The two legends reportedly bonded over their love for martial arts and trained together in Norris’ backyard.

Chuck Norris is known for his roundhouse kicks and his action star persona in the ‘80s and the ‘90s. He starred in films such as Good Guys Wear Black, Breaker! Breaker!, and The Octagon. Though he did not reach the level of other action stars of the era such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, he still held his ground. The actor was known for being proficient in martial arts and was also known to have trained many celebrities in martial arts before he became an actor.

Norris made his big screen debut with Bruce Lee’s The Way of The Dragon. The action star has a minor role as Colt, who is recruited by the antagonist to fight against Lee’s Tang Lung. Norris and Lee reportedly developed a friendship when they met at the All-American-Karate Championship tournament, where the Silent Rage star was a two-time world champion.

Chuck Norris Began His Career In Bruce Lee’s The Way of The Dragon

Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon
Before Chuck Norris became the subject of a popular meme trend and was the action star of the decade, he was a known martial artist who had created his own technique called the Chun Kuk Do or the ‘Universal Way’. The action star reportedly opened his own martial arts studio after being discharged from the US Air Force and trained multiple celebrities such as Steve McQueen, Bob Barker, and Priscilla Presley.

Norris reportedly met Bruce Lee at the All-American-Karate Championship in 1968, where the former was the World Champion. The actor had reportedly won the championship for the second time and had retired from the tournament with an undefeated streak. Lee was working in the TV show The Green Hornet at the time and the two reportedly began training in Norris’ backyard.

A still from The Way of the Dragon

Norris mentioned that he and Lee trained for three years together but the actor then went to Hong Kong to pursue his acting career. Two years later, Norris got a call from Lee saying that he wanted to make a movie with him. Lee reportedly mentioned that he wanted to film a fight scene in the Colosseum in Rome and he wanted Chuck Norris to be a part of it. He said to Combat Culture,

“At that time I held the world title, and kiddingly I said to Bruce ‘Well, who wins Bruce?’ and he says, ‘I win, I’m the star of this movie’. I say, ‘Oh, I see, you want to beat the world champion, and he said ‘No I don’t, I want to kill the world champion’”.

Chuck Norris was chosen to play the role of Colt in Bruce Lee’s third feature film The Way of The Dragon. The actor played one of the heavies in the film and had a climactic fight sequence with the legendary star in the Roman Colosseum. The ten-minute fight sequence has been regarded as one of the most well-choreographed martial arts sequences and the scene has attained a legendary status.

Bruce Lee Was Always Open To New Techniques In Martial Arts

Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon

Bruce Lee had a legendary status as a martial arts icon and the actor even invented his own style called Jeet Kune Do. Despite his achievements, however, Lee was reportedly open to learning from others in the field and inculcating different philosophies. Chuck Norris mentioned about Lee’s penchant for learning new ways in an interview with Physical Arts,

“He learned from everybody, he had a very open mind. Bruce never believed in only one style, or one style is the best, he felt that there were so many ‘best’ of everything. He said that everything had strengths and weaknesses and what he wanted to do was find the strengths and use them.”

Bruce Lee was also reportedly a huge fan of legendary boxer Muhammed Ali and reportedly was inspired by his speed and agility. Lee’s student Dan Inosanto revealed to Variety how open-minded the star was and how he used to recommend watching Ali’s speed to his students. Talking about his portrayal in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Inosanto said,

“Bruce Lee would have never said anything derogatory about Muhammad Ali because he worshiped the ground Muhammad Ali walked on. In fact, he was into boxing more so than martial arts.”

Despite Chuck Norris not reaching the levels of fame like his contemporaries at the time such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, he seemed to have one experience that none of these stars ever had. He got to share screen space with the legendary Bruce Lee in his very first film and even trained with him.