Beaufort karate school owner recalls Chuck Norris’ lightning fast punches and humility
Beaufort’s Chuck Elias worked out with action movie star and karate champion Chuck Norris and knows first-hand Norris was no phony — as a man or martial artist.
“In his time, he was the best out there,” Elias, a black belt himself, said of Norris. “I’ve been hit by him — I know how hard he can hit. And lightning fast. And very modest and humble.”
Norris, a six-time undefeated World Professional Middleweight Karate champion and star of TV’s “Walker, Texas Ranger” and countless Hollywood action films, died Thursday. He was 86.
Elias, who was training in Beaufort at the time, met Norris in 1983 when Norris presided over his black belt test in Atlanta. After the test, Elias recalled, he worked out with Norris for four hours.
“I had no energy left, but how could you say no?” he said.
His relationship with Norris continued for some 40 years after he opened Club Karate in Port Royal in 1988. The club is now located in the Food Lion shopping center on Lady’s Island.
The school is one of some 90 active schools worldwide that employ the Chuck Norris System (CNS), formerly known as Chun Kuk Do. That’s a Korean-based American martial art focused on self-defense, competition, grappling and weapons. Founded by Norris, CNS is regulated by the United Fighting Arts Federation.
For the past 22 years, Elias, 73, has run Norris’ three-day world championship karate competitions in Las Vegas and served as part of Norris security team — as if Norris needed it, he says with a laugh. Elias recalls people approaching Norris when they recognized the star. He would never brush them off.
“He would sit there and talk to you,” Elias said.
Elias doesn’t claim to have been best friends with Norris but knew him well enough at one point to receive Christmas cards from him.
“When I heard (he died) this morning, I was shocked,” Elias said Friday.
Norris did a demonstration at Beaufort High School in the 1960s, Elias recalled.
He was scheduled to visit Elias’ Lady’s Island school in 2020, but the trip was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norris’ approach to karate and life has left a lasting impression on so many, says Elias, pointing to Norris’ 12-tenant code of ethics. The code includes tenants like: I will develop myself to the maximum of my potential in all ways; I will forget the mistakes of the past and press on the greater achievement; I will look for the good in all people and make them feel worthwhile; If I have nothing good to say about a person, I will say nothing; I will give so much time to the improvement of myself that I will have no time to criticize others.
“He’s one of the most personable people could could possibly meet,” Elias said.
