Member DragonClaws Posted January 29, 2017 Member Share Posted January 29, 2017 (edited) Richard Norton - Basic Biography & Filmography "I realized long ago that life is all about the journey and not about the destination. The moment you think you know it all you stagnate and die. Life and the arts are all about bodies in motion." - Richard Norton (Above) Richard Norton in the 1970's with one half of the pop group ABBA. Richard Norton was born on the 6th of January 1950, in Victoria Australia. Raised in Croydon(Australia), Norton became a keen follower of the Martial Arts from a young age. At seventeen he was already a Black Belt in Karate. His skill as a Martial Artist led him to work as a bouncer in nightclubs. While also being the chief instructor at mutltiple Martial Arts school. He eventually broke into the entertianment business, as a bodyguard to the stars. His first job was working with the Rolling Stones during their tour of Australia. The bands frontman Mick Jagger, even took lessons in self defence and fitness from the Aussie Martial Artist. Norton would go on to work with other well known bands & artists such as ABBA, Rod Stewart, David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac, to name a few. One of his clients singer Linda Ronstadt, invited him to come to Carlifornia. “But it was absolutely Bob’s involvement that got me working on doors. Later in 1970 we were taken on to work security at a very big music festival, which was almost like Australia’s equivalent of America’s famous Woodstock Pop festival. It was called ‘The Sunbury Pop Festival’. Soon after, a very well-known music promoter called Paul Dainty phoned us and said he was bringing The Rolling Stones to Australia and asked if we’d like to be their personal bodyguards. That pretty much started my work as a Personal Bodyguard, a career that lasted for around 20 years.” - Richard Norton While in the states he formed a friendship with American martial arts icon and movie star Chuck Norris. This would lead to him landing a screen role as the ninja Kylo, in the Octagon(1980). A part playing one of the heroes in the Robert Clouse directed movie Force Five (1981), soon followed. Mr Norton has gone onto amass sixty seven film & T.V roles, which he continues to add to. Not to mention all his stunt & fight choreography work, with over thirty four credits to date. "Everything great that has happened in my life, like traveling the world as a rock and roll bodyguard and doing martial arts movies, has come as a result of just wanting to be the best martial artist possible" - Richard Norton Above 1992 Martial Arts film written & directed by Terence H. Winkless. Force Five solidified his career/future working in action movies, and T.V from around the world. Norton made his striking Hong Kong film debut in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars(1985) alongside Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Jackie Chan. Proving he could work well in the highly demanding and tough world of 1980's Asian cinema. During the making of the Sammo Hung directed Millionaires Express(1986), he would form a long term friendship with fellow Martial Artist Cynthia Rothrock. Which would lead to many on-screen colloborations between the pair. The Robert Clouse directed hit China O'Brien (1990) and its (1990) sequel being just two of the duos many on-screen team-up's. With over forty years expeirience in the entertinament business, Mr Norton has amassed an impressive and varied filmogrpahy. In 2015 he got a supporting role in George Millers long awaited Mad Max Fury Road. With him currently working on the movie The Queen City Murder's, there's no sign of Richard Norton retiring anytime soon. He's also set to take on action duties, for the up-coming D.C comic inspired Suicide Squad sequel. Norton remains dedicated to the Martial Arts and weight training worlds, two things that have helped him to stay strong and healthy throughout his life. Trivia - In the many years he's studied the fighting arts, Norton has pracaticed Thai Boxing, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Aikido. - He recently recieved a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - He and Fellow Martial Artist/bodyguard Bob Jones created the style Zen Do Kai. - Trained with many Martial Artists including Tadashi Yamshita, Pete Cunningham, The Machado Brothers, Bill Wallace to name a handful. - Accomplished fight choreographer, recently contributing to the action in Suicide Squad (2016). Filmography (1980 - 2022) 1980 - 1989 - The Octagon (1980) - Force Five (1981) - Forced Vengeance (1982) - Gymkata (1985) - Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985) - American Ninja (1985) - The Millionaires Express (1986) - Magic Crystal (1986) - Fight to Win (1987) - Equalizer 2000 (1987) - Return of The Kickfighter (1987) - Future Hunter's (1988) - Jungle Heat (1988) - Bloodstreet (1988) - Not Another Mistake (1989) - Hyper Space (1989) - The Fighter (1989) - The Salute of The Jugger (1989) 1990 - 1999 - CHina O'Brien (1990) - Sword of Bushido (1990) - China O'Brien 2 (1990) - Lady Dragon (1992) - Raiders of The Sun (1992) - Ironheart (1992) - Rage and Honor (1992) - Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1992) - Good Vibrations (1992) - City Hunter (1993) - Rage And Honor 2 (1993) - Direct Hit (1994) - Cyber Tracker (1994) - Tough & Deadly (1995) - Under The Gun (1995) - Fugitive X:Forbidden Target (1996) - For Life or Death (1996) - Strategic Command (1996) - Mr Nice Guy (1997) - Black Thunder (1998) 2000 - 2009 - Nautilus (2000) - Amazons & Gladiator's (2001) - The Rage Within (2001) - Secret of The Shell (2001) - Redemption (2002) - Dream Warrior (2003) - Road House: Last Call (2006) - Under A Red Moon (2006) - Man of Blood (2008) - Dead in Love (2009) 2010 - 2019 - Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Underdog Kid's (2015) 2020 - 2022 - Rage (2021) T.V Roles 1992 - 2017 - Good Vibrations (1992) Mini-Series - Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1994) One Episode - Water Rats (1997) Two Episodes - The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997 - 1998) Three Episodes - Walker Texas Ranger (1993 - 2001) Five Episodes - Spartacus (2013) One Episode - Tiger Cops (2017) One Episode Fight Choreography & Stuntwork - The Octagon (1980) Stunts - An Eye for An Eye (1980) Stunts - Forced Vengeance (1982) Stunts - Gymkata (1985) Fight Choreographer - American Ninja (1985) Stunts - The Fighter (1989) Fight Choreographer - The Salute of The Jugger (1989) Stunts - Walker Texas Ranger (1993) Fight Choreographer on 3 Episodes - Rage (1993) Fight Choreographer - Tough & Deadly (1995) Stunts - Under The Gun (1995) Fight Choreographer - The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1994) Stunt Coordinator on 1 episode - Amazons & Gladiator's (1994) Stunt Coordinator - The Rage Within (2001) Fight Choreographer - Devils Pond (2003) Stunt Coordinator - Dream Warrior (2003) Stunt Coordinator - Blood Makes Noise (2005) Stunt Coordinator - Stealth (2005) Stunts - Nomad: The Warrior (2005) Fight Choreographer - The Virgin of Juarez (2006) Stunt Coordinator - Legend of King Naresean: Hostage of Hongsawadi (2007) Fight Choreographer - Legend of King Naresean: Part 2 (2007) Fight Choreographer - The Condemmed (2007) Stunts & Fight Choreography - Man of Blood (2008) Fight Choreographer - The Green Hornet (2011) Stunts - Borken Superman (2012) Stunt Coordinator - The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Stunts - Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Fight Choreogrpahy and Stunt performer - Suicide Squad (2016) Fight Choreography and Stunt performer - The Dancer (2016) Fight supervisor - Triple Frontier (2019) Fight Choreographer - X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) Edited July 5, 2022 by DragonClaws 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted January 29, 2017 Author Member Share Posted January 29, 2017 (edited) Richard Norton with singer Stevie Nicks. With singers Agnetha(Top Picture) and Frida(Bottom Picture) from ABBA. Edited February 2, 2017 by DragonClaws 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted January 30, 2017 Author Member Share Posted January 30, 2017 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted January 31, 2017 Author Member Share Posted January 31, 2017 Recently re-watched the Richard Norton movie Sword Of Bushido, you can read my review of this movie by clicking on the link below. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted January 31, 2017 Member Share Posted January 31, 2017 I've been watching some old King of the Cage MMA events where he was a commentator along with Eddie Bravo, he was quite good. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted January 31, 2017 Author Member Share Posted January 31, 2017 5 hours ago, Gaijin84 said: I've been watching some old King of the Cage MMA events where he was a commentator along with Eddie Bravo, he was quite good. I've never seen any of those events with him on commentary. Coincidentally last night I was watching a documentary, with him and Cynthia Rothrock, where they both share their opinions on MMA. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted January 31, 2017 Member Share Posted January 31, 2017 As far as I can tell he sat in as a guest commentator for KotC 9, 10 and 11. After that Don "The Dragon" Wilson took back over. Not sure if Don was out on a film shoot or something at the time (June to September 2001). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 1, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 1, 2017 22 hours ago, Gaijin84 said: As far as I can tell he sat in as a guest commentator for KotC 9, 10 and 11. After that Don "The Dragon" Wilson took back over. Not sure if Don was out on a film shoot or something at the time (June to September 2001). I used to follow a lot of the MMA events until the early noughties. Its become so huge now I don't know most of the fighters or events, except for the really well known ones. Here's the section from the documentary I posted, where Norton talks about MMA. It in English with German subtitles. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 3, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 3, 2017 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted February 3, 2017 Moderator Share Posted February 3, 2017 Richard is a guy who's never gotten set in his ways in terms of a martial arts style, he's always been open to new ideas and adding to his skill set. He's a phenomenonal martial artist, and a solid, dependable hand (on and off camera). And from all reports, a nice guy. Thanks for the thread. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted February 3, 2017 Member Share Posted February 3, 2017 On 2/1/2017 at 2:40 PM, DragonClaws said: I used to follow a lot of the MMA events until the early noughties. Its become so huge now I don't know most of the fighters or events, except for the really well known ones. Here's the section from the documentary I posted, where Norton talks about MMA. It in English with German subtitles. I both agree and disagree on a few of his points. I think for the most part the fighters in MMA are respectful to each other. There are a few prominent ones that have made a reputation of being disrespectful (Diaz brothers, Sonnen, McGregor), but a lot of it is pre-fight hype and afterwards they are more cordial. I do agree that unfortunately a lot of US fans are looking for a gladiator-like fight with blood and mayhem. In the early days they would boo if the fight ever went to the ground. Japanese fans would be silent for almost the whole match unless a submission or knockout was about to happen. They were much more educated on what was actually happening in the fight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 5, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 5, 2017 (edited) On 03/02/2017 at 0:09 PM, Asmo said: He's a phenomenonal martial arts, and a solid, dependable hand (on and off camera). And from all reports, a nice guy. I get the impression he's a nice guy from his interviews. He's doesn't appear to have a big ego or edge to him at all. On 03/02/2017 at 0:09 PM, Asmo said: Thanks for the thread. No problem, feel free to add anything to this thread, its for everyone on the forum. Hope to be adding more stuff over the coming months. On 03/02/2017 at 3:18 PM, Gaijin84 said: I do agree that unfortunately a lot of US fans are looking for a gladiator-like fight with blood and mayhem Have to say I preffered MMA when it was different styles going up against each other. Now its become its own style, with competitors today being trained in the MMA style. Something that wouldnt havent happened in the early events. Recall Dan Seven saying in an interview, that they often didn't even know who else would be on the card. Edited February 7, 2017 by DragonClaws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 5, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 5, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted February 6, 2017 Member Share Posted February 6, 2017 On 2/5/2017 at 1:16 PM, DragonClaws said: Have to say I preffered MMA when it different styles going up against each other. Now its become its own style, with competitors today being trained in the MMA style. Something that wouldnt havent happened in the early events. Recall Dan Seven saying in an interview, that they often didn't even know who else would be on the card. Not sure if this is what you mean, but people cross-train much more in different styles. There is no "style" called MMA. The top fighters today are well versed in wrestling and BJJ or Judo (leaning toward BJJ) and have striking training usually with a Muay Thai base that can incorporate knees effectively. A few, like McGregor are strong boxers. You've also had strikers (GSP, Liddell) whose basis came from full-contact karate disciplines, like Kyokushin or Kempo. Admittedly, the days of a strict style vs style with no outside influences is long gone, but this is because it proved pretty ineffective when it ran into something the practitioner hadn't seen before. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 7, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 7, 2017 (edited) 23 hours ago, Gaijin84 said: Not sure if this is what you mean, but people cross-train much more in different styles. There is no "style" called MMA. The top fighters today are well versed in wrestling and BJJ or Judo (leaning toward BJJ) and have striking training usually with a Muay Thai base that can incorporate knees effectively. A few, like McGregor are strong boxers. You've also had strikers (GSP, Liddell) whose basis came from full-contact karate disciplines, like Kyokushin or Kempo. Admittedly, the days of a strict style vs style with no outside influences is long gone, but this is because it proved pretty ineffective when it ran into something the practitioner hadn't seen before. In my eyes it has become its own thing seperate to other Martial Arts disiplines. I've seen courses advertised for people to become MMA trainers. Local schools offer MMA training, to me that shows its become its own style. Before the UFC etc got very big, you never used to see the words MMA in magazines/media or on dojo walls. Royce Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu did pretty well, against the styles that it hadnt been up against before. These are just my views, I'm by no means an expert on the subject. Edited February 7, 2017 by DragonClaws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Gaijin84 Posted February 7, 2017 Member Share Posted February 7, 2017 8 hours ago, DragonClaws said: In my eyes it has become its own thing seperate to other Martial Arts disiplines. I've seen courses advertised for peple to become MMA trainers. Local schools offer MMA training, to me that shows its become its own style. Before the UFC etc got very big, you never used to see the words MMA in magazines/media or on dojo walls. Royce Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu did pretty well, against the styles that it hadnt been up against before. These are just my views, I'm by no means an expert on the subject. I see what you're saying, but if someone goes into a school that offers "MMA" training, they're not learning a new style, they are learning different applications of existing martial arts. No one has invented a new style per se, they have taken the parts of existing styles that have proven most effective in the MMA environment and rule set. "MMA" as a term is more of a marketing tool now because that is what people recognize and it can get them in the door of the school. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 9, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 9, 2017 Richard Norton with former UFC middle weight champion and fellow Martial Artist Frank Shamrock(Brother of Ken Shamrock) Image from Nortons's FaceBook page Link- https://en-gb.facebook.com/RichardNortonFanPage/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 12, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) Looking forward to reading this interview/article, about Richard Norton's time in the Phillipines, by @Mike Leeder Edited February 13, 2017 by DragonClaws 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mike Leeder Posted February 13, 2017 Member Share Posted February 13, 2017 Thanks! Just finishing it up right now, for this interview we focus on Mission Terminate, Norton battles Bruce Le and Dick Wei and Equalizer 2000 its Richard, the bombastic and boobtastic Corrine Wahl, a BFG vs a pre Terminator 2 Robert Patrick! will post the link when its up 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted February 21, 2017 Author Member Share Posted February 21, 2017 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 5, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 5, 2017 Norton with former Wrestler, actor and host of Broken Skull Challenge, Steve Austin. Richard Norton worked with Austin on the movie Condemmed(2007), working on the fight choreography. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 9, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 9, 2017 Richard Norton training with friend and fellow martial artist/actor Chuck Norris. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kingofkungfu2002 Posted March 22, 2017 Member Share Posted March 22, 2017 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 26, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 26, 2017 Great video @kingofkungfu2002, thanks for sharing it in this thread. Richard Norton still in great shape, on the set of George Millers fourth Mad Max movie, Fury Road. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DragonClaws Posted March 28, 2017 Author Member Share Posted March 28, 2017 Richard Norton had this to say about working with actress Scarlett Johansson, on the set of Ghost In A Shell. Quote Thrilled to have been a part of training Scarlett in fight skills for the role of Major in GITS. She was a joy to work with and ended up performing well over 90% of her own fight scenes in the movie. Check out the trailer. It looks fantastic. Link- https://www.facebook.com/RichardNortonFanPage/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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