has access to large numbers of people on a regular basis from such a diverse range of class, culture and occupations than martial artists? Who else is able to influence the views, thought patterns and even physical condition (in a positive manner of course) of large numbers of people on a regular basis from such a diverse range of class, culture and occupations than martial artists?

I can think of no other sport in which the coaches/instructors are viewed as being paragons of society and who are expected to behave as perfect examples of society. So, do you think we can make such a change? Are you willing to do so?