Chuck Norris Was The Real Deal (Not Just a Hollywood Legend)

Chuck Norris Tribute | The Real Story Behind the Legend (Karate, MMA & Hollywood)

In this episode of the Pat Imig Sports Network, we pay tribute to a true icon — Chuck Norris.

Not just the Hollywood action star.
Not just Walker, Texas Ranger.
But the real martial artist, competitor, and pioneer who helped bring karate into the American mainstream — and arguably laid groundwork for what would become modern MMA.

Joined by black belt and historian Samuel George Catanzaro, we break down:

•  The “blood and guts” era of karate Chuck came from 
•  How Chuck Norris became the Arnold Palmer of karate
•  His connection to Bruce Lee, Steve McQueen, and early fight culture
•  Why real fighters say he was the real deal
•  His influence on MMA, UFC, and combat sports today
•  The truth behind Chuck Norris jokes (and why they worked) 
•  And why he was more than a celebrity — he was a warrior, mentor, and role model

From legendary fight scenes to Walker Texas Ranger to his real-life discipline and legacy… this is the full story of Chuck Norris.

Rest in peace to a true legend.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome to the FatMix Sports Network, broadcasting from NAI Studios in St. Louis, Missouri.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome in, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Pat Imic. We're talking Chuck Norris today at sports. Follow and subscribe on YouTube, get T-I-S-M. And to uh help us pay tribute to Chuck Norris, not only the actor, not only the man, but also the athlete. We have uh a black belt, Mr. Samuel George Cattenzero, who's an instructor by day, a karate instructor, and also a historian. Don't you have a history degree? I do have a degree in history. Yeah. So uh you have lots of information and facts on Chuck Norris. Yeah. Um so let's so yeah, let's just start from uh from the ground up, I guess. What when did you become a huge fan of Chuck Norris?

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Oh, ever since I was a kid doing karate, because you know, I started doing karate in like 97. And uh, you know, when I was about five years old, and Chuck Norris was just that thing, you know, all the dads and stuff like that. He was one of the guys that would be referenced or something, you know. Him, Bruce Lee, um, those were kind of the two main guys that people would talk about. And then he had like John Claude Van Dam, but like most of the dads would say Chuck Norris. And then also, you know, 97, and from then on, it was uh a Walker Texas Ranger was big.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

My grandma, my grandma loved Walker, Texas Ranger.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Yeah, everybody did it. It was it was it was action-packed, it was wholesome. Um, so everybody? Everybody, I mean, you know, if you didn't, you're a commie. But uh that's fair, you know. Uh every no, everybody, you know, it was it was very, very popular. It was a popular TV show. And um, you know, doing karate and just coming up, and karate was it was taken off then in the 90s and um and and the early 2000s. I mean, look at look at all the kids' movies that were made, uh, three ninjas, you know, the ninja turtle movies, all that type of stuff. Everybody wanted to be uh karate. So Chuck Norris was huge.

SPEAKER_02 2:19

Do you think karate kid? I think karate kid probably played a lot a big part in that. Yeah, when karate kid came out in the 80s.

SPEAKER_03 2:27

Yeah, uh, yeah, 84, yeah, 84. Uh, because it came out the year after uh Rocky III. Um, but the uh yeah, karate kid, it that was kind of the transition from the blood and guts era of karate, which Chuck Norris came up in, and then uh Karate Kid, the Karate Kid movie came out, and a lot of kids, uh young teens started joining Dojos, and that was kind of when karate started to become uh really watered down in the States. Um What do you mean by that? Well, Chuck Norris came up during the blood and guts era of karate, and the blood and guts era of karate was kind of through the 50s and the 60s and the 70s, and that was um it was one strike, one kill. That was uh uh Iken Hisatsu, which in Japanese meant one strike, one kill. Iken Isatsu? Yeah, Iken Isatsu. And uh it's uh I don't know, I don't even know if I'm saying that right. I'm not Japanese, but uh get out of here. I know, I know, shocker, but it was uh it was one strike, one kill, and so it came from that samurai mindset where if I hit you, I'm gonna hit you once because I might not get a chance to hit you again, and I'm gonna hit you to break you or to you know to kill you. And that was kind of these guys coming up in that era that Chuck Norris came up in, it was bare knuckle. It was uh you could hit to the face, you could hit to the body. Not a lot of leg kicks uh back then with um uh with the karate back then, the American karate practitioners, but um, it was brutal. And those blood and guts era tournaments, there's not a lot of them on film, but um you you'd hear these stories and you'd see these guys in action. There's you can find them on YouTube. And uh when I when I say Chuck Norris was a badass, he was a badass because he came through that blood and guts era. But the blood and guts era was uh was destroyed by the karate kid film. So the karate kid film really. How do you feel?

SPEAKER_02 4:25

How do you feel about that? That's probably for the best if you really want karate to grow in the States.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

Yeah, it's um uh yeah, it it made it commercial and it ushered in and people were making, you know, Buku Bucks uh off of karate. However, it uh the blood and gut Sarah, I mean, it it was if you were a black belt, you were a badass. And I think now you have a lot of um, you know, black belts that that really aren't, you know, that that really haven't been tested and tried and tested and all that kind of stuff. And when MMA came around, uh like UFC and stuff like that, and the grappling side of it, and then Muay Thai kickboxing started coming in, uh, a lot of these karate guys, they they had to put up or shut up. You know, there was there were guys that had um uh belts that were like, oh, I'm a 10th degree, whatever, and it's like they've never done a push-up in their life. And then you got it's like a resume on LinkedIn. Yeah, yeah. And then you got a Brazilian guy coming in that looks all unassuming, and then he's taking them to the ground and tapping them all out. But karate now, like ever since like um people have learned like the grappling and stuff like that, like Leota Machida, uh Steven Wonderboy Thompson, even Conor McGregor, a lot of his style is karate, that in and out blitz style. You got uh Michelle Watterson, the karate hottie. There, there's there's been a uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

I'm not familiar with Michelle Waterson.

SPEAKER_03 5:46

Oh, she's great, great fighter, great fighter, great woman spider. Still active or I I don't I'll have to I don't know. I she's at the tail end of her career or whatnot, but um I know that she you know she's had kids and stuff like that, but I mean she was you know again the karate hottie and um she great great fighter, great uh great woman's fighter, great great role mod role model for women. But I again the the karate um it kind of okay now we learned how to adapt in uh in in MMA and stuff like that. You have a lot of karate stars that really um you know took it far. So there's always a rise and fall with it.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

It kind of seems like um just from what you're saying, that MMA, UFC, Mui Thai kind of became the new blood and guts. Yes. Filled that void that karate had when our parents were our age.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

Yeah, and uh at at UFC One, the uh one of the announcers was Bill Superfoot Wallace, who's actually in uh a force of one with Chuck Norris. He played the bad guy, and they they fought. And Bill Superfoot Wallace kind of came towards the tail end of that blood and guts era, um, but he was one of the first announcers at UFC One because he was such an accomplished fighter. So it it all the history ties in together, you know.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

I would imagine you've kicked a lot of ass if you have the nickname Superfoot.

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Well, he's got the nickname Superfoot because he uh um his he's got the fastest clocked kick in history, and even I think he's in his 80s now, uh, and and he still can do the splits and he still does the high kicks and stuff like that, but um yeah, he had the fastest clock kick in history. I think like over 60 miles an hour. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

So where does Chuck Norris fit into all of this when it comes to the era of blood and guts karate morphing into MMA? So what where does Chuck fit into all of that? Because he's obviously didn't do UFC, didn't do MMA. Right.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

Uh Chuck Norris was the guy from that blood and guts era, was the American um that went Hollywood, that went mainstream, and that's that's why he's so known.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Um I got a sports analogy for the for the non-karate fans out there. Sounds like he's like the Arnold Palmer. What Arnold Palmer was to golf, the first guy to bring it mainstream in America, thanks to TV.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:05

Chuck Norris is kind of like that, kind of like the Hulk Hogan of wrestling in a way, only he is for karate.

SPEAKER_03 8:10

Yeah, and you see him on Letterman. Look up look up the Letterman interview. He looks so young, and you know, he's he's doing a sidekick to Letterman's chest, and uh yeah, he he was definitely that. He was the R Arnold Palmer of karate, um, brought it kind of to mainstream. And one of his uh one of his students uh at at his dojo in California was Steve McQueen, actor Steve McQueen. And Steve McQueen actually encouraged Chuck to get into acting. So um, yeah, and then uh he was in he was in the Bruce Lee film, uh uh Return of the Dragon. Uh it was also called Way of the Dragon in Hong Kong, but here in uh in America it was called Return of the Dragon, and uh he had his famous fight scene with with Bruce Lee, which then just skyrocketed him, right? So this was what 80s, 90s? No, this would have been in the early 70s. Oh, okay. Yeah. This would have been in the early 70s. So um and he and he had like minor roles here and there, but um, and then he just and then he became an action star. Uh tail end of the 70s and the 80s, then he became an action star.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

And um So even though he went Hollywood, he didn't actually uh he's not a case of going Hollywood and abandoning what he is or was, he actually took what he is and made it mainstream.

SPEAKER_03 9:25

Yeah, you know, I was thinking about like The Rock, how The Rock uh you know went Hollywood, left wrestling, but then it always seems like when The Rock comes back to WWE, when The Rock needs it, like when a movie tanked or uh, you know, with the uh with the Hawaii thing with him and Oprah pretty much like pretty much every movie tanks, right?

SPEAKER_02 9:45

But like I mean not to say that I wouldn't like to have movies tank that I'm that I started and make you know$55 million, but uh but it seems like he always comes back when he needs it.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

Chuck Norris never left the martial arts scene. Like when Chuck Norris would be on vacation, like he was talking about how he was down in Rio de Janeiro and he was he was on vacation in Rio de Janeiro. His whole life is martial arts, his whole life is making action movies, and he's on vacation. What does he do on vacation? He visits all of the martial arts gyms down there and trains, and that's how he got involved in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and uh ended up becoming a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under the uh under the I think great uh Gracie family, Machado family. Um, but yeah, so all these guys would say he's the real deal. Oh, 100%. And when you watch uh episodes of Walker Texas Ranger, um, and you see him uh like he had the Machado brothers on, and so he's rolling jujitsu, and it's like one of the first instances of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on TV. Um he's taking on what was his partner's name, Trevet or whatever, and he's doing arm bars, he's doing Kamoras, he's doing triangle chokes. You you didn't see this stuff back then, and this was the 90s and um maybe early 2000s, but you didn't see it yet because UFC hadn't really become it was still a cult sport, um, it was banned in a lot of states, and so yeah, definitely not accepted mainstream.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

I mean, yeah, the idea of that being on ESPN when it first started in 1990 or whatever the year was. Oh gosh, yeah. I mean, it was no totally it was that was worse than kids smoking dope.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Yeah, well, and and John McCain for the longest time, you know, it's human cockfighting and this and that, which which actually boxing is uh is is more dangerous. Famous interview Joe Rogan and Lou Dabella, and Ludabella is uh a boxing promoter, and Joe Rogan and Ludabella just go at it. And I mean, Joe Rogan tears him a new one about you know UFC and um MMA, the sport of MMA, and he's like boxing's a you know, it's a dying breed, and now you know the only thing keeping boxing alive is like you know, Jake Paul, and um and all everybody likes to crap on Jake Paul, but it's like he's the one he's the one and now he's got it now he's got a good MMA card coming up.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

He's he's he's the epitome of don't hate the player, hate the game. Yeah, 100%. Because he figured out that if you can just market and get people to buy something, then it's legit. So he's as legit of a boxer as anybody out there right now, mainly because that whole sport, in addition to what you're saying, the health ramifications and being dangerous, it's also there's no legal governing body, there's no one league of boxing. There's all these different networks, there's all these different champions, no one knows what the hell's going on. Yeah. Which sucks because when when when we were kids, I mean, the idea of like watching towards the end of his career, George Foreman, the Holy Field Foreman, you know, Mike Tyson was always a draw. Uh, boxing was amazing. Lennox Lewis even was kind of like kind of the tail end of that. And then pretty much at the turn of the century, there's been fighters, Deontay Wilder, um, who are the couple of other ones I'm forgetting, but it's not like it was. Yeah. And it's never gonna, I don't know how it ever goes back to that.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

No, and you know what? The same problem that boxing has had, uh, karate had. There wasn't really a lot of governing bodies in karate. There there was a I'm sorry, there was a lot of governing bodies in karate, but not one cohesive um, you know, body. And um it especially kickboxing. When kickboxing became a thing here, um, you you know, you have like, you know, WK, yeah, you have all these, you have all these things, but um it it was hard to get it off the ground because there was not one single um not one single body governing body, and that's why like MMA took off because you had the UFC and then you had Pride over in Japan, and these were two like okay, these are the big leagues.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

And um Yeah, and even with MMA today, you have a couple of offshoots that aren't UFC, but I don't feel like they're as prominent anymore as they were maybe even 10-15 years ago.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

No, like Bellator and uh Yeah, like now you got like one FC, you know, strike Strike Force back in the day. That was the one I was that was escaping me. And uh but yeah, um, but like even even Chuck Norris, he had the World Combat League. Um, I think that's what it was called. And uh it was uh it was like kind of they were fighting in a pit. And it it was it was great, and there was a lot of fighters that came out of it. Uh Tim Connors from St. Louis, uh rest in peace. He was from uh he he he fought in that league. Um he was a professional boxer and kickboxer. I think Stephen Wonderboy Thompson, who was in the UFC, he actually fought Tyron Woodley from St. Louis. Uh he uh again a karate guy, he fought in that league. But um that you know that league didn't last for for a long time. And uh now you got like karate, I would say the one thing is karate combat, which is on YouTube. That's probably the the number one karate um that's the official name of it, yeah. Karate combat. And like Boss Rutin's on there, George St. Pierre's on there, um promoting it. You got uh you got Danny uh Tre Tre Trejo uh uh The actor? Yeah, the actor. He was uh he was uh he did like a couple uh spoofs, like, oh yeah, I love karate, you know, like all that kind of stuff. But I mean uh but yeah, karate's never really went away. It's kind of ebbed and flowed, but Chuck Norris, he was the guy. Um he was the guy, he was training in his 80s. You'd see him hitting pads.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

I'm still I was still getting Instagram ads with Chuck Norris on them for his health products that he was sending just last week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

So I mean, you know, I I I posted a video not too long ago and he's hitting pads, and you know, he's doing really good for 80. And uh, I mean it's Chuck Norris, but you know, he's like, I don't age, I level up. You know, I like I mean the guy was just he was such a a wholesome guy, but he was the real deal. And I tell you what, for any uh like kids out there, he was not on steroids.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

I mean, I would wouldn't you never I would have I would have never guessed that he you know I would have never guessed that he was.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Yeah, and uh, but that's um you know where where you have like uh even even like Sylvester Stallone, I love Sylvester Stallone, but um Stallone, you know, he got caught in like I think it was like oh six or two thousand ten with with steroids and uh at the at the airport. It's like well, yeah, you know, but Chuck Norris, you look at his body.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Do they have uh steroid sniffing dogs at the airport? How do you get caught with steroids at the airport?

SPEAKER_03 16:17

I I don't know, but that was that was a big story. He got caught with steroids, and everybody's like, well, yeah, if you watched Rocky Balboa or you watched the you know the the Rambo movie that came out around that time, you're like, yeah, you you mean you mean a guy his age, you know, doesn't have veins popping out of his forearms and stuff. But Chuck Norris, if you look at his body, he he lived a holistic lifestyle. Um he lived a uh he lived he was it was longevity. And uh that was you look at his style and it's like, yeah, that's that's how a man should age. But man, he he was just he was cut even when he was in his 50s. I mean, but it was a natural cut, you know, it's not like the rock where somehow you get bigger, you know. So you uh you have a thing for Chuck Norris, huh? Oh yeah, dude, yeah. Yeah, I mean, like the American man. The American man. And I mean that with all heterosexual respect.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Like he was just, you know, that's Did you ever buy the Chuck Norris? Uh he had a couple of weight machines, I believe. I think my I think my dad had one actually for a while. Um because he that was like when in the I think like the mid-90s, there was you had Suzanne Summers, you know, she was the famous actress from Three's company. She left and then kind of like resurrected her career by selling the Thymaster, and then like you saw like for the next 10 years Hollywood celebrities, yeah, in this case Chuck Norris, selling their own uh workout facilities systems as well.

SPEAKER_03 17:39

You'd always you'd always see it uh on TV. You know, I was a kid though, so it's not like I'm gonna like here here's my credit card, you know. Uh you know, for three payments, this can be yours, you know. But gotta watch out for that shipping and handling though. Uh but yeah, no, he was uh he pra he practiced what he preached. Um you know, I I believe like when he when he says, Oh, we got this program here, you know, for this machine. I believe he did it.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

You know, like so you're saying he didn't just like endorse it to make money, he probably actually used it. 100%.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

Um and uh yeah, you know, he uh he he was the real deal. Do you have a favorite Chuck Norris movie? Uh yeah. I like his uh I like his cameo and dodgeball. And Vince Vaughn turns and says, Thank you, Chuck Norris, you know. Uh there's there's one movie in it, it's kind of a uh a kid's movie, and it's called Sidekicks. And I don't remember the plot so much, but I do remember like the Chuck Norris scene, and there's a guy named Stone, and they're they're doing a tournament, and you know, and and Stone's like, Alright, Chuck Norris, let's see how good you really are. And Chuck Norris goes, You're only gonna see it once, Stone. And they're like, it's just so, but it's Chuck Norris. So it's okay. Yeah, it's so you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

So even if it's extra cheesy and extra corny, it still works.

SPEAKER_03 18:54

Yeah, yeah. I would say his movie, uh, A Force of One, with when when he fought Bill Superfoot Wallace at the end, that is an amazing fight scene. Uh, because Bill Superfoot Wallace was a kickboxing champion at the time, and uh then Chuck, you know, Chuck Norris being Chuck Norris, a former world karate champion, and this and that. Uh it it that that is a that is a good scene to just watch.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

It's very which one which movie? A force of one. And when did this come out? 80s, 70s? Uh we don't need exact year.

SPEAKER_03 19:24

I was just saying, yeah, yeah. It probably uh probably the early 80s, I would say. Uh or then there's uh Lone Wolf uh Mick. Oh my gosh. But that was uh he he uh has has David Carradine in that movie. Lone Wolf McQuaid, and he has David Carradine in that movie, and David Carradine was the star of the Kung Fu show.

SPEAKER_02 19:45

Um I was wondering where that was going because I was trying that name sounded familiar.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

Yeah, so they and and Lone Wolf McQuaid did so he plays a Texas Ranger in Lone Wolf McQuaid, and that ends up kind of being the inspiration for Walker, Texas Ranger. So, yeah. Say that again. What became the the the movie Lone Wolf McQuaid? Uh Chuck Norris plays uh uh Texas Ranger, and he has David Carrington in the movie and this and that, and that ends up being kind of the inspiration for Walker Texas Ranger. That's kind of how that got greenlit.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

So yeah. That's what made so many grandparents happy in the 90s. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Do you have a favorite episode of Walker Texas Ranger?

SPEAKER_03 20:24

Uh the one that the one that the Machados are on. The one that the uh the Machados are on, you know, uh it because it it wasn't like my favorite back then, but now you go back and watch, and that did so much for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community. Um and and the Machados, um so they're the nephews of uh Elio Gracie, and they were in California, and Chuck Norris became was training with them, became so such good friends. He actually bought them their school, the the building that they were Chuck Norris bought their school, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Bought the building for them for them, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

And uh and said, Hey, here you go. And they were they were so grateful. Like John Jacques Machado, he was on Joe Rogan's podcast talking about it. And uh he he just gave back. He was a whole like he never forgot his roots. Like, I'm a martial artist. Like I'm an act, I'm a martial artist first, I'm an actor second. Um, and uh yeah, so it it it's uh but yeah, or uh Zach was Zach was telling me about this the other day. What what uh uh episode was it? What is it, Hay Haley Joe Osmet?

unknown 21:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:27

And Walker has to tell him that he has AIDS or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah, I mean I've seen that I've seen that clip on social media, and every time I see it, I think it's fake.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Yeah, but I mean, I was t I was telling him, I was like, if you had AIDS though, who better to t that to tell you than Chuck Norris? Like, because you're gonna be like, you know what, it's gonna be okay. Like, like that's the whole thing. So um, gosh, yeah, he was just he's such a wholesome guy. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

So he um I think by I think next year at this time they'll announce him as uh a W. WWE Hall of Famer. Yeah, so he did a couple of cameos with WWE. He did the Survivor series in '94, I believe.

SPEAKER_03 22:11

With Undertaker and Yokozuno. Correct.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

He fought off all the all the henchmen for The Undertaker. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:17

He sidekicks Jeff Jarrett.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

He was also in attendance at WrestleMania 7. Uh they interviewed him right after they interviewed Donald Trump. Uh, and also uh the Fonz and Blue Ferrigno, all like in five minutes. Really? Which was like an 80s and 90s who that's a testosterone overload. Except for the Fonz, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

Well, Henry Winkler, the Fonz, the character. That's true. Henry Winkler, sweet guy, but um, wow. Yeah, um gosh, what just just just a man. A man's man.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

So you you're here today to just make sure that everyone knows that he's not just a Hollywood face and an actor. He's actually built not built, but he's helped build karate in an away MMA uh in America.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

Yeah, he embodied the um like Budo. So Budo in Japanese, it's like the way, the warrior's way. And um that was what it was, you know. It it's um the the old saying, it's better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. And he truly was a warrior in the garden, you know. Um he's a veteran. Um he uh you know served the country, you know, did this, and and a lot of people don't realize this, but I didn't realize he was a veteran. Well, uh, yeah, he was he was in the Air Force. Okay, yeah, and that that's how he got into uh his first martial art that he learned, Tang Sudo, uh, which is kind of like a Korean karate because he was stationed in South Korea. Um interesting. And uh yeah, he I think he was discharged before Vietnam. Um but um yeah, but he yeah, he's a veteran. Uh he you know he served his country, he was in the military. Um and uh I think a lot of people don't understand what what makes him that way was his father was a raging alcoholic. His father was a World War II veteran, and uh his father was a raging alcoholic and would um you know take money and you know abuse and whatnot. And Chuck Norris was the older the oldest of two brothers and and kind of had to step up to defend his mom and um defend you know his brothers and when he left for college or when he left for the Air Force or whatever, his mom said it's like the man of the house is leaving. So, you know, th that those Chuck Norris tropes like um jokes like, oh yeah, you know, when when Chuck Norris went away from college, he told his dad you're the man of the house now. I mean, that's not that's not entirely inaccurate, right? Like because um When did that all it was about 10 years ago, I feel like when you had all the Chuck Norris. Okay, so I looked this up and it was um it uh Conan O'Brien was doing a uh um Conan O'Brien was doing a um like a bit about like Walker Texas Ranger, like kind of doing jokes along that line, but because of the Walker Texas Ranger series. And then in 2005, around that time, uh Vin Diesel came out with a um a movie called The Pacifier. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_02 25:21

I I that one thankfully has escaped me.

SPEAKER_03 25:24

Okay, where he plays like a Navy SEAL and all of a sudden he has to be a babysitter, right? And um anyway, so he uh there were these jokes that were kind of started being written for Vin Diesel, but then people then there was one guy and I forget his name, but he's kind of responsible for it. He was the one that used like the Conan O'Brien inspiration and then did the like replaced Vin Diesel with Chuck Norris, which Chuck Norris a hundred times more badass than Vin Diesel, let's just be honest.

SPEAKER_02 25:56

So yeah, the jokes wouldn't have they wouldn't have worked with Vin Diesel.

SPEAKER_03 25:59

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Like he wasn't like a big, like, burly guy. Yeah. So like it almost like made to me that made those jokes even better. Because if even if you didn't know who Chuck Norris was, and you see him, you're like, huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

I think it worked with Chuck Norris because of his humility. He was so humble. And uh, and then also like um you he could back it up, but he was the strong silent type, you know. Like if you watch the Sopranos, whatever happened to Gary Cooper, the strong, silent type that was an American. Well, that's Chuck Norris, you know. So um, you know, he doesn't cry or bitch, he just does what he has to do. So he's just uh, you know, he's a lesson for us all. But that's why those that's why those those jokes, those uh the Chuck Norris sayings, they're they're still uh I mean, I'm still getting some ever since his death. Like, you know. What people text him to you? People text him in a mirror, I see him like, you know, like I like as soon as he passed away, uh, you know, I said a prayer and then I I posted, I said, I go, I don't think Chuck Norris is dead. I think heaven just greenlit Walker Texas Ranger for season 10.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

And they only had nine seasons. And they only had nine seasons, and then of course.

SPEAKER_03 27:12

Yeah, but then I then I looked up, you know, I looked at the comments and some guy goes, Yeah, Chuck Norris once told a woman to calm down, and she did. It's like, I mean, you know, they're they're so great, but uh there there's a good video online of Chuck Norris reading uh the the Chuck Norris jokes, and he's you know, he he's just humble about it, you know. He's you know, so yeah, just a good guy all around.

SPEAKER_02 27:36

Well, I've learned a lot about Chuck Norris today. I don't know about you guys. Do you have any other parting shots for Chuck? I feel like you got most of it out.

SPEAKER_03 27:45

Uh, okay, so he he wrote a lot of books.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:50

And uh there was a book that he wrote in 2008. I have not read it, but it's called Black Belt America, and it's a blueprint on how to save this country. And uh yeah, go out and go out and read it. You know, so you haven't read it yet? I have not read it. No, but I got it I got in order to read it. It's on the yeah, I'm gonna read it though. Um and it was, you know, looking him up and this and that, and so uh yeah, but I think uh, you know, he was he was uh I think I think we ought to mention his faith. He was a very devout Christian. He was an extremely devout Christian. Um and you know, he c he got a lot of flack for that, but he was he was unwavering in his in his stance on on Christianity. Um and yeah, you know, everybody needs something to believe in, right? You know, so that's what it is. And you believe in Chuck Norris. How can he not, you know? But yeah. So yeah, no, Chuck Norris. Love me, Chuck. Rest in peace.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

Say a prayer for his soul. That's Samuel George Cattenzero III, aka Sam Cattenzero. Martial arts instructor, historian, and Chuck Norris, president of the St. Louis Chamber of Chuck Norris fans.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

Ooh, we ought to start that.

SPEAKER_02 28:59

I mean, I'm giving you ideas.

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Yeah, we ought to start that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

Chamber of Chuck. We appreciate uh everybody tuning in. Unless you got anything else. I feel like you got everything out, though.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

I did. That was that went a lot faster than I thought. I was so excited. We went a solid 28 minutes. There you go. There you go. Chuck Norris would have won 30, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

He would have. He would have, and he would have had credits at the end of it. Rest in peace, Chuck Norris, for Sam Cat and Zero. My name is Pat Immig, and we appreciate you tuning in to this tribute to Chuck Norris, not just a Hollywood face, but a man that uh lived by what he preached and also brought what he what he learned at a young age into the mainstream of America. And you can now argue that he's partly responsible for the uh popularity of MMA and everything else going on.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

He was he was definitely a father. Everybody says that Bruce Lee was a father. I I think that Bruce Lee wasn't one of the early fathers of MMA as much as Chuck Norris was. I think we need to put Chuck.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

You think Chuck is the reason. If you were to, if it was down to just one person.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

Yeah, I would say it was, it would, it would have been Chuck Norris. He he embodied it. I think I think he was a father to us all. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

That's Sam Cat and Zero. I'm Pat Emick. Thanks everybody for tuning in. And follow and subscribe for more. We have uh all kinds of good stuff coming down the pipe. And you can follow us at get P-I-S N. For Sam, I'm Pat. Thanks to Zach, and thanks to Indy the Dog for not barking behind us. We'll see you guys next time.