Barry Gabrewski, a troubled and bullied asthmatic boy in Houston, Texas, lives with his widowed father, Jerry Gabrewski. A loner, Barry harbors vivid daydreams about being Chuck Norris' sidekick and about battling Norris' on-screen enemies. These foes often take the shape of his everyday tormentors: class bully Randy Cellini; their loudmouthed and demanding PE instructor, Coach Horn; and the apathetic Principal Mapes. Barry’s favorite teacher, Noreen Chan, often appears in these daydreams as the damsel in distress, and the parodies tilt toward Norris’ action-packed films.
Yearning to defend himself, Barry longs to learn martial arts, but is rejected by the arrogant dojo-master Kelly Stone for being too weak. Instead, a kindly, aging Chinese man named Mr. Lee, who runs the local restaurant “Frying Dragon” and happens to be Noreen’s sly uncle, agrees to take Barry on as a student. Mr. Lee devises training methods that push Barry’s stamina and help his asthma, all while recognizing Barry’s hero-worship of Norris from his daydreams. He weaves that admiration into the lessons, crafting scenarios that feel dangerous enough to provoke a real sense of bravery when Barry succeeds.
Lee, Barry, and Chan enter a local team karate tournament, though they learn that a team must have four members. Norris attends the tournament as a guest, and, urged by Chan, joins the team to lend his presence and, in Lee’s view, to teach Stone a lesson in humility. Barry is stunned to find himself sharing the arena with his hero, and the prospect of competing alongside Norris adds a strange but thrilling dimension to his preparation.
The tournament unfolds across four events: Breaking, Men's Weapons, Female Kata, and Freestyle fighting. Stone’s team narrowly defeats Chan in the Female Kata, while Lee defeats Cellini in Breaking. True to his word, Norris defeats Stone in Freestyle, and Barry—bolstered by a vivid daydream—claims victory in the Men's Weapons. The overall result is a tie between Stone’s team and Lee’s team. In the deciding tie-breaker, Lee selects Barry and Cellini, explaining that Barry has something to prove. Stone chooses Breaking as the tiebreaker, which pits Barry against Cellini in the event he fears most. Lee tilts the odds by lighting Barry’s bricks on fire with lighter fluid, transforming the task into a more heroic-feeling challenge, and Barry rises to the moment and wins.
After the tournament, Barry thanks Norris for his help; Norris vanishes, and it’s implied that Barry has found the strength to live without his daydreams. The story closes with a small, hopeful moment: a young boy in a wheelchair discovers Barry’s Chuck Norris magazine and reacts with a delighted, exclamatory “Wow!”
> Wow!
