It might seem hard to believe at first but Chuck Norris actually played a pivotal role in the development of Jiu-Jitsu in the USA through his relationship with BJJ legend Rigan Machado. During the height of his fame as both a martial artist and a film star, Norris actually became one of the first to train under Rigan and the other Machado brothers. That eventually led to Norris being promoted to black belt in BJJ after years of training under them, but their relationship actually went much further than what you would expect of an instructor and one of his students.
Rigan summed it up in a sentence that really outlines just how vital Norris was to the growth of Jiu-Jitsu in the USA:
“Chuck Norris is the reason we stayed in the United States.”
He then went on to explain how Norris approached him with an idea that changed the course of his career as an instructor:
“I was getting ready to go back (to Brazil) and Chuck Norris came to me: ‘let me show you something’ and he brought me to a mall in Encino… (He said) ‘You see this part over here, I want you to work in a school over here.’ (It was) like four thousand square feet.”
It wasn’t quite as simple as that and although Chuck Norris had a plan in mind, there was one big problem that Rigan Machado pointed out to him:
“Chuck Norris, first I’m not legal. I’m a tourist, I came here just with my girlfriend to have a good time.”
Even if they could somehow figure out a way around that, money was still going to be an issue. A huge space in a prime position would cost a lot, but Norris had that part figured out already:
“I said ‘Chuck, I don’t know. I can’t afford this, (it) looks expensive.’ He said ‘You don’t understand, I own the mall. It’s my mall. You guys are not gonna have to pay anything, it’s for free. You can stay here for 4 years, (you) don’t need to give me one dime.’ and he helped to market and that’s how the Machados started to grow.”
Giving them a place to teach for free was just the first step, Rigan Machado also explained how Chuck Norris helped bring more eyes on the sport:
“He did the grand opening of the mall with us. He went to the mall (and) had 5,000 people, the media, and he put everywhere. He did the demonstration in the middle of the mall with us.”
As if giving them an academy and driving students towards them wasn’t enough, Norris was also able to help make sure that Rigan could remain in the USA too:
“He not only opened my school, he got his lawyers to get all my paperwork. His lawyers right away got letters from every body. Gene LeBell helped us to sign the letters… We had a hundred letters from celebrities, friends of Chuck, and we got the citizenship in one year.”
The full interview with Rigan Machado where he explains just how much Chuck Norris helped him succeed was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of the JAXXON podcast:
