Episode 126 - Mr. Dale Frye
Mr. Dale Frye, aka "Sunshine," is a world champion kickboxer turned actor and stuntman.
Mr. Dale Frye - Episode 126
I said, wait a minute. We just sat here and beat on each other for six rounds, and it was fun. And it's like, maybe we need to be looked at or something.
Mr Dale Frye has done a lot. From winning world-titles in kickboxing to an acting resume that's been impressive for decades. Whether it's kicks or stunts or acting, Mr. Frye, also known by his fighting name, Sunshine, has left his mark. We had a good chat and I think you'll enjoy it. Let's welcome him to the show.
Today we're featuring our awesomely-comfortable sweatpants. They're perfect for anyone that has legs and gets cold. Available at whistlekick.com.[gallery type="slideshow" ids="2269,2270,2271,2272,2273,2274,2275,2276"]
Show Notes
Actor - Chuck Norris, Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van DammeMovies - Cyborg, The CrowYou can see Mr. Frye's lengthy stunt and acting credit list on his IMDb profile.We mentioned that Kyoshi Kevin Hudson introduced us.You can follow Mr. Frye on Facebook.
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below or download here.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Hello, everyone. It’s time for another episode of Martial Arts Radio, the show that brings you amazing stories from the world’s best martial artists. Today we’re talking to Mr. Dale Frye, and this is episode 126. At Whistlekick, we make the world’s best sparring gear, and here on Martial Arts Radio, we bring you the web’s best podcast on the martial arts twice a week. Welcome. My name’s Jeremy Lesniak and I'm the host and founder of Whistlekick Sparring Gear and Apparel. Thank you to the returning listeners, and welcome to those of you checking us out for the first time.
Today we’re featuring our sweatpants. Available in both black and grey, they're pretty much the perfect pants. They're incredibly comfortable, they’ve got side pockets and open ankle, none of that annoying cuff at the bottom of your pants, and with both elastic and a drawstring. Check them out in both, like I said, black and grey, and maybe you want to get two pairs because you might have trouble wearing anything else, at least that's the feedback we get from some of our customers.
If you want to see the show notes, including some incredible celebrity photos and links to everything we talk about today with Mr. Frye, you can find those at WhistlekickMartialArtsRadio.com. If you're not on the newsletter list, what are you waiting for? We send out exclusive content, and it’s the only place to find out about upcoming guests for the show. As a thank you for joining, we’re going to send you our top ten tips for martial artists, an exclusive podcast episode. Sign up for the newsletter at any of our websites.
Mr. Dale Frye has done a lot, to be blunt, from winning world titles in kickboxing, to an acting resume that’s been impressive for literally decades. Whether it’s kicks, or stunts, or acting, Mr. Frye - who is also known by his fighting name, Sunshine - has certainly left his mark. We had a great chat, and I think you'll enjoy it. Let’s welcome him to the show.
Mr. Frye, welcome to Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Glad to be here.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It’s a pleasure to have you here, and looking forward to learning all about you, and your journey through the arts, and kickboxing, and traveling the world, and those title belts that I know we’re going to get into in just a little bit, but we always start in a pretty straightforward way because it gives me, it gives the audience context for who we’re going to talk to. How did you get started in
martial arts?
Mr. Dale Frye:
I started in martial arts at … You know, it’s funny. My brothers had some boxing gloves, and all the neighborhood kids would box and what, and I guess they kind of grew out of them, and I acquired them. Me and my buddies boxed in the neighborhood, and that was the beginning of any … I guess I wouldn't call that martial arts, but fighting per se. I wrestled in high school. I took martial arts early, and then I wrestled in high school and got out of the martial arts a little bit, and picked it back up, and then I got into boxing, and then after that I got into kickboxing. That was the process that kind of took me into it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, so that's … It’s kind of a broad start, right?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, very broad.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You know, what we might call traditional martial arts, and boxing, and wrestling, and then finally to kickboxing, so there must have been something in those earlier trainings and classes that you enjoyed, but it wasn't quite what you were looking for.
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, at that time, I really liked the fighting part of it. I really, I just liked the fighting part. I wasn't into the forms, and doing nunchucks and sais and whatnot. I just liked the fighting part of it. It is what it is what it is, but that's what I liked.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What was it about that that really resonated for you?
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, I wish I could put my finger on that, Jeremy. One time, me and my buddy, was sparring. We were boxing at his house one day. He’s got a little gym set up at his house, and we sparred five or six rounds, beating on each other, and after the fact, I hugged him and he hugged me, and I said, “Man, that was fun.” It had never hit me before until that day. I said, “Man, we just sat here …” This was my buddy Randy Ballard, who was a trainer as well. It never hit me until that day. I said, “Wait a minute. We just sat here and beat on each other for six rounds, and it was fun?” It’s like, man, maybe we need to be looked at or something. Maybe we need to be checked out, because that doesn't seem right, but it is what it is, and I wish somebody could shine some light on me what is it about that physical contact and getting hit on that it’s fun. I don't think it’s for everybody, but there's a certain faction of us that really like it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mr. Dale Fry:
Can you shine a light on me there?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, I don't know. I don't know. Did other contact sports ever appeal to you? Football, or lacrosse, or rugby, or something like that?
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, I raced motocross back in the day, and that was not really a contact sport. It’s physical, but I guess I was too small to play football. I did play football a couple of years in junior high, and like I said, maybe the wrestling, but I did really well in motocross, but no, no-
Jeremy Lesniak;
That’s an intense sport. You're-
Mr. Dale Frye:
I love basketball. I play basketball. I love playing basketball, but, like I said, that wasn’t really … Sometimes you go contact, but it’s, I guess, it’s just the athletic stuff of it, I guess, but the actual getting hit on, I can't understand why we enjoyed that like we did.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, maybe as we talk, we’ll come up with some theories.
Mr. Dale Frye:
There you go.
Jeremy Lesniak:
We can talk about it some more. I mean, who-
Mr. Dale Fry:
Them viewers can pitch in on that and help us out.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, that's right.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Some listeners, I should say.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right. Right. I mean, we’ll put some pictures up, but, no, fortunately this is not a video show. I am certainly not dressed for anything of that nature. I'm standing here in athletic shorts and a t-shirt. Not really the way I’d put myself out there if this was a video show.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Well, as long as you’re comfortable.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now, of course, you've had some time traveling, and kickboxing, and some titles, and things like that. Everybody’s got their stories, and I'm sure you've got a ton of them. Tell us your best one. Like if somebody pinned you down and said, “You know, you’ve got to entertain us with your greatest moment,” what would that be?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Well, one that sticks out … One that sticks out was probably … You know, it’s funny how once you retire, which I've been retired probably 12 years or something like that. Once you retire, you think about it, it’s crazy, the ones you think about are the ones that you lost. You know, even though … I was out in South Dakota one time, and I saw this sign. I think it was Sitting Bull, and he had … This reporter, this American reporter had been following this big Indian séance thing they have every year. It lasts for like a week, and he had been reporting on this thing, and he asked I think it was Sitting Bull, or Crazy Horse, one of those two Indian Chiefs, and I read this on a sign out there, and he said, “Look, I've been here for a week, and I have not heard anybody say anything about the Battle of Little Big Horn,” which is the greatest American, I mean, the greatest Indian victory of all time. You know, when they beat down Custer? You know, Custer’s Last Stand and all that?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right. Right.
Mr. Dale Frye:
And Sitting Bull said, he said, “Yes,” he said, “victory is sweet, but it is fleeting, but defeat lingers longer, and cuts deeper.” And I said, “Wow.” And that's the way it is in kickboxing. Now, I have obviously won more fights than I’ve lost, but those ones that you lose really stick out.
I fought a kid with my first … I had a chance at my first world title in Memphis, Tennessee. I was fighting a kid by the name of Norris Williams, and he had been knocking out everybody in the second and third rounds, so I went out there being a little bit cautious. I said, “Man, I don't want to go home and tell everybody I got knocked out in the second or third round,” so I was a little bit cautious in those first couple of rounds. Then, after about three rounds, I said, “Man, this guy didn't hit any harder than anybody else I've been in with,” so we went at it for 12 rounds, and he beat me. In a 12-round fight, he beat me by one point for a world title.
It was crushing, man. I literally cried in the … And I still get a little choked up today when I think about it. He was a great fighter, and he won that fight, and for whatever … Maybe I shouldn't have been cautious to begin with, whatever. It wasn't meant to be, but it taught me a lot, and you have to pick up. He moved up. I think he moved up in weight. In about a year later, I got another shot at a world title, and was able to win it then. I won some other titles in some lesser divisions as well, but those defeats, Jeremy, really stick with you.
You know, I could say I probably lost only two fights I really got beat at. I had to lose weight a lot of times, and cutting weight, sometimes I would catch a little cold or get a little sick or something. I fought plenty of times. I won some fights when I wasn't 100%, but a lot of times I would lose because of that. When I lost my title, I was as sick as I could be. It went 12 rounds, and I lost 12-round decision, but that's what you do. You know what I mean? Even though losing weight was hard, I couldn't just [abdicate] the title and say, “Look, I'm going to just give this up,” because I worked hard to get it. Later in my career I started lifting weights and bulked up just a little, but I mean got a little muscle on it, but that made it even harder to lose that weight.
One story that sticks out is that when I lost my first world title is when I lost. I didn't go crazy. I didn't quit, stomp. I did cry a little bit, and picked up the pieces and moved on, and had a nice career after that. I held my title for six years straight, so that was a big accomplishment. Getting the title’s one thing, but holding onto it is quite another.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of pressure when you're the champion, I would expect.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah. Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
People expecting you to win, and some people respond well to that kind of pressure. Some people - I'm in this category - do better being the underdog.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Mhmm.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, when you lost that fight, what was it like to recover psychologically from that? I mean, physically, I think everyone can understand what that's like. You're banged up. We know how to heal physically, but something that meant so much to you, and to be so close …
Mr. Dale Fry:
Well, like I say, it’s …
Jeremy Lesniak:
… what was like to …?
Mr. Dale Frye:
It is a blow, man. That is sure, because I had been working very hard, and this is your dream. When you start ... There comes a point where you start thinking, “Man, I want to be a world champion. I want to be a world champion kickboxer,” and that's your dream, and I obviously had the kicking background and the boxing background, and I would have never been a world champion did I not have that boxing background. I’ll say that to anybody, but the boxing part really helped me out. Even though I had good kicks, the boxing really saved me. It really helped me out a lot.
It’s like losing a girlfriend. You have to just put in some time, man. You have to put in some time because this is a dream, and you've been working this hard, and to get that close to it, and it is like having the rug pulled out from under you. Like I say, and I’ll go to talk to kids and stuff at schools and whatnot, and I’ll tell them this story. I’ll say, “In life, you don't get everything you want. You don't get the girlfriend that you want, you may not get the job you want, or the tennis shoes you want,” and I will say, “You know, you don't just quit. You don't start drinking, going crazy, doing drugs, and just try to wash it out. You just suck it up.”
Time, like I say, time heals everything, but it was a tough time. Even when I went back - and I always take a little time off after a fight - and when I went back to it, having that same spark, it took a little bit, but it’s like I say, you just have to put in some time. You have to grieve a little bit, and I did that, and just take some walks and stuff like that, but you have to move on.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Fortunately, I learned from it. You know, being your first world title, the first time you're going 12 rounds, so that's in the back of your head. Twelve rounds is a long time when you've never done it, you know, so it’s always in the back of your head, to begin with anyway. There was a lot going on, and mentally ... I think about when I first started getting recognized as a good kickboxer. My name came out in the top ten ratings for the world, and when you see your name in the magazine like you're in the top ten in the world, you kind of think, “Man, I don't know. The top …The world’s a big place. Do I really … Do I really belong here? Am I that good?” You question yourself sometimes, and then as you grow … And I’ll compare it to going to school. You go to first grade, second grade, third, and you go all the way up, and there's learning steps along the way. It’s how you develop, you’re young, so there's something to be said with maturity and age. You just learn stuff and pick up on stuff.
Like when I wrestled, man. Sometimes I either won or lost before I ever got on the mat, because mentally I knew who this guy was, and I said, “Man, I’m going to do this, that, and the other, and I’m probably going to lose this fight. I might …” You know? I didn't have the attitude that I got later on in kickboxing, where I was not able to get mean and stuff like that, and I’m a pretty easy-going person, but once you learn to get mean, and …
When I first won my first big karate kickboxing title it was out in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This guy I was fighting had a jacket on that says Colorado Golden Gloves, or something about Golden Gloves, and there was a time when, because I really respected boxing, there was a time when I’d seen something like that would have just giving that guy a mental edge. I might have said, “Oh, man. He’s a boxer. He obviously … Golden …” That might have psyched me out a little bit, but that was the day that I said, “I don't care if he has a jacket on that says, ‘I just beat King Kong.’ I’m going to beat that boy’s a** today. It’s just the way it is. I don't care what he done, who he beat. He’s got it coming today.”
That particular day, that night, day, whatever, that's when it really hit for me, and my whole personality … You can have all the physical attributes you need, but you have to have the full package - the mental, the physical, the skills. It’s all got to come together. Even the spiritual part of it comes in, but that day is where it really hit for me, where I became a world caliber fighter that day, if I had to pin point. I may have gone off on your question a little bit, but there we have it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
No, that's alright. Tangents are great, welcomed, in fact, on this show.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Hey, thank you, brother. Thanks for having me. It’s an honor.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure, sure. So, we’re starting to get a picture of who you are, of what makes you tick, of what has drawn you and kept you in the martial arts, in kickboxing, for so long, but outside of that, what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies, any pursuits that you enjoy that don't involve kicking people in the head?
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, this is crazy … Yeah. You know, I love to work out. I love to work out. I have people now that say, “Oh, I need to get into shape,” and I say, “This is great because I love to work out.” I like lifting weights, I like shooting basketball, I love to surf. I love to surf. I still ride my motocross bike. I love that. I have a mountain bike I ride. I still box a little bit, and kick some, and hit the bag and work out because I love working out, and do some swimming. Surfing and motocross probably are the biggest thrills for me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What is it about surfing? In various parts of my life now I’m starting to get exposed to people that have either been surfing for a little while or for a long time, and there seems to be something very different about it versus everything else that I know, just the way people talk about it. For you, what is it about surfing that you enjoy?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Surfing … I was telling somebody a story just the other day. There was a storm out, and this was in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. It may have been Myrtle Beach. This would have been a long time ago, back even when I’d only been surfing a few years. There was a storm out, so these waves were probably eight-foot waves, and it was … I was out on the … Oh, it was at Myrtle Beach because that's where we used to go jump over … We’d climb over … You know, whenever a storm comes, they would shut down the pier. There would be no fishing, so the pier guys, they would just close up. They'd be gone, so we would go out and climb over the fence, and climb over the building, and walk out to the end of the pier to keep out from having to paddle out through all these storm waves, because sometimes it will take you 30 minutes to get out through some of these storm waves. We would go out over the pier and jump off the end of the pier, and then paddle out into the waves, just to save us from having to paddle through all that storm surge.
I was out on a day like that, and the waves … You were just rising up with the wave and then coming back down when the wave would go over you, and it’s really that particular day, it was majestic, man. It was almost holy, because Mother Nature, as sweet as the ocean is, it’s pretty to look at, but when the storm comes, it changes everything. It was just godly to be sitting out on that water on a surfboard surfing. Just being in it, you can hear the wave breaking around you and the wind whipping around, but it is majestic, man. That was one feeling that I’ll never forget. That was the highlight of my surfing career right there. Me and one of my buddies, Cal Johnson, have been to Costa Rica a couple of times surfing, and that was a big highlight of my surfing career. There's some great waves out there.
Surfing is you get a little exercise, and just that nature, man. There's something to that nature that draws you to it. That would be my answer to that, and I can't … I guess you just have to do it. You know, the first time … It’s like anything. You practice a little, and you do it, and the first time you get up on a wave, oh wow. It’s pure excitement, and fun, and joy, and all that good stuff. Then, as you learn to ride a wave, it just changes everything. It’s a cool sport. It really is. It’s a cool sport.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now, I don't know if we’re stumbling onto an answer to your turned question back to me about why, kickboxing, why you would like it, but the three things that you've spoken of - kickboxing, surfing, and motocross - the thing that I see them having in common is if you're not intently focused, you can get really hurt.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You've got to be present. You've got to know what you're doing and really pay attention.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Well, I go with that on motocross. Surfing, I always say, you know, I've been hit in the head with a surfboard, but basically you know you're going to fall in the water. There have been times I've surfed out in Hawaii before, and there's coral reefs you have to worry about. They're pretty shallow, so you have to be careful out there. Yeah, you can get hurt, and I've been tossed around in some waves a little bit for sure, but I would think surfing would be the lesser of the three.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure.
Mr. Dale Frye:
But, yeah, you could get … And there's creatures out in the water that could do something to you, I guess.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right. Right. Certainly a little bit more risk with surfing than basketball, or you know, reading.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah. Yeah, but you're right on motocross. That is for sure, man, on motocross, you have got to be … If you've got female troubles, or money problems, or whatever, when you're really dialing in on a motocross bike, everything is right there. That is for sure. You have got to be right there. Whatever else is going on, you can think about that when this is over, especially when there's some other bikes around you, like you're really racing somebody, somebody’s trying to pass you, or you're trying to pass somebody. Yeah, it’s pretty intense, and that's a blast right there. That's what that is. Just a blast. You get two, three people that are about the same skill levels racing one another, oh man. It doesn't get any better than that.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So you've mentioned a couple times about troubles and bringing your troubles and having to ignore them. I'd like you to tell us about a time in your life where something didn't go right. I mean, you've talked a little bit about that first world title opportunity, so let’s take that one out of the mix, but some time where something didn't go well and you were able to use what you've learned from your martial arts training to move through that time.
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, I've had a pretty charmed life, so I haven't had too many setbacks thus far, you know? I've lost some friends and whatnot, as we all have, but next to that fight, next to that fight, I can't think of anything right off the top of my head. I mean, if something comes up later …
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay. Yeah, we can come back to that for sure.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah. Fortunately, I can say I haven't had too many setbacks, anything that really sticks out or just makes me say, “Oh, yeah, that.” No, so ...
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Other than that, losing that fight, that would … I mean, we've all had our ups and downs, don't get me wrong, but nothing really drastic, you know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Alright.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Other than that fight. Right off the top of my-
Jeremy Lesniak:
If you had to pick one person that was the most influential on your time through the martial arts, who would that be?
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, I like Sugar Ray Leonard. I pull for him, and I know he wasn't a martial artist. He was a boxer, but I would have to say my brother was more the most influential person. I don't know if you say … I've spent time … I trained with Joe Lewis. When Joe Lewis was first making his comeback, he was working out … We were both working out at a Fort Bragg gym in North Carolina here, so that was cool having him there and around. We became pals there, but I would have to say the biggest influence on me would have to be my brother, Bruce, and he is not a-
Jeremy Lesniak:
Tell us about Bruce.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Bruce played in a little progressive country music band back in the day, and he had a nice following. He was well thought of. He had a nice, great band, and I think he was a little bit ahead of his time. He was kind of like the country people are now. He was kind of like that 20 years ago, so I think he was a little bit ahead of his time.
He got saved … I can't remember exactly ... Probably eight years ago, something like that, he got saved and now he’s Evangelist. He goes all over the place telling his story, and still plays music, and has a couple of Christian CDs and that type thing.
He actually did a little boxing with me as well. He actually started kind of when I started, but he was doing the music thing. He actually had a couple of amateur fights, but we were just like-minded guys back in the day. We were tight, and we’re still tight. He was a big influence on me then, and he’s still a great influence on me now. He’s just good people. One of them people you like to be around, and he was always good. He worked my corner when he could get to them. Some fights, like the Las Vegas fight, he couldn't make. Whenever he was there, anywhere close, he would be in my corner, so I would have to go … I’d have to say my brother, Bruce.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It’s nice when those family ties can offer support, and I don't know that I would say it’s a recurring theme, but you're certainly not the first one to name an immediate family member. It’s often a parent, but to have that support from such a close perspective, I think, is pretty important. When someone’s going to compete at the level that you did, certainly to have that foundation of the people that you love and you trust, to know that they're going to be there for you and they support what you're doing, that's got to be pretty meaningful.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Oh, absolutely. Even my mother, man, my mother went, and I know that had to be hard on her, but she would go to my fights and you could hear on some tapes, you could hear her in the tape, “Get him! Get him!” You could her pulling for me. I have another brother. His name’s Sammy, and he would come to some fights as well. He’s a good influence as well.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, clearly competing is something that you enjoyed. I mean, we've heard about a number of things where you've enjoyed competition.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, it’s starting to look that way, isn't it?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, absolutely. Let’s dig in a little bit to your kickboxing career.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Alright.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How long were you active? You mentioned retirement a few years ago.
Mr. Dale Frye:
I had about a 16-year career, my whole fighting career. I started amateur boxing, and I got a late start in it, and maybe that's good, maybe it's bad, but it worked out for me. I'm very athletic anyway, and even back when … When I told you my brothers gave up the boxing gloves, and I commandeered them and me and my neighborhood guys would box. It was funny. Even back then, I would box one guy, and then he’d take the gloves off, put them on somebody, and I’d box him, then he would take … and I would box … so I had a little natural knack for it even back then. I think my conditioning was always … That was one of the things that helped me in my kickboxing career is, one of the things people knew that if you're going to fight Dale Frye, you got to be ready to go 12 rounds, because he’s going to be just as good in the twelfth round as he is in the first round, so you've got to be ready for that. Where that came from, I don't know, but I notice when I think back, even in boxing when we were 12, 13 years old, I guess, I had some stamina. I had a little knack for it even then.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What did you do to stay so competitive? That's not the right word. To keep your cardiovascular fitness that good that you could … I've never heard anybody talk about going 12 rounds and being anywhere close to as good in that twelfth round.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So what was it you were doing that … I bet I'm not the only one listening going, “Man, I want to know his secret.”
Mr. Dale Frye:
Right. You know, there's nothing but hard work right there. I can say for one, I enjoyed working out. I enjoyed the physical part of it, and the competition. I enjoyed it, but when I didn't fight, I was playing basketball, or I was … I would take jogs just periodically. When I wasn't fighting, I had a regimen. I would go shadow box three rounds, hit the heavy bag three rounds, speed bag three rounds, and jump rope three rounds, so that's twelve rounds, and that was just my kind of … I did that not every day, but probably five times a week, even when I wasn't fighting.
Once I became a world champion, I only fought once or twice a year then, so I had more time. I was just always in great shape, man. Usually after a fight, even the next day, I would go out and play basketball, or do something, mess around. I had one fight, I fought a kid by the name of Gamma … No, his name was Jimmy Tapia. He was the number four contender from Denver, Colorado. I defended my title against him in Fayetteville, North Carolina. We went 12 rounds, and I was a little better than him, but I had to deal with him for the whole 12 rounds. He was steady coming the whole 12 rounds, and even in the 11th round … He had a good spinning backfist. He was knocking people out with a spinning backfist, and every time he would throw it, he kind of gave it away, so I could see it coming, so I would just duck. But in the 11th round, he through that spinning backfist, and then behind that spinning backfist, he came with a back leg round kick, hit me right in the forehead, knocked me down. Took an eight count, got up, fortunately that was pretty close to the end of the round, and then went back, beat him in the twelfth round.
Basically, he probably won two rounds and I won ten rounds in that whole fight, but he definitely won the 11th round. That was just because I was in the physical condition I was, I was able to recuperate from that, and I have to attribute my physical fitness for that. That was one fight where I didn’t get sick from losing weight. I was as good as I could probably get that day. That was the only fight I’ve ever had where the next day I just layed around, watched football on TV, and just layed around, but every other fight besides that one, I was out doing … It didn't really affect me too bad.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Really? Wow. That's pretty impressive
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yup.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So, during your title career days, defending your titles, and going for titles, where you were only fighting once or twice a year, what changed in the way that you would prepare? Not just a few weeks out from the fight, but … How was your training, I guess, better question, how was your training different during those years than when you might be fighting amateur and I would assume having four, five, six fights in a year?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Well, I had ten amateur boxing matches, and my first kickboxing match was a pro bout, and I fought the North Carolina champion my very first pro bout. His name is Billy Inman, and we’re still pals to this day. We talk on the phone a couple times a month. We’re still pals, and he didn’t like me for a long time after that because that's the first time he’d ever been beaten, but we’re great pals now, man. He’s a good guy.
My very first kickboxing fight was against the North Carolina champion, and I won that title that day in a five-round fight, but the thing about it was we would sometimes fight two fights in a month, maybe three sometimes. They were four- and five-round fights, so it didn’t take that much out of you, but when you do a 12-round fight, it just takes a lot more. There's more going into it, and a lot of times there's more coming out of it. You just have to prepare a little bit differently. You know, to train for a five-round fight and train for a 12-round fight, it’s just a different ball of wax.
Jeremy, when I first started fighting, I had to graduate to this 12, because I used to watch these guys fighting. When I first started fighting, boxers were fighting 15 rounds. It was like, “Man, it’s all I can do to get three rounds of amateur boxing in.” Then, it went to kickboxing, it was like, “Man, it was four- and five-round fights, but it was all we could do to get to five rounds,” and I would be exhausted after the fact. Then, as your training picks up, the more you do it, that's the whole graduating. You just go from one grade to the next. You graduate, because it’s not something you could just jump out and do. You can’t just go out and do a 12-round fight right off the bat. It just doesn't happen. You have to work your way up to that.
As you well know, fighting really is not a natural thing. If you get two street guys out here fighting, and they wrestle around for 30 seconds, they’re both exhausted in just 30 seconds, because fighting is just, to me, it’s just not a natural thing. It took a while to be able … Obviously you're training where you're doing … When I was doing my three rounds on the heavy bag, and three rounds everything, and just my little everyday conditioning workout, you have to go to six rounds on doing these cycles. Heavy bag, six, seven, eight rounds on the heavy bag, so everything increases. Your sparring increases, you jump more rope, your run’s a little bit longer, you're doing sprints or whatever, everything increases.
My trainer at that time, Bill McDonald, was great about having you peak out. He would set me down at the beginning of the deal and he would say, “Alright, here’s what we have. This weight we’re going to be doing five rounds, then we’re going to go to seven, then we’re going to go to nine,” or whatever, he increases it, gradually increased it, and by the time a week out, you're in peak shape. He was good. He knows, and I hope everybody knows, you can’t stay in that peak shape for an extended period of time. It’s not healthy, it’s not good for you. It’s cool, it feels good to be in that kind of shape, but you can’t stay in that kind of shape for an extended period of time. He was good about getting me to that point, and then a couple of days rest before the fight, and then, bam, when the fight comes, it’s all … So there's a science to it. There's a method to the madness, you know, and there's a science to it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Yeah, it’s something that I’ve heard other people talk about, and I know certainly I've never done anything like that, where I've been structuring towards a particular event, outside maybe testing or whatnot, but I’d certainly know that I’ll get to a certain point and maybe back off, life just keeps me out of the gym, out of training for a few days.
Mr. Dale Fry:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Then you go back four, five, six days later after you're all rested up and you feel like a million bucks.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah. Yeah. It’s crazy how that rest works out.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Definitely something to that.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Even flexibility-wise, during training, you're stretching, you're stretching, and then after a few days rest, man, your stretches just go out. It’s crazy. I’ve said, “Man, I’m more flexible now than I was four days ago.” It’s crazy how that is.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now, you've talked about boxing a few times, and it’s really clear that you have a … I guess I could say a reverence for boxers and for boxing. Why-?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yes, that was kind of … That was my first love, I guess. That's what I first started. We used to do karate. When I sparred karate, I liked it, and we had to do the light contact and stuff. When I first started boxing, it was … It was like a white guy that was good, he could do well. A lot of time, these managers per se would scoop these white guys up and give them some easy wins, and they’ll be 10-0, and then throw them in with somebody, even a champion maybe, and they’ll get wiped out, but he makes some money, the manager makes money off of him, and that type of thing.
I never got … I was kind of looking to go into boxing to begin with, but I met Bill McDonald and he asked me to come down to help out his kickboxers with some boxing, and I did. There was a girl there that was going to do a karate tournament that following weekend, and she didn’t have anybody to spar with, so I said, “I’ll kick around with you.” Then when he saw that I could kick, he said, “Man, you've got to … You need to get into this kickboxing,” and this, that, and the other. I said, “Well, I think I’m okay with just two hands coming at me right now.
Then, one thing lead to another, and I really didn't find a manager per se that I felt good about doing business with, so I said, “I believe I will try this kickboxing.” At first, Bill said … When kickboxing first took off, you were either a kicker, or you came from the boxing background, or you came from the karate background. I obviously had a little bit of both, but I was a much better boxer than I was a kicker. Then, as it went, my kicks … As you go up the ladder, and especially when you get to the upper echelon, you have got to be good at both. When you get into the top ten, you have got to be good at kicking and boxing. As simple as that. It’s just like the UFC guys now. Some of them have … They're good boxers, some of them are good wrestlers, some of them are good kickers, but as they get better, you get to a point you have to be good at all of that stuff, and that’s the way it was in kickboxing.
That's the way I … It was either … When I was fighting, especially at the beginning, I was either boxing or I was kicking. It was never box, kick, box, you know, punch, kick, punch, kick. Later on I was able to mix it up, but not at the beginning of my career, but I still say I have a big affinity for boxing, that's for sure. I have a huge respect for boxers. To this day, that was my first love, for sure.
Jeremy Lesniak:
When you're working out now, how much of it is boxing, how much of it is kicking?
Mr. Dale Frye:
80% of it’s boxing.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Really? Okay, so that tells us a lot.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yup. Yeah. Yeah, but I still kick. You know, there's more … There's not a lot of kickboxers right here now. A lot of people are doing the ground game and all this, and I've gotten into some of that as well, and enjoy that as well, but I can see the parallels between the UFC stuff and the kickboxing back in the day because, like I said, some guys are either this, that, or the other. Then, as you get to it, you have to be able to be good on the ground, kicking, and boxing. I see a lot of parallels between the two.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Now, I've asked this of some of the guests that we've had, and I don't think we've done it on air, so I'm not going to betray their confidence, but we've had some that started in kickboxing decades ago, and I've asked them, “Had mixed martial arts been available to you at that time, do you think you would have gone that route instead?” They’ve said yes. I ask the same question of you. If MMA had been something you could have participated in rather than kickboxing, would you have chosen it
Mr. Dale Frye:
I'm sure I would have been right in the middle of it. I'm sure, because I had the kicking … I mean, it would have been right up my wheelhouse, because I had the wrestling background, even though some wrestling stuff doesn’t work in grappling, but you get the concept, you know?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mr. Dale Frye:
I had the wrestling background, I had the kicking background, and the boxing background. Yeah, I think it would have been a pretty natural fit for me. I’m sure I would have been right there. I’m glad it wasn't around because I don't like … I got cut a few times sparring and in some fights with elbows, getting hit with the elbow. I’m going to tell you, when you get hit with an elbow, it’s just going to happen. It’s amazing when people do get hit with an elbow and they don't get cut. It’s amazing to me. I've been cut a few times accidentally getting hit with an elbow, and I’m thinking, man, I’d have been cut up … In a way, I’m glad it wasn't around because it’s a rough sport. Probably no rougher than what we did, but just those elbows and knees just add a whole new dimension to it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. Sure do.
Mr. Dale Frye:
But it’s fighting. It’s fighting and the whole competitive … I'm sure I’d have been right there
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. You've mentioned some big names. Well, you mentioned one really big name - Joe Lewis - that you had the opportunity to work with him, and you and I have talked a little bit offline. You've mentioned some names. I'm curious, if you had the chance to work with someone you didn't, and we’ll open it up. It could be somebody from long ago that's passed on, or somebody that's still alive today. Who would you want to train with?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Well, everybody … I think everybody was probably … I guarantee that when you ask this, people … You've asked this question before, right?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, yeah. We ask this of every guest.
Mr. Dale Frye:
I’ll bet 90% of the people say Bruce Lee. Is that right?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Not quite 90%, but it’s probably 60 - 70%. Yeah, it’s a big chunk.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Right. You know, I can't think … I've got a buddy of mine. You know who James “Bonecrusher” Smith is? He’s a boxer.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I don't. I don't.
Mr. Dale Frye:
He was the heavyweight champion of the world at one time. He lost his title to Mike Tyson, back when Mike Tyson had his big day.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, okay.
Mr. Dale Frye:
He’s from my home town and we’re still friends to this day. We hang out, we chat on the phone, and play golf together, stuff like that. He was a good guy to know. He was a good, say a mentor, but I looked up to him because he was what I wanted to be, so I looked up to him. He was a good guy, but who would I want to train with? Man, I had some good guys that we trained … We … One of your guests, Kevin Hudson, and Brendan Carpenter, and my buddy Randy Ballard, and Tony Geouge, and Ronny [inaudible 44:15]. We had a good group of guys that to this day, we fight, we spar each other, but we are like brothers, to this day, even. I think that bond, that bond of fighting with somebody, it does something. I don't know if you've gotten this before, Jeremy, but it’s something when you get into the trench with somebody, and you beat on somebody, and they beat on you, it develops a little bond with you, as crazy as that sounds. You know, nobody …
Jeremy Lesniak:
We heard that from …
Mr. Dale Frye:
Go ahead.
Jeremy Lesniak:
We heard that from Kyoshi Kevin Hudson when he was on. His episode came out just a couple weeks now when we’re recording this. It’ll be a few weeks prior to when your episode comes out, but he said the very same thing, and I think we even pulled a quote about that out from that episode. We always do that, and list out a quote at the beginning of the episode. It’s something that I haven't experienced in that way. I've certainly built bonds with the people that I've trained with, but …
Mr. Dale Frye:
Sure.
Jeremy Lesniak:
… there seems to be a really strong component from the … I don't want to call it violence, but the physical pain ..
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yes.
Jeremy Lesniak:
… that you're sharing with someone else.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yes. Yup. I’ll tell you, on a bigger level, you can look at a football team, and I’m sure some of these … When these guys get together, they're thrown together in a group, and they work hard. They work. They work, and they become friends. They become brothers. You know, as a bigger level, this whole black and white thing, or whatever, I think when you get people together, regardless of whether they're black or white, and you've got the same goal going on, and you work, really, you just work at that goal, it brings you together. Just like, you look at a football team. There's no black and white on a football team. You know, these guys are a team.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Just like in my sport, we had … Even though kickboxing is an individual sport, you have a team behind you. You have a team - your managers, and my brothers, and your sparring partners. Just so happens, I had some good guys, Kevin Hudson one of them, and there was a core group of your … These guys, you're all after the same gold. Some of my best friends have been black guys. Demetrius “Oaktree” Edwards, who was the heavyweight kickboxing champion of the world back in the day, back when kickboxing first started, he was one of my training partners. He was in the gym where I was, and Curtis Crandall, who became a light heavyweight world champion, was in my gym. We worked out together, we ran together, we sparred together, and those guys to this day are like brothers to me, and the other guys, including Kevin Hudson. That's all I can understand is we worked hard together, and we fought each other. It’s some kind of a bond that goes with it, which I would think, like being in the military, when you go through that whole boot camp with somebody, you get a bond with them. You get a certain love for them, and trust for them, and all that good stuff. We’re getting deep now, brother.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah. That's what we do here.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Oh, right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Therapy you don't have to pay for, and other people get to listen.
Mr. Dale Frye:
There you go. Beyond scratching the surface, aren’t we?
Jeremy Lesniak:
That's right.
Mr. Dale Frye:
But there you have it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay.
Mr. Dale Frye:
There's a certain brotherhood for those people that you've been in the ditches with. I don't know if you can get it just sparring with someone one time or something, you know? I'm fortunately friends with some of the guys that I've fought with, and over years … Now, I fought a guy by the name of David Hamilton who lived in North Carolina, and he started coming to our gym later on. We were cutting eyes at each other. Fortunately, I was able to beat him. He was a great fighter, but we ended up becoming friends later on. I actually worked his corner a couple of fights, and we became good friends later on.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What's that like to shift from having the intent to hurt someone, and then … Do you back all that out? What's that transition like? It’s not something I've ever experienced, to fight with someone then become their friend.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Well, I’ll tell you … Yeah, with that particular guy, when we fought, I knew he was a good fighter, and we were in the same weight class, and from the same state, and a couple hours away. You know, eventually we were going to have to fight. Then, once we did, it was probably a year later when he came to my gym. It was funny. We were down there doing stretches, and I was stealing a peep at him, and he was doing the same to me. It was funny. We actually talked about it later, but it is a weird thing. There again, it’s just time. Over time, you know, we sparred a couple times, and then it just … He came to my … The more he came, the more … The fight, we just forgot about it. We never talked about it. It’s a done deal. We sparred several times, and he had a fight up in Atlantic City where my manager couldn't go, so I went with him and worked his corner. It’s just like an unspoken thing. We never even talked about it. It’s just a matter of time, just heals any wounds we may have had, or any transgressions we might have had from each other, but it was just time, I guess.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Alright
Mr. Dale Frye:
I’ll tell you, when it comes to fighting, because I'm a pretty easy-going guy, when it came to fighting, when I first started kickboxing, it would take me a couple of rounds to get into it. Later on, I … Jeremy, if I had a world title fight … I might be jumping ship on you here. I was always in pretty good shape, but my first two weeks … It would take me six weeks to get ready for a 12-round fight. In the first two weeks, I would be training, but I still might go out and go on a date or something like that, but in those last four weeks, I lived a pretty secluded life. I didn't go out, didn't mess with women. I don't drink or do drugs anyway, so I didn't have to worry about that. It was all … Those last four weeks leading up to that fight was … Everything I did pretty much, everything I ate, everything I did, had that fight … It was the ultimate sacrifice for a month, one month going into this fight. Yeah, I’d go to the mall and walk around or something like that maybe, but everything I did because of making weight, almost like everything I put in my mouth had something to do … How is this going to affect my training? How’s this? It was 100% into that fight that I had coming up. I was able to mean and stuff, because when you've been secluded for a month, it’s a lot easier to get mean. That's what worked for me, because I had a pretty easy-going, friendly personality anyway, so I got a switch over into the fighting mode, so it was a little bit of a transition for me, but it was a lot easier to do …
Jeremy Lesniak:
Understandable, for sure.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, I don't know if I could do it right ... I'm sure I could do it right now, but it’s easier to do when you've been locked up for about a month. Not locked up per se, but you know, everything’s … I stayed at the gym. Later on, I started staying at my buddy Randy’s in his apartment. For the first several years, I stayed at the gym. I had a little ... It was hardcore, man. I stayed at the gym. I had a little room in the back of the gym.
Jeremy Lesniak:
You were focused.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, that's what it was, it was focus. It was 100%.
Jeremy Lesnia:
Absolutely. A couple lighter questions now, and then we’ll get back into it.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
How about martial arts movies? There were any of those that … We like to ask all of our guests if they have any favorite movies. You got any?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Obviously the Bruce Lee movies. You know, when you were talking about martial arts, I have to say Chuck Norris was … I would like to hang out with him a little bit, and I had the chance to meet him a couple of times, one at a fight in El Paso, Texas, and one out at Las Vegas, Nevada. I met him a couple of times. Super nice guy both times I met him, and I've heard that from a lot of different people, but what makes him stand out for me is I fought a guy by the name of Troy Dorsey, who we are friends now as well, and in El Paso, Texas. I'm coming from North Carolina sea level, and El Paso has a little altitude to it, and he beat me at eight-round decision, but after the third round, it was like, “Man, I'm going to just try to keep from getting knocked out.” I couldn't breathe, man. I had no idea they had altitude in El Paso, Texas.
He’s a great guy, but he won the fight, but Chuck Norris, as I was leaving the ring, Chuck was there, and he made an effort. He saw me coming out of the ring and he made an effort. He come over there and hugged my neck. That always meant a lot to me. I really admired him for that. He’s a great guy, a great guy.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, without a doubt, he’s a class act. We’ve heard that from several people on this show.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, he’s a class act, man, but I’ll never forget that he made an effort. Obviously, he knew I just lost the fight, which is not good, but he made an effort to come over the there to hug my neck, to wish me the best, and the next time, I knew he wouldn't remember me, but several years later I saw him at Vegas. He was very friendly, very approachable. I think people see that. That movie, Walker: Texas Ranger, the television series, I think people see that. He may not be the best actor in the world, but he’s a good guy, and I think that comes through on camera. You know what I mean? He’s not a bad actor, don't get me wrong. Per se, acting.
I’ll tell you, Brandon Lee was a class act. I did a movie with him called The Crow, and he was a class act. Now, I never got to work out with him or anything like that, but we spent some time together, and I don't know if we’re talking about movie stuff yet, but I have a good story [inaudible 55:03].
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, let’s talk about movie stuff. I mean, that's a piece that we really haven't dug into.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Okay. Well, I did a movie … Now, I did a movie called The Crow with Brandon Lee, which he got killed in.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Before that, somewhere along the lines, we were sitting around on set, and I had the chance … He was just a class act, Jeremy. He was just a cool dude, and I had the chance to walk up there, and I said, “Look, I may not get a chance to tell you, but I just want to tell you, you are one … You are just a cool guy, and I want to say, man, it’s awesome to see that you're just a cool guy.” Bless his heart, he said, “Hey, you're the same way, Dale.” “Yeah, but I’m not the star of the show. That's the big difference here.” He was just one cool guy. It was a tragedy that happened to him, but he was one good guy. That was somebody I believe I’d like to have hung out with, that's for sure. He was a class act.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What other films have you been in?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Obviously, my first movie was the movie Cyborg with Jean Claude Van Damme, and I had a great time. Looking back now, I've done about 90 movies and television things, but that was my first movie. People say, “What's your favorite movie?” Cyborg was definitely one of them, because I guess it was a new experience. Had great fun doing some cool stuff, meet some nice people. If you have any female listeners, the movie The Notebook with Ryan Gosling, I doubled him at the very beginning of the movie. This guy likes this girl, and she’s riding the ferris wheel with another guy, and he runs and jumps on the ferris wheel as it’s going. That’ll be me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Oh, neat. I've seen that movie.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Have you seen that movie? Cool.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I have. I have. Yeah.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Then he’s hanging off the ferris wheel saying, “Come on. Go out with me.” Do you remember that part?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mr. Dale Frye:
He’s handing off the ferris wheel.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That as you.
Mr. Dale Frye:
That was me. He did some stuff as well, but whenever you see somebody free-hanging off the ferris wheel, that’ll be me. If you remember, she actually reaches up, undoes his pants. He’s hanging off the ferris wheel with his pants hanging around his ankles. That’ll be me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Good times.
Mr. Dale Frye:
That was a fun movie as well. They're all pretty good, you know? They're all pretty good, but some are better than others. Those where a couple of my … The Crow was an interesting movie. That's for sure. Met some nice people there. Did some cool stuff.
Jeremy Lesniak:
What was your role in that movie?
Mr. Dale Frye:
The Crow … There's a big table of bad guys sitting around, and I’m one of those bad guys, and Brandon Lee comes and stands up on the table. He has a little dialogue with the main bad guy. He wants somebody, he was going to kill somebody, and our main bad guy has a little … They chat for a little bit, and then our main bad guy says, “Man, shoot him.” There's probably 12 stunt guys. We all shoot him. He falls off of this table, and I walk up there and put my hand on the table and look where he should be, and I look under the table, and I said, “Man, he’s gone,” and then he shoots me in the head and then he commences to killing everybody else from the table, so that was my part in that movie. I did some other stuff as well in it, but that was parts that you could see me.
Jeremy Lesniak:
That movie’s a classic.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Oh, it is.
Jeremy Lesniak:
A lot of people have spoken of that as a …
Mr. Dale Fry:
A little cult movie.
Jeremy Lesniak:
… terribly underrated cult film.
Mr. Dale Frye:
I’ll tell you a part at the very beginning of the movie. I want to tell you, you talk about somebody digging deep. This was cool. Now, in the very beginning of the movie, he comes out of a grave. Have you seen this movie?
Jeremy Lesniak:
It’s been a while.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, me, too as well, but he comes out of a grave, and this is done in Wilmington, North Carolina, but when he comes out of this grave, it’s cold that day. I have a hooded sweatshirt on, and a jacket on over this, so it’s cold out. It’s cold, and this cat’s got on nothing but a pair of blue jeans and I think he pulls on some boots or something like that, but he comes out of this grave with just a pair of old ragged-out blue jeans. Then, he comes out, he does his scene, he walks, and he does his scene, whatever it is. After the scene, they cut, he’s still walking around in nothing. He goes to the director, “How are you doing this? Doing that?” He’s just standing around in nothing, you know what I mean? No shirt. Usually, you have these wardrobe people to come throw a robe over him or something like that, but he was cool, man. He had some mental fortitude going on. I don't know. I’m sure that came from his background in martial arts or something, but it was like, wow. To this day, it’s amazing to me how he could do that. I hate the cold anyway, but he was from, I think, California, living in California at the time.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yup.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Surely he wasn't used to it. He had his Zen going that day, man. I tip my hat to him for it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Have you worked with anybody else that really jumps out at you? You've been in quite a few things.
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, I’ve been with some … I've done a show with John Travolta. He was a nice guy. I did a movie with Mel Gibson. Super nice guy. I thought he was just a very affable guy, very approachable, super nice guy. Bruce Willis, Die Hard part 3, Die Hard with a Vengeance it’s called. Just a very approachable, nice individual. Jean Claude and I had a good time on the set. A lot of people don't like Jean Claude. Some people love him, some people don't, but I got along with him great. We had a great time. I did a movie with Kevin Costner, and he was pretty friendly as well. Every big-time actor that I've ever been around … These are some big names. They've been in various films.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Sure, yeah. These are A List actors, for sure.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, A list guys that they could be ***** if they wanted to and probably get away with it, but I’m glad they weren’t, you know? I tell you, that Ryan Gosling in The Notebook, one of the nicest guys I ever met in my life. Just a great guy, and the girl that played his girlfriend was a sweet girl as well, Rachel McAdams. She was also very, very sweet, but he was just a cool guy.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Good. Are you at all a reader?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Any martial arts-related books that jump out at you?
Mr. Dale Frye:
No. I have a Motocross Action magazine that I read. I read Reader’s Digest every month. I'm not … I don't subscribe to any martial arts magazines, but I’ll pick up an article here and there. I read Kevin Hudson’s book he put out, Hit the Mark.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, I’m working on it right now.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Are you? I read that the other day
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah, yeah. Very well written.
Mr. Dale Frye:
That was great. Very [inaudible 1:01:57]. So you're in the middle of reading it now?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yup, about a third of the way.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Oh, good.
Jeremy Lesniak:
He was nice enough to send me a copy
Mr. Dale Frye:
Good deal. Yeah, that's a nice little read. Pretty easy read, got some good pointers in it, and he mentioned my name in there a couple of times.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Yeah.
Mr. Dale Frye:
He talks about, in the book, he’s talking about skinning the gloves. Do you know what that is? Do you know what it means, skinning the gloves means?
Jeremy Lesniak:
I don't, no.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Whenever you … It’s old boxing days. You really don't have to do it nowadays because usually in big fights, they bring brand new gloves. Some of these old boxing gloves we used to use, they'd be a little bit worn, you know, so you would … He explains it in the book, but you tie it up towards the knuckles, and you just pull the leather down so when you ball your fists up, it’ll be nice and tight. It’s actually illegal now in the boxing circles and all that, but really you don't need to do it now because the gloves are brand new, but when you have these old gloves, and that's what we used to use back in our day sometimes until we got to that championship level. Some of those early fights, we used some old, worn out gloves. It’s just a matter of … It’s just a way of making the gloves fit nice and tight on your hand, so when you did hit somebody, you could really tell it.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Alright. So, you're still active. I mean, you're not fighting competitively anymore, but you're still training.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, I still work out.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I mean, you love it, so you could be doing a lot of other things with your time, but what is it about … I mean, I understand you enjoy it, but what is it about your training that you really enjoy?
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, I hope I don't cross the line here. I compare it to women. I’ll say it’s just like women. Every once in a while, if you haven't done it in a while, you just need to go out there and get hit on a little bit. You don't need a lot, you just need a little bit. I wish I could answer that. I don't know. I guess when this stuff gets in your blood, it’s hard to get out. That would be the quote I would use right there. Once it gets in your blood, it’s hard to get out. You know what’s great, Jeremy, what keeps me in the sport now is I referee fights now, and that's kickboxing, boxing, and MMA, so that really keeps me in the loop. I've been going to a gym down here. My buddy Roy has been teaching me some ground game, some grappling and whatnot, and great teacher, and I've learned to enjoy that. You know, when mixed martial arts first came out, and it was all good until it got on the ground. I said, “Man, I like to see them box and kick. I love that,” but then once it got to the [inaudible 1:05:00]it was kind of boring. Then, now that I know a little bit more about it, I can appreciate it. I enjoy it. I can watch it and I appreciate it when they’re on the ground because I know what's going on. There's a lot going on with that ground game. Have you fooled with it at all yet, Jeremy?
Jeremy Lesniak:
I've got a little bit of Judo, little bit of Jiu-jitsu in my background, but not as an MMA combination.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Right.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I like staying on my feet.
Mr. Dale Frye:
There you go.
Jeremy Lesniak:
I’m
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, my buddy, Randy, says these guys always talk about MMA. They say, “Oh, 90% of the fights always end up on the ground. 90% of the fights end up on the ground.” My buddy, Randy, says, “Yup, but guess what? 100% of them start standing up.”
Jeremy Lesniak:
I love that. I love that.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Yeah, 100% of them start standing up. I said, “That's some good quote right there.”
Jeremy Lesniak:
I'm going to use that.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Mhmm.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So what else is keeping you going? You got any goals? Do you ever get the itch to get back in the ring and compete?
Mr. Dale Frye:
You know, it was funny. When I first retired, yeah, you kind of miss it a little bit, but then again, it didn't take long because I had a good career. I had a pretty good career, and I had some hip injury that … I probably would still be fighting if it wasn’t for that, but I had to get out because I had a little hip wearing out on me. A lot of times, people would say, “You miss it?” At first, maybe a little bit, but now not so much, because I had a nice career. I did it all, you know what I mean? It’s a lot. It’s a lot to go in, to put that kind of effort into a fight. It’s a lot goes into it. Like I said, I held the world title for six years, and I think I done it enough. Does that make sense?
Jeremy Lesniak:
It absolutely does.
Mr. Dale Frye:
I had done it enough, so I may have missed it just a little bit, right at first, but really, not so much. I mean, I think I pretty much ran my course, and I had done it enough. Even though I enjoyed the work, at that level, it’s a whole … It was crazy one time, it was after I retired, and something happened, I couldn't work out that day, and I said, “Man, something ... “ I said, “Man, that's cool. I don't have a fight next week. I don't have to fight next month. I don't have to work out every day.” That was a cool little adjustment, just being able to relax, you know, and just I don't have to do this, you know what I mean? It was crazy, just having that kind of leisure was kind of nice.
Jeremy Lesniak:
So …
Mr. Dale Frye:
And I … go ahead.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Go ahead.
Mr. Dale Frye:
And I work out now, but I don't have to … Some of my workouts now are not the intensity of what they were back when I was fighting.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Right. Right. That makes sense.
Mr. Dale Frye:
What were you about to say?
Jeremy Lesniak:
Well, if someone’s listening and they want to know what's going on with you, I think we've talked, you're not big on social media, but if somebody wants to follow you, are there any ways? Are there any websites? You got any books coming out, anything like that?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Nothing like that. I do Facebook. That's the only thing I do is Facebook, and maybe I will later on, but as of right now, I’m good. They can hit me up on Facebook, Dale Sunshine Frye.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Okay, and for anyone that might be new or has forgotten, of course we link all this stuff over on the show notes, WhistlekickMartialArtsRadio.com. You can check that out there. Alright.
Mr. Dale Frye:
Hey, man, it’s been a pleasure talking to you, brother.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Absolutely, and before you go, one more thing I want to pin you down for, if I may?
Mr. Dale Frye:
Alright.
Jeremy Lesniak:
Any parting words of wisdom for the people listening
Mr. Dale Frye:
Parting words of wisdom. It’s like I tell the kids. Whenever it doesn't go your way, don't give up, don't go crazy and start drinking, doing drugs. Just stay the course. Time will … Sometimes it takes a little time. You may not get it the first time. Do like me, you get it the second time, and then hang onto it for six years. It is what it is. That's my favorite quote. It is what it is. If that helps anybody, hope so, but just stay the course. Life’s tough sometimes. Trust me, when you get beat … Getting beat in our sport, and getting beat in a game of basketball, or getting beat in golf, it’s a whole different gig. You've just got to keep your chin up and keep cruising because it’ll come around.
Jeremy Lesniak:
It’s clear, at least to me from listening to Mr. Frye, that he’s a pretty driven man. He shared some great advice to us, and how about that acting resume? I'm going to have to go back and watch some of those movies again just to see him in them. Thank you, Mr. Frye, for your time and sharing everything with us today.
Over at WhistlekickMartialArtsRadio.com, you can find the show notes, including photos with Mr. Frye and some people you are sure to recognize. There's a link to his acting resume, as well as a place to sign up for the newsletter, and our other great episodes, of course.
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