He’s The Reason We Stayed In The USA

It’s not every day that a Hollywood action star plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of a martial art – but that’s exactly what Chuck Norris did for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the United States.

Looking back, Rigan Machado credits the movie icon with a move that altered the trajectory of his life and the future of BJJ in America:

Chuck Norris is the reason we stayed in the United States.

At the time, Machado had only intended to visit the U.S. temporarily.He was preparing to return to Brazil when Norris surprised him with a life-changing offer:

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.”

Machado immediately saw two major problems: his visa status and the cost of running a business in such a prime location:

Chuck Norris, first I’m not legal.I’m a tourist, I came here just with my girlfriend to have a good time.

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.

But Norris didn’t stop at just providing a free space for the school:

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.

Then came one of the most important pieces of the puzzle – helping Machado secure his legal residency in the USA:

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.