Editing Chuck Norris (section)

=== 1958 to 1969: United States Air Force and martial arts breakthrough ===
Norris joined the [[United States Air Force]] as an [[United States Air Force Security Forces|Air Policeman]] (AP) in 1958 and was sent to [[Osan Air Base]], South Korea. It was there that Norris acquired the nickname "Chuck" and began his training in [[Tang Soo Do]] (tangsudo), an interest that led to [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belts]] in that art and the founding of the [[Chun Kuk Do]] ("Universal Way") form.<ref>{{cite news |title=Body Watch; Kicking Old Habits; Chuck Norris found he couldn't eat just anything after he hit his mid-30s. These days, TV's top ranger feasts on veggies, fowl and fish. And he tries to keep his distance from peanut clusters. |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-10-02-ls-49498-story.html |first=Candace A. |last=Wedlan |date=October 2, 1996 |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=September 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919193557/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-10-02/news/ls-49498_1_chuck-norris |url-status=live }}</ref> When he returned to the United States, he continued to serve as an AP at [[March Air Reserve Base|March Air Force Base]] in California.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Theisen |first=Blake Stilwell, Tiffini |date=2023-05-19 |title=Famous Veterans: Chuck Norris |url=https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/military-transition/famous-veteran-chuck-norris.html |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=Military.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-10 |title=#VeteranOfTheDay Air Force Veteran Chuck Norris – VA News |url=https://news.va.gov/72315/veteranoftheday-air-force-veteran-chuck-norris/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Norris was discharged from the Air Force in August 1962 with the rank of [[Airman first class]]. Following his military service, Norris applied to be a police officer in [[Torrance, California]]. While on the waiting list, Norris opened a martial arts studio.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Boatner|first=Verne|date=May 2, 1975|title=If I can do it, you can do it|page=D-1|work=Arizona Republic}}</ref>

Norris started to participate in martial arts competitions. He was defeated in his first two tournaments, dropping decisions to [[Joe Lewis (martial artist)|Joe Lewis]] and [[Allen Steen]]. He lost three matches at the [[Gosoku Ryu#Background|International Karate Championships]] to Tony Tulleners. By 1967, Norris had improved enough that he scored victories over the likes of [[Vic Moore]]. On June 3, Norris won the 1967 tournament of karate, Norris defeated seven opponents, until his final fight with [[Skipper Mullins]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 5, 1967|title=Torrance karate expert wins Crown|volume=LXXXVI|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> On June 24, Norris was declared champion at the [[S. Henry Cho]]'s All-American Karate Championship at the [[Madison Square Garden]], taking the title from Julio LaSalle and defeating Joe Lewis.<ref>{{Cite news|date=June 23, 1967|title=Karate bouts at Garden|volume=48|work=Daily News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=June 25, 1967|title=Redondo's Norris wins karate title|volume=LXXVI|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=June 26, 1967|title=Sport Briefs|pages=14|work=Spokane Chronicle}}</ref> During this time, Norris also worked for the [[Northrop Corporation]] and opened a chain of [[karate]] schools. Norris's official website lists celebrity clients at the schools; among them [[Steve McQueen]], [[Chad McQueen]], [[Bob Barker]], [[Priscilla Presley]], [[Donny Osmond]] and [[Marie Osmond]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chucknorris.com/html/biog.html|title=Chuck Norris Blog|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208060515/http://www.chucknorris.com/html/biog.html|archive-date=February 8, 2010}}</ref>

In early 1968, Norris suffered the tenth and final loss of his career, losing an upset decision to Louis Delgado. On November 24, 1968, he avenged his defeat to Delgado and by doing so won the Professional Middleweight Karate champion title, which he then held for six consecutive years.<ref name="CNSSP" /> On April 1, Norris successfully defended his All-American Karate Championship title, in a round-robin tournament, at the Karate tournament of champions of North America.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 1, 1968|title=Californian wins Karate championship|page=19|work=Dayton Daily News}}</ref> Again that year, Norris won for the second time the All-American Karate Championship. It was the last time Norris participated and retired undefeated.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=http://www.henrycho.com/sparring.html|title=Past Sparring Grand Champions|website=Henrycho.com|access-date=March 15, 2016|archive-date=April 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429214731/http://www.henrycho.com/sparring.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=August 4, 1969|title=Lewis crowned king of karate|work=Independent}}</ref> While competing, Norris met [[Bruce Lee]], who at the time was known for the TV series ''[[The Green Hornet (TV series)|The Green Hornet]]''. They developed a friendship, as well as a training and working relationship.

In 1969, during the first weekend of August, Norris defended his title as world champion at the International Karate Championship. The competition included champions from most of the fifty states as well as half a dozen from abroad who joined for the preliminaries.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 30, 1969|title=Karate champions to gather at Long Beach|volume=32|work=Valley Times}}</ref> Norris retained his title<ref>{{Cite news|date=August 9, 1969|title=Chuck Norris takes karate black belt|volume=58|work=Valley News}}</ref> and won Karate's triple crown for the most tournament wins of the year, he also got the Fighter of the Year award by ''[[Black Belt (magazine)|Black Belt]]'' magazine. Around this time, Norris made his acting debut in the [[Matt Helm]] spy spoof ''[[The Wrecking Crew (1968 film)|The Wrecking Crew]]''.