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Chuck Norris‘ longtime jiu-jitsu instructor, legendary professor Rigan Machado, is remembering the martial arts legend as much more than a Hollywood star and cultural icon, but someone who was like family for decades.
“[Chuck’s] a brother. For me, he’s not just a friend. My relationship with Chuck Norris was over 30 years. Me and my brothers we called him Carlos because we were so close to him as a friend,” Machado told TMZ Sports just hours after Norris’ death was announced.
“We don’t feel the celebrity vibe. We talk to him like a brother. I kind of get sad, but at the same time, he accomplished everything he wanted to in his life. He’s a phenomenal martial artist. A phenomenal action movie star, a phenomenal father, husband. He accomplished everything he dreamed about.”
FYI, Rigan is one of the most respected BJJ practitioners to ever step foot on a mat … so this is incredibly high praise.
Speaking of mats, Machado says Norris couldn’t get enough of BJJ.
“When he started training, he wanted to train every day. ‘I want to train. I want to train.’ He put mats in his house. I started going to his house, training every day.”
Rigan says he actually planned to leave the U.S. back in the day, and head home to Brazil … but Chuck pleaded with him not to leave, promising they could open an academy in the States.
“He’s an amazing guy. Very sweet, but he trained very hard. He’s the type of guy who when he loves something, he wants to do 100%. He don’t do 10%. He does 100%. That’s what I love about him.”
We also talked to another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend, Rickson Gracie … who too goes way back with Chuck. In fact, Gracie and Norris famously sparred in 1988, and it was captured on video.
Similar to Rigan, Rickson had profound respect for his movie star friend.
“We all love Chuck. He’s a great guy, great martial artist, great actor. He’s very supportive to the community, so I feel like we lost somebody very important in the community.”
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Jiu-Jitsu has become very popular over the years — in part due to the rise of the UFC — but Gracie says Norris deserves a lot of the credit for bringing the art stateside.
“[Chuck’s] a very important guy in terms of being part of the initial movement about bringing jiu-jitsu to America.”
It’s not just the martial arts world mourning Norris in the wake of his death … some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, including Sylvester Stallone, have expressed condolences after the loss.
Rest in peace, Chuck.