#34 with David Kurzhal, Viking Samurai: From Stockbroker to Actor

Hey guys, today I've got a real treat for you. I sat down with David Kazal and we talk about his amazing journey going from being a stock broker to part-time YouTuber to screenwriter to actor to fighter. It was an absolute pleasure. We talk about him growing up in army base camps, growing up loving martial arts like I did. That's how we became friends and really what his whole journey has been. It was a really interesting look back into what has been an amazing journey and his career is just getting started. Thanks Dave. I hope you guys enjoyed the chat as much as I did. Cheers Dave. How are you? Always great man. Thank you so much for taking the time brother. I really I'm looking forward to this session big time. Oh, it's going to be a lot of fun. I look forward to it, too. So, can you give a quick introduction as to who you are and we'll then throw back a little bit in terms of how your journey has unfolded, but please give a quick intro. Yeah, there's so many like I mean, look, it's almost like how people build a character within themselves and that takes on a life of its own. Like if you think about somebody who I listen to all the time, Eminem, like he's Marshall Mathers, right? The third, but he's Eminem, but he's also Slim Shady. And each of those are different personalities. They're almost like their own person in a way, even though it's one guy. Yeah. So, like as a person that I was born as this just David, right? But then I became the Viking Samurai. And it's really kind of blown up in a lot of ways where I get people that recognize me at the movie theater, they recognize me at the airport. I literally have gotten two people a couple years ago recognized me in Italy, which is crazy because crazy most of my audience is in America and then like maybe 10% Canada, 10% UK, but it's like 2% Italy, right? But literally like two people on the street. Actually, one of the guys was a um a guard in the cyine chapel. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. He ca he came up to me. He's like, "Are you that that YouTube guy?" This was like two years ago, right? I was like, "Um, which one?" He said, "Vicking Samurai." I was like, "Yeah, that's me, man." Cuz he But the crazy thing is because he's he was watching my videos that I did on Sylvester Stallone. So, it makes sense that I would have an audience in Italy because I do make some cool videos about Sylvester Stallone. Yeah. Well, you will. The cool thing, Paul, the cool thing, and I just missed him, man. This was um when Stallone was kind of going through his separation and divorce, like him, him and his wife, they're seem to be fine and good now. Yeah. But he was kind of going through that and he was at the Systeine Chapel literally the day before I was, and he got a private tour. So, the security guard Yeah. The security guard mentioned he was here yesterday and he showed me a picture, you know, he took a selfie with him. I was like, damn, that that would have been insane if I could have ran into him. I didn't realize they were going through that because I seen one of his interviews where he went there. He had an audience with the pope and um they it was a private viewing of the the cysteine gallery, right? Cine. Yeah. He did all kinds of stuff in the I knew he was there because I was seeing like the articles. I'd been like, "Oh, that'd be so cool if I, you know, happened to um run across them to say hi" or something. Right. My goodness. So you So firstly, what's your heritage? Because we're both of mixed parentage. I'm half Chinese, half Irish. You okay? And I'll tell you how the Viking samurai name came about, by the way. But like my dad was born in Germany and then my mom was born in Korea. However, if you do a DNA test, which I have, you find out you're usually more mixed than you, you know, think. Yeah. So, and because of the history, Japan and Korea don't have the best history. you know, there was occupation with um Japan and Korea and all that kind of stuff. Anyway, that's probably how I ended up being 10% Japanese on the Korean side because of that, you know, ugly part of history. And then on the German side, you know, there's a lot of people in Europe that are mixed. Like even if you're German, you you might have like I found out I'm part Northern European and also Eastern European. So, you know, the northern European part, obviously that's that's where I got the name the Viking and then the Japanese part samurai because if it were just German and Korean, which I love that mix, but there's not like a cool character from Germany or Korea per se. So, there there's nothing to to use. So, but the Viking Samurai thing just kind of came to me and I was like, you know what, that's original. That's actually kind of cool. Plus, I can tie it in, you know, um, with, you know, even though I'm technically German and Korean, like there's enough Northern European and Japanese to, uh, to, you know, justify it. Those DNA tests are so interesting because when I did mine, um, the 50% is going to be Irish. About 20% is Scandinavian. So, I think Well, there you go. Exactly. Either the Vikings went to Ireland or the other way around. But, so then, and where did you grow up in the US? Um, all over, man. Because I'm an army brat. So, I was born in Virginia, but then I lived in different parts of California. Actually, Northern, Central, and Southern, and then Washington State a lot. So, I'm that guy who basically went to four different high schools in three different states. Wow. That's got to be tough, right? You're always the new kid, man. Like I I always wish I was that that kid that it's like you you just have those friends and you grew up with for like 10 years, right? And develop, you know, that that strong bond. But also on on the other side of it, moving a lot and having to meet, you know, new people all the time, you know, that that's a beneficial skill, too, because that's how I get along with so many different people all the time. And I meet new people all the time, but that's how I grew up. like I I had to by, you know, not even by choice, but just by necessity. Yeah. Just to survive. Would you say you're an introvert by nature or an extrovert? I'm curious. That's a good question. I I'm an omnivert. Like I'm both. I'll And I'll tell you why. You know, like sometimes introverts like they'll get drained when they're around too many people and they they they need their alone time and they're not as sociable. Uh look, I'm just very highly adaptable. Like when I'm out usually, you know, I spend a lot of time in Philly or even New York these days or, you know, in California. I live in the Midwest now. Like when when I'm in the Midwest, I'm more of an introvert. Like I'm I'm doing my work, you know, and just there there's so much going on, but when I when I go out, this is when I do all the socializing and like I just I feed off of other people's energy. And that's definitely not an introverted thing. That's that's a total extroverted thing. Like I feed off that. I like meeting new people. like, you know, I'll hang out till like 5:00 in the morning, you know, like I But on the same token, like here when I'm in the Midwest, I'm perfectly fine um Saturday night reading a book by myself. Like I'm perfectly content and happy, whereas like, you know, I'm also perfectly content and happy being out with all these people, partying till 5:00 a.m., you know? So, I'm both, man. Now, what So, then how did you get your your start as a stock broker? Did you go through walk us through that whole journey because it's such an interesting journey and not a lot of people that know you and all your followers they might not know the full story. Yeah, that's a whole other world, man. Like cuz I never I never studied finance in college or anything. I f I first got introduced to the markets uh actually I just stumbled across it by myself and wanted to I I had like a little bit of extra money like just before the um the market and the economy and everything collapsed in 2008. Like I had a little extra money to play with. Uh so then I started tinkering around with stocks and of course you know like most people you know buy those junk stocks like the penny stocks and you know you lose your money and then you trade and then you lose your money and then um I was tinkering around with forex but you know eventually um if you stick with it you start learning what you're supposed to do and then you start making money and then it becomes a lot more fun. But you know prior to that I actually went to film school. So my degree is actually in film. Yeah. In in Southern California. Yeah. At CSU. But then I was kind of pursuing the movie and acting thing and then I was working at at a a company in Burbank that I ended up getting I I I ended up moving up pretty high in the company where I couldn't just leave to go on an audition, you know, so I kind of was stuck there, but you know, you start making a little bit more money and then um you start getting comfortable and complacent, which happens with a lot of people cuz I ended up being a project planner and a supervisor there. And I was like, "Okay, th this isn't so bad. The acting thing's not really working out anyway." So, you know, anyway, fast forward, I had moved to the Midwest and I was trying to figure out like, okay, what am I going to do now? And I kind of closed the chapter. Like the chap the book was still half open when because I was living in Southern California. So, it was still like half open to pursue the acting thing because I'm in that area, right? But I kind of like figured the chapter is close of pursuing that once I moved to the Midwest. It's just like I I'm not even living over there. I'm like in the middle of the US and you know I I had saved up some money. So I had some time to figure out what I'm going to do. You know, I was like semi comfortable. It's like I could live off of this for like a little bit and let me just kind of figure out what the next chapter of my life's going to be. And funny enough, you know, I've always had an interest in the markets. Like I said, I've been I've been been trading for a while before I became a stock broker, but I actually met someone at the gym and um his wife was actually working for a brokerage firm. So, she got me an interview and all that and I was like, "Yeah, you know, that sounds cool. I'll do that." And then, you know, it's contingent if you want to continue working there u that you have to pass your series 7 within, you know, like a certain period of time, right? Yeah. And I I remember cuz I remember watching Wall Street and Boiler Room. So when you told me you were a stock broker, I had those images. Those images are way cooler. Look, anything that happens in a movie for the most part is always way more interesting than like real life. Yeah. I will say though, I will say my in a lot of ways my life has sort of become like a movie. So now I feel like I'm living in a movie, which which is crazy. Yeah. I mean, it's nuts, man. It's nuts. But yeah, you know, Boiler Room and and in and Wall Street and all that is definitely more exciting than um you know, the the brokerage firm I was working on or working at. So anyway, I I get my series seven and then I get my nine and my 10, which those are very hard to get by the way. Barely anybody ever passes your 10 on the first time. You're like just assumed to fail and then take it again and then, you know, maybe pass the second or third time. I study my butt off and pass it the first time, though. But there's a lot a lot of going on, man. And it all ties into why I started the channel. So, I'm on the active trader team. And man, I I remember how long how long give give the audience a bit of context. How long ago was this? Because I want to I want to share your actual journey with YouTube and the whole thing. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I started YouTube in late 2019. Okay. It's not that long ago, really. No, not that long ago. I mean, time goes by fast cuz it's 2025 now. So, we're talking maybe September, October of 2019 is when I put my first video out. And the reason I did that is because I was bored, man. Like, I needed a creative outlet. Yeah. So, I was working at the brokerage firm and that's fine. And you know, you again, that's one of those careers and jobs, you know, where you could start to get comfortable and complacent because it's like, ah, you know, the money's not bad and, you know, now I got my nine and 10. Oh, and the money's more and now I'm on this team and the, you know, and then I go to this team and you could get very comfortable, you know, uh, but there was always something that I I was unfulfilled, right? because I had set out to do something a while ago when I went to film school and I moved to LA by myself by the way cuz I I was living in Sacramento at the time and then we you couldn't major in film there but we had a media arts festival right and we all took a field trip down south and I was like you know what I should just transfer to this other CSU school right it'd be perfect it'd be easy I'll just get in their film program even though I don't know anybody there I'll just move there myself and figure it out you know and at the time like social media wasn't really a thing. I actually I found roommates from Craigslist. Okay. That you know Yeah. Craigslist. And look, I just I took a shot, man. I'm like, these were the people that were they would allow me to move in there sight unseen just from a conversation on a call right on the phone. And then uh when I got there, it was such a nightmare, dude. Like it was insane. Like the stories that I'm not going to share here. I could share privately with you, though. I'll just say that was a party house. There was a lot of activity going on with I can I'm just like I'm living in this. This is like this isn't conducive to um studying for college living in a place like that. It's like a beyond a wild frat house type thing. And I'm like I'm just like anyway it was an interesting experience. Uh, and the the wife who who was there um was bipolar, so that made it interesting. And she was they had an open relationship. I'll just put it that way. Okay. So, yeah. Uh, anyway, so I moved there. Did you get a discount on the rent, though? That's the question. What's up? Well, you said they were they were an open relationship. So, did you part participate and get a discount on the rent? No. And the thing is, the thing is like physically very attractive, but because she's bipolar, yeah, it's turnoff personality. I'm just like, you know, it's a turnoff. I can't No. And then and then walk us through it. Walk us through the steps, man. Yeah. I found other roommates that were they ended up being ptheads, but very laid-back. So, I I just ended up moving in with them. And then eventually uh my brother actually moved down. This was after Is he older or younger? He's older. Okay. And he actually here. Okay. So, here's the funny thing, man. I got him a job at the company I was working with at the time because again, this was after college. And he's like moved up so far. I think he's like the third highest guy there. He's like the vice president of tech operations. So, wow. He's doing very very well there. And I and the company like his role in the the company expanding actually worked out for him quite well, you know, but I ended up moving to the Midwest and whenever I whenever I go to California though, I just stay with him, which is really cool, you know. It's nice. And then Well, that's wonderful. And then when you set up the YouTube channel, did you have any goals or you just thinking, you know, I'm going to put some content out for fun? What What were you thinking? I was thinking I need a creative outlet and I didn't even know what direction the channel was going to go. I I needed something to like edit though. So, I filmed myself fixing my garage door when it broke. Okay. And again, I'm that guy that I like to figure things out. Like I'm the guy that'll that'll just jump in into the deep end and like I I'm not going to drown. I'll figure it out somehow. You know, that's how I got into a lot of stuff. how I got into trading, how I got into boxing. It's like, I'll figure it out. You know, I I figured out very quickly that um you know, having a background in taekwondo and karate doesn't help so much because you don't keep your hands up and you don't have the head movement. So, you know, we'll talk more about that training, but literally I'm walking around with black eyes all the time. People give you funny looks because they don't know you're box you're training in boxing. They just think, "What's this guy just getting? Is he univilized? Is he just getting in street fights?" Like, no, this isn't a boxing gym. This is, you know, but you get funny looks, man. Um, but I'm just like that guy like I started putting computers together like in, you know, 2005 because I want I needed a new computer, but I didn't just want to buy like a a Packard Bell or something. I wanted to build it. I was like, I'm I'm going to make my own computer. I I had no experience in that, but I put together a pretty cool computer. And then like a lot of the stuff I got into, funny enough, my brother ended up getting into and taking it to another level. Like the PCs that he builds are insane. And then I got into trading and then he got into trading. But he's the guy that got me into weightlifting. Oh. How old were you when you started? Cuz I I've seen pictures of you when you were 18 and 19 and you're as jacked. You was jacked back then as much as you are now. I I look like this at 16. All natural. And I'm still all natural. Like people in high school. And look, when I look back now, I could see why they thought I was on steroids cuz nobody looks like this. I mean, especially natural in high school, you know? Like I I'm repping 315. I'm curling 135. And I was a skinny kid. Literally, when I started working out, I was 95 lbs at 13. Now, granted, you go through puberty in a growth spurt, but by the time I'm 16, I'm like 180, like lifting man weights, you know. And is your brother's got a similar physique, or did he have back then? Oh, very similar. Yeah. So, we were both what I would call athletically gifted now. Now, obviously, you have to eat right. You have to train all the time, you know, and I train like a maniac. But even, you know, if you rewind back, even in elementary school, we used to have the little elementary Olympics where you have the 50-yard dash, the lawn jump, all that kind of stuff. And like I still have all these Well, my mom has them. All these ribbons of like first place. I I've never not at least got third. Most of them are first or second. I'll tell you the funny thing. The only kid that really beat me, by the way. I I look back at pictures from elementary. He's like in elementary like six inches taller, you know, just some some big, you know, black kid, very athletic, you know. I'm just this little half white, half Asian kid. I'm like, I could see why he beat me. I mean, he's like, you know, 50 he's 50% bigger than me. Did you? He only beat me a couple times. So, I'm just saying like even at that young age with no training, me and my brother were still jumping farther than people, running faster than people, monkey baring faster than people. So there's just that natural athletic talent. So like if if we were in China for example, these are the guys that the government would snatch me and my brother and like you're going to be the Olympics when you're older type thing. Right. Well that you know I remember reading Arnold Schwarzenegger's encyclopedian bodybuilding. I think I was 16 17 when I bought it and it was the first time I I read about what an ectomorph endomorph messorph Oh sure. is, you know, and and it's just but it's but it's fascinating and you must get asked all the time, are you clean? Are you natural? I'm sure you all the time. And people like, look, they're either going to believe you or they're not. Now, now the people who put the work in and get good results, they'll believe me because yeah, that's achievable. But the people that don't, you know, they'll see anybody, you know, with any sort of muscle and if they got a six-pack, automatically they're just like, "Oh, they're taking stuff." But these are guys that like they haven't trained for years. they haven't eaten clean for years because if they did they'd be like, "Okay, this this is kind of achievable, I guess." Well, listen, I've, as I said, I've seen your pictures throughout and it's it's clearly it's obvious, right, that you've uh you've dedicated your life to this. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Once I started at 13, I never stopped like ever, you know. So, when So, when did the channel go from fixing garage doors to putting out content about the 80s action movies? What was the Ienis? I did need some kind of direction, right? I did need some kind of direction. I was just so again me being that guy like I'm just going to start it and I'll figure it out along the way. That's always how I've been, you know, so it it evolved. And this goes back to when I was in film school. I was the only guy like talking about, you know, Rambo and Blood Sport and everybody else is oh, you know, talking about their artsy films or Sizen Kane and all that kind of stuff. I'm saying like the these these films they're there's a there there's a It always pissed me off when people say they're stupid they're stupid action films. It's like no, they're not. Like they're they're they're very well put together and there's a lot of thought behind a lot of this stuff with Rambo First Blood. I mean, even Rambo First Blood Part Two, James Cameron was the original screenwriter and then this film kind of did some rewrites. Yeah. I mean, so you you had literally have geniuses that wrote these things. Yeah. Yeah. Far from stupid action films. First Blood is easily one of my favorite movies. It's amazing. When you go back and you watch it, it still holds up today, right? Oh, yeah. 100%, man. My See, my favorite is like First Blood Part Two, but that's because I grew up watching that almost every day. So growing up on the army base, my dad was too cheap to ever get cable or anything. So we we never really had any channels, you know. Yeah, me too. But but he did have a VHS recording on the same tape, Rambo 2 and Rocky 4. So me and my brother would literally watch those like every So So Rambo 2 is your favorite Rambo? Which is your favorite Rocky? Rocky 4, which you know, if you look right here, I got I still have those Sega Master System games. Uh, Rambo 2 and Rocky 4. Yeah. Oh, mate. I know all the words to nearly all the Rocky movies, which is um the thing is like cuz actually I watched Rocky 4 before I watched any other Rocky as well because of my age. And um I remember my friends going to watch it at the cinema and I wasn't taken and they had pamphlets and I remember them bringing them back and I would ask to read some pamphlets and I think that's missing nowadays. I actually went on to Amazon and bought the Rocky 4 booklet. It was brilliant. Nice. You know, so I I I of course watched Rocky 4 first and then uh part three after that cuz somebody in in high school had recommended it and you know I love that. And the funny thing is the first time I seen the first Rocky, I was probably like 15 and I I wasn't feeling it. Yeah. But this is because I grew up with the fastpaced crazy training music video montages of Yeah. So like and again being 15, I couldn't appreciate the actual story because I I'm inexperienced. I'm just like, "Oh, it's all about Rocky 4, you know." But it it's very slow and everything. But see, as I got older, I'm just like, "Oh, that's just a work of genius." And it speaks to me. It's amazing. It speaks to men. Yeah. Yeah. One of my one of my favorites, I've used this with my wife a few times. Um where in Rocky 2, Apollo's calling him out and he's upstairs and Adrien doesn't want him to fight again. And then he says, he's leaning up against the cub and he goes, "Um, I never asked you to stop being a woman. Don't ask me to stop being a man. I I can't do the Stallone voice." But it's like there's so many great lines from those movies, I tell you. So, when did you realize what was the moment when that YouTube was more than just a hobby? So, probably about six, seven months in, I did a video on Mike Tyson because he was making his comeback. I know this and that's why I wore this today in honor of that video because that that video turned everything around for you, right? Oh, big time, man. Because up to that point, I was getting less than a hundred views on a video, may maybe a couple hundred. I think I had one video where I was talking about Conor McGregor in the UFC. It got like 3,000. I was like, that one was kind of like, oh, you know, I'm I got a little bit of views on that, but then there'd be another video gets like 57 views, you know, nothing. And some of the videos I put out were actually pretty good, you know, and and they got views later. I I'll tell you how. And this happens to a lot of YouTube channels. But that Mike Tyson video, he's making his comeback and, you know, he's all emotional. I I tied in so many clips. I I created my own narrative about, you know, the whole thing and talking about how like I he just transcended boxing. It's he's always been much bigger than just boxing. It's so exciting. The world's locked down. It's 2020. You know, he's going to have the match against Roy Jones Jr., of course. And for whatever reason, that video just blew up like crazy. It it it started getting like, you know, 10,000 views, then a hundred, then 300, then like, you know, 600. Like, it's so it's like a million. Now, it it obviously slowed down a lot, but it it went up pretty damn quick to like over 600,000 views and all of a sudden my subs went from like, you know, what were you what how many subs were you at the time? Do you remember roughly before that Tyson video? I wasn't monetized, so I had less than a thousand. Yeah. Yeah. And then all of a sudden that got me up to like over 10. I was like, "Wow, this thing's blowing up like crazy." But see, here's the cool thing, and this happens to a lot of people on YouTube. They'll have that one video that blows up and then all of a sudden, YouTube starts pushing out other content that you've made to these new subscribers. So then all of a sudden everybody's watching my Brandon Lee video, my Mark Doscus video, my Jeff Speakman video, my Philip Ree video. All those started blowing up. Then they started watching some my Seagull videos that I put out, you know. So then I had like a lot of momentum. So then I'm getting like 10,000 views on that video, you know, 15 on this as a Tyson one's still going. And then and then like, you know, a month after like I I'm I'm in the YouTube monetization program and then I get my first payment and all that. I'm like, "Oh, okay. So, I could actually um you know, I could make some money on here. Nice. You know, a little extra money. Well, all the time and energy spending, dude. I mean, I can't even imagine. I'm working time as a stock broker. I'm training all the time. I, you know, I'm married. Obviously, you have to spend time with the wife. You should, right? And then, um, I like the way you said that. any any like e literally whatever extra time I had out of that I'm at the computer working and editing on videos for hours every night and again I'm just doing this because it's kind of a a passion and like I I like to edit stuff and you know there's there's no money coming in I I don't know if the channel's ever going to do anything but it was a labor of love right it was a labor of love yeah basically and that's what you you need otherwise I know people that'll start a channel oh they're not getting views in 3 months and then They quit. Well, they they never really liked making the videos. They just wanted to make some money. Yeah. You know, and that that should never be the motivating factor. That Well, this definitely didn't drive you at the time. Now, what I'm just curious. So, when you look back, what are some of the favorite episodes that you've recorded and released? Of course, when I covered that Gene Label Steven Seagull incident, did he get choked out? Did he not? I'll tell you why. Because the whole channel pivoted. Yeah. a guy a witness, the late Steven Lambert was there and he wrote about it in a book from the streets of Brooklyn to the halls of Hollywood. And I never planned to interview anybody, but his writing partner from that book had reached out and I referenced that book because I I found, you know, I was googling as much information as I could and I referenced, you know, a little blip of what Stephen said actually happened. And you know that video actually cuz by then my my some of my videos you know the channel had taken off you know because of the Tyson thing. So the the channel was getting out there right like that that video got tens of thousands of views you know and like if you see that it's like oh okay people are actually watching this guy. So and and of course Stephen Lambert would want to promote his book which I was happy to do. Yeah. Like I read the book it's great. So I'm I'm happy to recommend it to people. I I I you know I'd still recommend it to people today. So anyway, I interviewed him. That video I still get good views on that. It's I don't know where it's at. Maybe 400,000 views now or something. And I had a lot of fun talking with him. But he had also worked on all these canon films like Revenge of the Ninja and all that kind of stuff. Had so many stories. So I released, you know, a series of videos with him and they all got a lot of really good views. But see it, I had signed up for Zoom thinking I'm going to do one interview and that's it and then I'll just cancel it, you know, because I don't need it anymore. Yeah. But I just I kept it since that happened like in 2020. I still have it now. I still pay every month for for five years because Yeah. After those videos came out, so many people reached out to me, oh, you know, you should interview this guy. I could hook you up with this guy or I want to be on the channel. And then I started doing it just became like an interview channel. Like 80% of the videos ended up becoming interviews. Well, the ROI on your Zoom account is um inexplicable. It's it's a great investment. What about What about That's funny. What about I'm just really curious when you look back if if I said you could you have three guests any guests on the channel that you've not had on before? Who would you have? Oh, that I've not had on. Not had on. And you've had a lot. I'm just curious. That are alive. That are alive. Yeah. Um, basically it'd have to be my Mount Rushmore of action, which has always been of course Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Steven Skull and JohnCloud Vanam. And I kind of had Stephen on in a way like I I had developed a friendship with him and I was supposed to and probably still will do some training with him. I I trained with actually his most senior student, Sensei Elliot Freeman in St. Lewis did that about two years ago. Still talk to the guy, get along with him. Great. Um, very some of the stuff that he showed me was was very impressive. And, you know, he even told me, "Oh, I'm nowhere near Steven's level." I was like, "Wow, I couldn't imagine how good Steven could be on, you know, some of these things." Well, and also also what people overlook is apart from his technique, he, you know, he he's six foot four. He's he's a big guy, big hands. I mean, he could just do whatever he wants with you if he toss you around like nothing, right? But um but yeah, so you know, I I did have some videos of him actually speaking, not not on video, but speaking that I'd shared on the channel with different conversations. So the the other three remaining, you know, Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Vanam. And that's because I kind of the the channel took the focus of being like, you know, I even coined the term bring back the 80s and 90s. Yeah. Right. The action and martial arts films that a lot of us grew up watching and loved and they were the best. Like that era by far. Yeah. They still make some cool action films and some cool martial art films, but the 80s and 90s, I mean, that's just a different level. It's on another level, man. I I I I you know with my three kids I rolled back the dice and got them to watch everything and um it's kind of cool cuz like uh you know when Cobra Kai came out I mean it's you can't compare it to Karate Kid 1 and two um but I just remember thinking you know your theme is so prevalent because that's a throwback to the 80s. Do you know what I mean? It's um it's huge. Now let's talk a little bit about your martial arts journey. What was your first experience of martial arts? How old were you and what was it? I was like six and it wasn't something that I wanted to do. It was something that my parents forced me and my brother to do and it was judo on an army base. Okay. I'll tell I'll tell you something interesting. When you grow up on an army base like a lot of the soldiers there there obviously are stationed at different places and a lot of them go to different places in Asia. This is how Chuck Norris learned martial arts, by the way, when he was stationed in the Air Force overseas. So, I didn't know that. Okay. Yeah. It's It's interesting. So, literally my neighbors, they they were doing stuff that I didn't really know at the time, but they were they were doing grappling in the 80s. They were doing like jiu-jitsu in the 80s. Yeah. You know, um and so they they obviously took that back when when they were stationed overseas. And then we even had a like like a ninja that lived down the street. Like I mean the the guy was impressive. Like he would literally put an apple on a kid's head blindfolded and and cut it in half or on a kid laying down on his stomach. I you know I've seen that. And he would let us throw like the uh the throwing knives in in the side of his tool shed. Yeah. Like all the kids in the neighborhood like you know cuz he's a ninja. Like and and again, this is the 80s. Yeah. I mean, the guy had legit training for us by all purposes. Like, this is a real life ninja. Did you ever watch um Sorry to interrupt. Did you ever watch I'm just curious because it's one of my favorite ninja movies is Sakura Killers. Did you ever watch that? No. No. I've heard of it. I I I never seen it. That I'll send you the YouTube link because it's actually on YouTube, but it it it's brilliant. you know it won't it it won't quite carry the impact now because of your age but when I watched it back in the day I thought I want to be a ninja so that so that was your journey so you started off so you did judo yeah but see when I wanted to do martial arts I was 13 and it was taekwondo and you know look a part of a big part of the reason that I got into martial arts now I had seen no it's funny like martial arts were such a big thing like I've seen my one of my friends actually had no retreat, no surrender. And at the time, you know, even if you were grown up, you would not know who Vanam is. Van Vanam was the villain in that, but nobody realized that he'd be this big mega action star someday later. You had Kurt on the channel. I I did. I did. And he was the guy when I was a kid that I was like, "Oh, that was so cool. That backflip kick." That That wasn't Kurt who did that in the movie, by the way. Yeah. But it was it was done it was done well because you you you know you'd have to look to see that wasn't him. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. Like so you know watching movies like that as a very young kid and then watching um Blood Sport and then watching uh Best of the Best like the I remember watching Best of the Best before I ever took um Taekwondo. Yeah. So this was before I was 13 and you know you watch a movie as a kid, you try to mimic it. So me, my brother, and our friend were all pretending to play karate, you know. Well, the the the the funny thing about that is a lot of people probably didn't know at the time that the the protagonist and and the enemy, the two main characters are brothers in real life, you know. So they're amazing, man. And that's another guy that I had on the channel. Um Simon Reed. Yeah. And then he look like my my life is very interesting because you know I I didn't only interview these people like I for example we had s me and Don the dragon Wilson another guy in all these movies back in the day you know I train with them all the time hang out with them eat lunch with them go to events with them you know we just hang out buddy buddy what a beast but when I was training at Phil Pelina's gym and Phil's the guy that kind of helped get Jake and Logan Paul started by the way like they were doing a lot of their early training with Phil would get him the sparring partners build up their confidence, you know, get get better scoring, you know, kind of build them up, right? So anyway, like we had Simon Reed come down to the gym that when me and Don were training, you know. So it's it's just funny how like I've become a part of the world like I' I've entered the world and we we'll talk a little bit about the last kumatain and everything, but it wasn't just like well it became me talking about this stuff and them me being like a big part of it in a lot of ways like training with these people, doing movies with these guys. That's that's what differentiates you because if you think back to in the old days growing up where you would have people interviewing actors, right? You've you've not just done that. You've said, "Well, listen, let me come and train with you. I want to have some fights. Put me in a movie. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about how your career has transitioned now because it's it my mind boggles when I think about where you started and what you're doing now." You know what's funny? It's just building the presence cuz I had like a lot of people comment, you know, because I share some of my journey on the channel, right? Like sometimes I'll I'll share workout tips or a little bit about my journey and other things and then, you know, people like who watch the channel, they know, oh, this guy's actually, you know, he's a good martial artist. He he's not just a fan of action films. He trains all the time. He's got the physique. He can move, you know, etc. So, you know, I had a I had a lot of people in the comments section, oh, you should be in martial art movies and you should do that, you know, and even on Instagram, but then and then I had people actually reach out to me, right? Like, and again, like a lot of people might have a project in mind, but they don't have a finished script or they don't have funding, but I keep the conversation alive. You never know where they're going to be in three years. 100%. I love that. You develop those relationships over time. Maybe this guy ends up being a great director, you know, and because you were nice and, you know, kept the conversation going and you you guys kind of motivate each other. I mean, you never know where that's going to go at the end of the day. Maybe it goes nowhere. May maybe you guys both in a huge movie in five years, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But so my big break though was The Last Kumate. And I had So, you know, it's actually kind of interesting because the producer Shawn David, he knew of my channel, right? because I he's very passionate about the 80s and 90s and martial arts. So, you know, he had actually approached me quite a bit before they ever did their Kickstarter that that ended up, you know, they they had private funding, too. But they they made a pretty good amount through Kickstarter because people were very interested bringing all these guys back. Billy Blanks, Kurt McKenna, Muhammad Keyzy, Cynthia Rothrock, you know, all these people. Matias Hughes, lot of great names in there. Amazing. But he had reached out to me and wanted to see if I wanted to get involved in some way. This was very early. I still have that email. And I I I said, "You know what? Like, I wish you luck on the project, but I think it it'd be a conflict of interest because I at the time was working with another guy and, you know, he was going to bring back like one of these iconic studios. He claimed he owned the rights to it and all this other stuff." that turned out not to be exactly true. I didn't know at the time, you know. Yeah, I went with it. Um and I and I was, you know, working with him, but um anyway, it would have been a conflict of interest with what I was doing with the other guy and then Sean. But anyway, fast forward, you know, he ends up putting out to, you know, he ends up getting a really nice Kickstarter going. He ends up getting a couple really great names on board and everyone's like, you know, send me the link. Oh, you should check this out. Have you heard of this? I was like, "Yeah, it looks good, man." And then he hit me up again and said, "Hey, you know, I'd like to promote the Kickstarter. You know, would it be cool if we did like an interview on the channel?" It's like, "Of course." Yeah. People are talking about this. I want to know certain things. So, yeah. I just for my own curiosity want to ask you stuff that I know the audience is going to want to know as well. Yeah. You know, and and we built like a really nice rapport and you know, he he also knew I was a martial artist and this other stuff. So, you know, it's funny because after I interviewed him, he was like, "Man, you know, we we had cast like the rest of the film. Like, I really wish uh I could get you in here, you know, because like after I talked to him, he's like, "Oh, you're really cool." All this kind of stuff, you know. So, he was like kind of, you know, he seeing if we could work together type thing. But, you know, fast forward, you know what I you know what I told him? I said, "Well, you know, if if anything happens, because this happens in the film world all the time. if somebody drops out or, you know, somebody gets injured, you know, just let me know. Um, so you fast forward, I'm staying with my brother in California. I'm just enjoying my summer. I'm training with Don the Dragon Wilson, like all this other stuff. He just calls me up one Saturday. Hey, hey, David, I need to talk. You know, I was like, "Yeah, what's up, man?" He's like, "Oh, you know, this just happened. Um, uh, somebody got injured. You know, we we got to replace him. You're the first guy that I thought to call." I was like, "Cool. Well, uh, tell me more about the part." Like I'll tell you the crazy thing, man. If if he just like threw the script on my lap and said, "Read the script and pick whoever you want to play." This is a character I would have wanted to play. It's the coolest character in the movie, man. Like this this was like perfect. I was like, "Wow, that just kind of worked out really great, man." Amazing. Amazing. And when and when and when you went to go and start filming, were you thinking, "What? I can't believe I'm even here. It must have been surreal." It was very surreal, man. And I told people I felt like that kid in Last Action Hero who got the magic movie ticket and got inside of the movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger because here I am like and and I'm getting paid for this by the way. Yeah. So not only is it a free trip to um Germany where we shot it. And is it weird? Isn't it weird that you're going back to your your your roots, your Germanic roots? Yeah, it's the first time I ever been to Germany. It's great. Crazy. It's great. But like look look what just like came and and again you know keep keeping the um conversations going with different people putting yourself out there so you know like people know that you're capable of certain stuff cuz he knew I could pull it off. Yeah. Like it, you know, there's a reason why I was his first choice. Yeah. Right. He seen my Instagram videos and all that stuff. Yeah. But you know the So the crazy thing is I I get to go to Germany. I get to pocket some money and then I get to work with all these people I grew up watching. Like I literally have a scene with Attilla from Lion Hart. Why not? You know, Muhammad's brother Abdell, like great scene with him. I mean, I I got a good scene with Billy Blanks, Matias Hughes, you know, Kurt McKini actually really cool scene, but you know, at the same time, I'm also fighting in the Kumate. Well, by by the way, you know, sorry. Yeah, go on. Sorry. One last thing. Yeah. Because Sean sees me doing my helicopter kick like Van M and Blood Sport all the time. He's like, "Do that in the movie." And and like literally if you buy the Blu-ray on the back, I it's me the helicopter kick, you know? So it's like in Blood Sport as far as martial arts goes was my favorite martial art movie growing up. So I'm in and I'm stretching every day in front of the TV on the with the VHS tape watching the training or watching the fight. So, and and for me that was like the ultimate showcase of athleticism. That was like my favorite move of all the movie stuff. That was like the coolest thing ever. It's the hardest kick. It's the hardest kick. It It is very hard. And and then I'm doing it like in a kumate in a movie. It's like, wow, that's kind of surreal, right? Well, the other thing is you just mentioned Billy Blanks and Mr. Kissy, and they were both in Lionheart and Awol, which is arguably one of my favorite Van Vanam movies. Um, you know, you know that scene where because people forget Billy Blanks was in it when they're in the Sahara Desert and um, you know, he's with the Foreign Legion and he decides to break free and uh, Billy Blanks is in that scene and it's just where he stabs the guy in the hand and he does the reverse kick is amazing. So, oh, it was great, man. One one one one thing Paul I forgot to mention about the martial arts. the the reason that motivated me, one of the motivations, you know, and I'm glad like as much as I I think I I I don't like bullies. Nobody should. That's not cool. But if I wasn't bullied when I was 13, 12, you know, 13, like it wouldn't have motivated me to like, okay, I need to start lifting weights. I need to learn karate. I need to defend myself because I'm not comfortable at school. Like the these kids, I swear, dude, in middle school, some of these kids were adults. They were like 6' 220. I'm just like, "This guy I'm this guy's literally going to throw me in the trash can, man. Like I I need to be able to like effing fight, you know?" So there there was a real threat where I wasn't comfortable um in certain This was kind of a tougher middle school on the army base, by the way, man. Lot lot of because it was California, we had a lot of crips and bloods and other people doing doing stupid stuff, you know? So I didn't feel that safe. I like I needed to learn something, man. So, anyway, um yeah, so I I give credit to the bullies because I I could have easily went down another road, probably gotten into drugs like a lot of my friends, you know, all kinds of bad stuff, but like the gym and the dojo just like kept me on the right path and out of trouble thankfully, you know, as it does. And yeah, man. So, that was a a big motivating thing of of why I I got into it. Now, now let's then transition because so we started talking about your career on the acting side, but let's talk about you becoming an actual fighter as a result of all of this and you know, really putting it all on the line, bro. You know, it's something that like I always wanted to do and you know, and and I did taekwondo tournaments back in the day. Not that anybody counts that stuff. I will say this though, my brother knocked somebody out in one of those taekwondo tournaments. Yeah, he had the coolest like finish. I mean, spin, hook, kick, bam. You know, I was like, "Wow, that was cool. That's much better than scoring a point." Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, no, nobody counts those fights. Um, you know, why they should But they should do cuz they they do count, right? You know, I mean, they did back then in the 90s cuz that's all they really had. You know, that was kind of cool what you would do as a teenager. Um, you know, but the boxing thing did interest me. And I think what what Jake Paul, people have very mixed feelings uh about him, but I I like what he's doing as far as promoting boxing. Like he he literally helped, you know, those two women recently make more money than any female boxer ever has. He got more eyeballs on them. He's doing great at promoting stuff. How can How can you not respect what he's done? I mean, listen, he's everything he does is by design and he's making an absolute fortune. I mean, come on. You got to rate it. How can you not rate that? But see, that that's the whole thing. It's like, so influencer boxing is such a big thing now. Influencer karate, even though I do want to do a karate combat fight someday in the future, but influencer karate, influencer kickboxing, influencer MMA, that's not a thing. Influencer boxing is a very big thing. So, I'm like, "Okay, let me learn boxing because I, you know, I'm I'm motivated. I want to do this." And I I felt it would look every everything I'm do, like you said, Jake, what Jake Paul does is by design. What I'm doing is by design as well, you know, obviously on a smaller level than Jake Paul right now, but even when uh something else that I recently got into was modeling, like fashion modeling. Like I was in New York not that long ago at a United Nations event, you know, sponsored by on a runway in New York with a really great designer. I mean, very wellrespected designer, you know, um wearing like a gladiator theme thing, which would I saw that. I was wondering what that was. Is that what it was? I love it. Yeah. Yeah. So, again, that's that's by design. It's like that can only boost my profile because now I could say and then after I did that show the the designer Phil said you are officially a model you know because this guy like designs for highle people and I'm everybody loved me at the show so that's another feather in the cap so I could say model actorance man 100% exactly that's what yeah you know like and and when I'm here I'm I'm a day trader I work for myself you know just day trading stocks and then doing all that that other stuff just adds to, you know, the Renaissance man factor type thing cuz even even with the movie stuff, people don't know, but um also a screenwriter like this script that's going to go into production pretty soon. I got amazing feedback from Shan Letitch. I got amazing feedback from Bay Logan. You know, the funny thing is is Ba is Ba still in Hong Kong? Is he based in Hong Kong still? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he he spends time in California. Uh, you know, I actually I I I I hung out with him in New York and then also recently in LA. So, but but yeah, he he stays. Man, I grew up reading his magazines and uh they were brilliant. Oh, for sure. He's a great guy, man. Like, he's he's very cool. But, you know, the funny thing is when he read the script that I wrote, you know, cuz I wanted some feedback. The first question he asked me, he said, "Did you really write that?" I said, "Yeah, why? Really effing good." Thank you, bae. I mean, that's a that's an interesting that's a backhanded, you know, compliment in a way, but No, but because they don't know you that he he's doesn't know what you're truly capable of. Trust me, he gets so many people that sends him scripts that are complete garbage. Yeah. Right. There's actually another guy and and he's going to direct uh this, you know, script that I wrote. Uh he's he's done a lot of films lately. um you know and a lot of uh television like major television and you know he he had told me I I don't want to name names right now I could tell you off the record but he had told me like man you know like you're a really good writer and I I'm saying this because I I'm getting scripts and directing scripts from people who get paid to write but like your writing is better than a lot of theirs you know and you're so I was like yeah thank you you know well well think about Stallone, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. You've always motivated me. Those two stories, those two stories, right? And then um I was watching an interview with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and they said they they created a role specifically for a famous actor because they knew if they created a really sexy role where someone could come in and shoot in a couple of days, um they might be able to attract somebody. And then they landed Robin Williams and he's I mean I I I cried in that movie a few times. And in fact, when I look back at some of Robin Williams movies, they just blew me away, you know. Um, so no, listen, that's that's the journey. Now, I'm I'm just curious in terms of because you've you've obviously done the last kumite, but if you look back at the 80s, if you could remake a modern day version of it today and you acted in it, which movie would it be? Well, I'm going to give you two movies actually. So, for an actual action film, I would go with Cobra. Ah, because I I felt like it has so much potential. I like it for what it is. I know Stallone has certain issues and in the way it was cut and other stuff and, you know, it wasn't quite exactly how he wanted it to be. I I think it's great for what it is, but I I think they they could do something um better with it. And and he's such a cool character in there, so I would love to remake that, you know. You know what I remember from that movie? I remember the knife, the car, and him always wearing gloves. Don't know why. Yeah. Yeah. What's the second one? I remember I remember him cutting the pizza with scissors. Ah, good memory. Right. He's cutting it with scissors. Yeah. What's the second one? What's the second movie? Okay. See, the second one's more interesting because it's it's not something that people would like associate with. Oh, you know, would would assume or guess, but if given a choice, like if someone were to tell me I I know the guy who owns the rights to Blood Sport, by the way, Alberto Lindsay, um hung out with him actually a couple times in Florida, but that it's just another and he also loved the script actually, too. It's another guy. But, um people would, you know, if somebody asked me like, "Hey, would you want to be in the remake of Blood Sport?" I' I'd be like, "No, man." Like everybody would just say you're just some Vanam knockoff like Daniel Bhard was with you know back in the day or like Alain Musai with kickboxer. It it would hurt you as much as help you. It would pro in the short term it would help you in the medium the long term it would just hurt you. Yeah. Big time. What I would it one movie that I love Matt Damon film actually rounders with Matt Damon. That's a great movie. Yeah. If I would rather like be in a remake of that than Blood Sport or anything else. Like that's the Rocky of Poker movies. Yeah. That guy went on to do that show Billions by the way. That really nice show. Oh, did he? I think on Showtime. Yeah. Same writer. Same writer. Oh, really? I didn't know that. That's I actually recommended that to one of my staff the other day. I said don't watch it in front of your parents cuz there's a few sex scenes and um but Billions is a great show. It's it's interesting because when you think about it like Lionhe Heart in the UK was called Awol and it's it's kind of a it pays homage to Hard Times with Charles Bronson. Oh yeah, that was a great movie. Yeah, sure. But in its own right, I mean I think Lion Hart's better. I think it's an amazing movie. So I think you're right if you It depends on the movie and how is it made and if you you have to put your own spin on it. But the problem is when they call it Blood Sport two, three, four, five, or kickboxer one, two, three, you know, with Sasha Mitchell, it just doesn't hold up. And and the other challenge is, you know, Vanam in Blood Sport was on the top of his game, you know, he he really was second to nobody when he made that movie, but it had everything going for it, too. It had a great script. It had amazing music, the score, like everything just worked, man. and Muhammad Kesi, he'll tell the story of, you know, how how Vanam and his vision went into a lot of the film, you know, because that that's the benefit of these lower budget films is that if if it's tens of millions of dollars from a studio, a lot of times the director don't even get his vision there. There's certain things that are forced upon everybody, you know, because some guy calculating numbers says, "Oh, well, you got to have this and this and this and my formula says it'll compute into this," you know. Yeah. I think when it was a smaller project, you probably have a lot more ownership. And I love the story where Vanam says, you know, he he went to the cinema beforehand to make sure that the sound was optimized when it was being played. And the the thing that staggers me about Vanam was when you think about when he made that movie, he can't have been training properly and having the best nutrition because he was scrambling to survive at the time, right? Um I I think he had he had on his side. I think he was like 26. But yeah, I agree with you. Uh they were struggling at the time, you know. I mean, I know he trained a lot at the Jet Center. Oh, really? You know, everybody was there. Billy Blank, Benny the Jet, obviously. uh Jeff Langden, like all the guys were were training there and and that's why they got a lot of the guys um to audition from the Jet Center for Lion Hart, you know, because he already knew those guys. Oh, I didn't realize that. Well, the thing is what what I I think it's very difficult. How do you really define this? But there are some people that have charisma that comes out on screen because you see you you'll see better martial artists. You might even see people with better physiques, but it's how does it all come together? Um, now just just explain to us what is the difference between training for a movie and training for a fight cuz they're completely different and and um Oh, well yeah, I mean you get hurt a lot more training for a fight, you know, like I I was telling you earlier, you know, I'm walking around with black eyes all the time. Actually, I I uh shattered my orbital. Oh [ __ ] Oh, I took a you know, I I took a really hard straight right. it like man, you know, like you get the double vision and by by the way, like you shouldn't be hard sparring, you know, and and I I I got to work my head movement defense more. And this was this was over a year ago, you know, but I remember just even trying to blow my nose, it felt like my eyeball was going to fall out. No, obviously when you're training for a movie, that ain't going to happen. You know, you're not getting your black eyes, your cuts, your shattered orbital, you know. Well, also I think when you're training for a movie, there's an element that you you want to look a certain way, whereas for a fight, you know, you're thinking about function, right? Yeah, for sure. I mean, you want to exaggerate certain movements in the movie, right? And then and then in in in in the real fight, you know, the complete opposite. Everything's shorter, right? Everything's more tighter. It's different. Well, the the thing that amazes me about you is cuz I've I've done weights my, you know, since I was 17. I've never been able to put on the mass that you have, but you've put on the mass and you're still flexible. Again, I've never been able to do the split. So, when I look at what you're able to do, I'm just blown away. Um, now, what have been some of the keys to you being able to hold on to your muscle mass whilst being flexible and agile? Just share some of the secrets with us. You know, I I think building it um at such a young age and especially naturally. I was telling another guy uh a couple days ago, you know, it's like even if I wanted to now, now granted, if I didn't eat anything for a month, I'm going to shrink, but just in general, when when you build the and I built it uh through heavy weights when I, you know, was young. Yeah. So, there's like a certain density there that's always going to be with me. I I remember I was trying to shrink my forarms before. I was like I you know like when I put on button shirts and roll the sleeves up the forearms are too big. It's like I can't though there there's just like a certain density that I built at a young age you know being all natural that is always going to be with you. Yeah. That's what Arnold used to say. You you need that that foundation of lifting heavy. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. I mean see now I can maintain doing sets of 20. You know just getting pumps like I I'll still have the day you know it's just there. And how many times are you training a week now? Weights. I am doing that I I got a five day split. Okay. So I hit every body part twice. So you know what I do is I go push pull legs. So it's you know chest shoulders tries backs legs day off. Then I do upper body you know and I do I do different movements on that but but everything in the upper body is being you know hit in some way. And then I do legs. So that way I could hit everything twice a week um you know in five days. And what are your favorite lifts? Give me your top three favorite lifts or exercises. I mean I I was always more of a a bencher. You know people people have your your your dead I never got into deadlifts squats. You know I I I in and out. Are you still doing flat bench or dumbbell or have you moved to dumbbells? Well, you know, I I did dislocate this shoulder on August 9th last year. [ __ ] And it it took a while now. Now it's fine now, you know, like it probably took me five months before, you know, I felt comfortable where I could do pull-ups again. Now, I was doing that assisted one, you know, that so you're not pulling your whole body just to kind of fill it out, you know, the lab pull down, stuff like that. But look, I I'm the guy that was still in the gym the next day, like in in my sling, not working this, but doing upper, you know, the left side on machines and everything and doing my legs and still doing my cardio. But, you know, over time, I started, you know, 10 pounds on the machine just kind of like, okay, that 20 pounds, you know, but then, you know, maybe like two months ago, I'm like, and this this was a big thing I had in my head. It's like, let me try let me let me get back to like the 100 pound dumbbells on the incline. Like that would be pretty good if that shoulder holds up, feels okay, you know, and like yeah, okay, that's actually feeling fine. And doing my pull-ups, I actually I started doing them explosively again yesterday. I mean, I was doing pull-ups again for, you know, a couple months now, but like explosively where it's like that shoulder's feeling nice cuz my main thing is if you dislocate the shoulder, you got to be really careful you don't dislocate it again because that shoulder capsule gets loose and I could do that and it'll just fall out. Like literally guys will do that falls out. Did you dislocate surgery? They'd have to have surgery. Yeah. Well, that's what happened to me. Did you dislocate your shoulder bench pressing? No. Crazy enough, it was a freak accident in the boxing gym. Okay. What happened? Well, I was southpaw and the other guy wasn't. And And when when you're you're doing the opposite, a lot of times feet get tangled up. Yeah. Right. Yeah. But like so he had stepped on my foot and then like threw a combination and I was trying to move back but see the foot you know is stuck. So all of a sudden it jerked weird and then like I I was you know I I tried to salvage and not like go down from like tripping right but then last minute I knew like okay I'm like I lost my balance. I'm going to go down and then I turn and like landed you know with the boxing glove and it just popped. Ah okay. Yeah. has like and then dude it was crazy you know cuz I mean I felt it pop and then I I started feeling pain but look I'm I'm training for my fight that was supposed to be on September 28th against Sugar Shane Mosley right won the greatest time opportunity of a lifetime you know I talked him into fighting me by the way and and also helped um you know how did you talk and everything I did a lot behind the scenes but how did you talk him in without saying too much because he's a nice guy. You're a nice guy and you you know I can't imagine you did it in a very respectful way. That's that's the key. There was no smack talk. Exactly. And that's why we remain very cool cuz there's some people that will try to get a fight with one of these guys on that level and they'll just turn them off. Yeah. They they'd be like, I never would want to do anything with this guy. Who's this guy? He's a jerk. You know, I did in a very respectful way. Um you know what made me laugh though? When you when um when you guys took your tops off, I thought maybe Sugar's going to be out of shape, but he wasn't. He was Oh, dude, he looks great. He's walking around at 180 lean with a visible six-pack, you know? He looks amazing. I mean, he's he's looking really good. You know, he's he told me he's gym rat, trains all the time. You Well, you could see it. You could see it. Um, you know, it's interesting because the the reality is if you do weights a lot, I was I didn't realize that's how you did cuz I was bench pressing my shoulder went and I remember um when it happened I thought, "Oh shit." And I tore the pec off the bone and so I had to have two surgeries and I just thought, "Ah." So now I'm you know you have to work around those injuries and do different things. Um and how did you tear your bicep recently last year? What happened? Can you say or was it a bedroom activity? Also, uh boxing, you know, sparring actually. What? Hooking? No, with the jab. It was weird, dude. Like, and I because I think the way it, you know, it snapped and got deflected. It was just such a freak thing. Yeah. You know, I mean, that that's that's been a nice surgery. There was nerve pain for a while, but see, that was another thing. Yeah. So, so, so then when that happened, I'm I'm kind of like in a in a semi cast thing, but I'm still in the gym the next day, but I'm just doing my right side, you know? I'll do whatever I can, man. Like, if I broke both my arms, I'm going to be working out my neck. Like, I have to do something, you know? I know. Well, look, I want to I want to ask you because I'm just always curious because you've you've always been somewhat impartial on the show and objective, but I just want to ask you a few things. So, if I said to you, um, not not MMA, but what's your favorite martial art of all time to do? Oh, man. Has it become boxing? Because, you know, you grew up doing taekwondo and boxing is what you're doing now or, you know, what do you look at and say, "This is the one that I love the most." Right now, I I enjoy training boxing. In fact, I'm going to start going uh to this really nice gym out here that Chris Lidle, he's a a 20 UFC vet. Oh man, he was and he's a great guy. He's a great guy. Yeah, he's really nice, man. Commentary for the BKFC. Yeah. Um say that again. He was a fireman, wasn't he? From memory. Was Chris a fireman? Maybe. Maybe. I think he was a if my memory because I remember him being on the Ultimate Fighter and I think he was a full-time fireman like Stipe Mioich. I'll double check that. But he's a great guy. I remember him being really friendly, jovial. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure that's why the BKFC uh uses him for commentary, you know, but a mutual friend, Neil Farber, actually introduced me to him and, you know, he's going to be back in town early next month. But anyway, the gym that he trains out of, you know, had produced a lot of UFC fighters and also like, you know, some Golden Gloves champions. So, it's going to be a good gym for me to train at. And then at my other gym, uh there's actually an ex-girl champ as well that I do some private training with. So I'm taking because I have this big fight later in the summer. Yeah. And I, you know, I got to go all in like in a big way. So back back and and now that I can because the thing is like I couldn't do any sparring as this shoulder was healing like I take one BL wrenches it, you know, like I I had to be really careful. But see now I could I could do a lot. I could go all out, you know, all in on the training, uh, which I need to do. So, right now, I'm very passionate about boxing and, you know, gonna be in top shape for that, of course. But my favorite martial, look, I grew up liking the Vanam movies so much and always admired his kicks. Same with Philip Re and Best of the Best. Same with Mark Koscus. You know, Gary Daniels, it was another guy that I liked. He had very beautiful kicks. Yeah. Beautiful. So, I I'm always gonna love the taekwondo. Now, I if I if I wanted to, I could just totally take the the, you know, look like a taekwondo guy, but I don't necessarily want to. And I I don't necessarily like identify as a taekwondo guy. I don't identify as a Krab magga guy. I I don't identify as a boxer. I just identify as a martial artist. Yeah. Because that keeps my mind more open. Like, if I say I'm a taekwondo guy, it it limits me. Yeah. You know, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. 100%. 100%. Well, funny enough, so Mark the Cascos um acted in the a musical called The Mongol. It was about the the Mongolian Khn family. And uh it was here at Marina Bay Sands, which is the biggest theater here in Singapore. And he was playing a baddy in it. And you wouldn't recognize him, Dave. He was just he's so brilliant on stage and they're singing. And uh yeah, he's I mean what I love about him is he was you know he was Asian mixed good-looking and I remember when I first saw him in the Strong and then Crying Freeman I just thought this guy is special you know. Yeah. You know what like that that's why I really like him. I really like Brandon Lee because everybody tries to find examples of, you know, because when you're young, you want to see somebody that kind of looks like you. And it it was interesting growing up mixed back in the 80s in the United States, I'm sure, where you grew up as well because that that was that time where like you would have the census data that the government wanted and you would have to choose one box. Yeah. I literally used to ask my parents like cuz look my mom's Korean. Yeah. My my dad's white, you know? Yeah. And I'm like, "What do I pick? I choose like I mean I'm kind of both. I am I white or am I?" You know, like I didn't know which one to pick now. You could circle 50 of them. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You could literally check everyone and that's fine if you are that. No, you're right. I I remember when when uh Brandon Lee died, I I cried. I remember crying. And I was just so devastated because if you look back and you watch Showdown Little Tokyo today, I know you know the movie well. I love that movie. He's just so hilarious. He's just Yeah. Very charismatic, very funny. He He would have had an amazing career because he would have made many different types of movies, right? Exactly. And that that's what I'm trying to do because people will say, "Oh, you know, you're you could be the next, you know, Scott Atkins or Vanam or, you know, like Michael J. White." I'm like, "Yeah, no. Oh, I want to be like Mark Wahlberg or Ka Reeves, like they could do amazing brilliant action, but like they could do so much more and and they have and they're more known as just actors, right? You know, when you interviewed Scott Atkins, who's an amazing martial artist, and I I think he's brilliant, and it's I get why he's done it, but he hasn't wanted to leave his genre behind, and I think he could like actually think, for example, he could play James Bond. He's got the looks, he's got the physique, he's got everything, but he's But I also think when you're making certain movies, you know that what what's the movie where he's um you know, he's a he's a you know, he was a prisoner. There's a massive fight scene in in a bar. Yeah. Yeah, that was I know what you're talking about. People like that movie a lot. I actually actually kind of like that. It's a good It's a great movie, but what I I I thought, no, you got to adapt your fight style based on what's real, right? Because you know what I mean? And so I think there has to be an element of realism. But now I'm just curious in in in terms of your order from your perspective, you know, from childhood up. Who's your top five action movie stars? Number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I'm going to put you on the spot, but based on your preference. I I'll start like for me it was Vanam number one, Stallone 2, but now that I'm I'm older, it's Stallone one. Okay. But I want to I want to know your top five in order. Whoa. Uh, Stallone number one definitely because he's a lot more than just the actor. I mean, we all know how brilliant of a writer and and how much creative control and input he has on these projects. So, yeah, the guy's a genius all around and his fights on film look great. Yeah. You know, even though he's not a martial artist, I mean, his fights on film look great. Uh, for me, you know, Vanam's definitely up there. Like I it just there's a lot of lot of great stuff about him, man. He had the right look, the physique, the the gracefulness, you know, so it's it's Stallone, Vanam, Bruce Lee, obviously. Yes. Right. And then, you know, I got Arnold and Seagull right up there, too, because Arnold, I mean, his physique was like next level, but he's he's got that charisma, that kind of like he's funny, even though he's killing all these people, right, the with the oneliners. And then Stephen Seagull, you know, he had the Aikido looks great on screen, but he had that coolness quality. Yeah. Right. Like he was just, you know, he didn't look like Arnold. He didn't need to look like Arnold. Yeah. Right. Like he he didn't need the muscle. I mean, he just there's something about how he could stare somebody down and the way he talked, you know, very calm, but then he could just, you know, break them in half very effortlessly. So those are the guys, man. I mean for me overall as an idol um really overall I look at Arnold Schwarzenegger because he reached the top in three careers right that's incredible you know he was really and I I read his book on um his recent book which was like seven life lessons I forget what it's called but it was really interesting and and the the movie that he made the most money from was twins with Danny DeVito because no one wanted to make the movie yeah no one wanted to make the movie so they agreed he Danny and the director agreed to take a back end from the deal and because they got backended and and the movie was such a huge success, you know. So, all right. So, let me let me then ask you what would you say was your top three this is going to be hard for you. Your top three Stallone movies in order. One, two, and three. And your top Vanam movies one, two, three in order. Stallone's going to be a tough one, right? Really tough. I I think you you just kind of have to package like the Rocky movies together. I like that. And then the Rambo movies together. I love Rocky and Rambo, but I would put, you know, if I was on an deserted island and pick one franchise, you know, it's like, well, I like Rambo, but I'll take Rocky. You know, you got to go Rocky. And then the third. What would you give him as a third? You know, he had so many good ones in the 90s specifically. I think Demolition Man is very interesting. I enjoy that. Yeah, I did enjoy that. That was his comeback. I I'd put Cliffhanger in there as well because I love that and I loved his physique in Cliffhanger. Oh, yeah, for sure, man. And and you know, some of the other ones like The Specialist was cool. Assassins was cool. But yeah, you know, if it wasn't Demolition, man, I'd go Cliffhanger 2. Good man. Okay, what about um Vanam? Top three movies. Are you going Lion Hart one or Blood Sport? What are you thinking? I I always go back and forth between Lion Hart and Blood Sport. I'll tell you one thing about Lion Hart. you know, at the end when he walks out to fight Ailla, they got that cool rock song and he's just kind of zoning out, right? I So, again, this ties back into when I was in middle school and and started training in martial arts. I would literally watch that scene every morning before I went to the bus stop. Yeah. cuz I at any day I could have faced my Attilla if I needed to get in the zone and I'm starting to build some confidence because now you know would the early taekwondo work on that 6' 220 pound guy I don't know but in my head it would and I think that alone is a deterrent. Yes. See, that's the cool thing about martial arts. Like when you start training martial arts, you don't like fights don't like happen. Yeah. Everything changes pretty much where like before I started getting serious in the training and then I think because there's just that certain way you carry yourself, you know, whether you can effectively use it or not, there's just that don't f with me type of thing coming off of you, right? Yeah, 100%. So you're going line one. What's two, three? Uh, Blood Sport. So, Lion Hart, Blood Sport, and then I mean, you know, people would always say kickboxer. I like kickboxer. I don't love kickboxer. Um, I I'd say hard target, actually. Okay. John Woo. I, you know, I love Double Impact. Um, because Oh, yeah. Of course. My my well because I love the Hong Kong backdrop, but I my favorite fight scene, although there's one edit in it where they use the wrong foot on on the famous helicopter kick, but um when you go back and watch it, it's where Vanam fights Bolo. Yeah. Um and they're, you know, they're they're there throwing barrels around and I just remember I was when that came out, I just thought this guy's on another level and and obviously they were together in Blood Sport and Bolo was in Enter the Dragon. What's your favorite Vanam fight scene? Oh man. Um, it would be one of the fights with Bolo. Uh, Blood Sport and Double Impact, they're both brilliant. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Oh man. Um, top three favorite physiques. And what's crazy is your physique rivals all of their physiques, but top three physiques in terms of action movie stars. Oh man. Like the way Yeah. Yeah. The way Stallone looked in Rambo 2. Yeah. Oh, you like Rambo? I thought you were going to say Rambo three. I thought you were going to say I thought you were going to say his physique in Rambo three cuz he's bigger in Rambo three, but he's really He is. And I would actually prefer between two and three. Yeah. I I felt like in three he's he's starting to kind of get that it's it's a little unnatural looking. Yeah. like it's it's almost a little bit too much, you know, where whereas two is is that's the one that's like again I I would like something a little bit bigger like between two and three would be ideal. Okay. So best of all time, martial arts action movie star. We won't include Arnold because you know that's just different. But your preference Yeah. I mean you're going you're going Stallone. You're going Stallone over Vanam. Uh, Vanam and Blood Sport looked amazing. Yeah. I mean, you know, I interviewed Scott Atkins, he said, I mean, that was, you know, even for Scott Atkins, he was like, "Wow, that's that's perfect, you know." Yeah, I think so. And and he had fantastic biceps and now listen, I'm going Vanam, man. Vanam all day cuz he had the symmetry, he had everything and and it and it it worked, you know, he had the flexibility as well. Um, sure. Yeah. Yeah, the whole If you could have a fight scene with any action star, past or present, who are you going to film that with? I would I would say um I would go with Bruce Lee actually. You know it, brother. It would be very interesting because it, you know, some of the style would be almost if uh if you if you seen Bruce Lee and Vanam fight. Yeah. You know, because some of my style like people could see the Vanam comparisons, you know. Yeah. It's almost like, you know, how Kobe Bryant was inspired by Michael Jordan. I mean, he's still Kobe Bryant. He's still original, but you could see some Jordan in that, you know. Sure. And um I I think and and that's also why like even my physique I kind of you know I I I like Vanam and Blood Sport. I like Stallone and Rambo two and three you know so I kind of try to model it after that and and because of all the guys look I love Philip Reed his kicks are amazing you know even Simon Reed and uh Gary Daniels and Marcos. But look at the end of the day if I had to just see all these guys I I like Vanam's kicks the best. Yeah. So that's the one where I I would be most inspired by and like those those are how I want would want mine to look like, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He he was Yeah. He is amazing. Um if if you were at your peak and you're a big guy, so you're heavy. What's the most push-ups and the most pull-ups you could do in one one go? I'm curious. Oh, you know what's funny? I I literally had the middle school record for both of those. Wow. Yeah. So, because I I I never really go the f I would have to train up and I'm sure I could hit really really nice numbers, but in middle school I had 120 push-ups, you know, that that's non-stop. Yeah. And then, you know, the record for pull-ups was 28. But I mean, I've I've banged out 40. Like I I'm talking like f, you know, like even at this this weight. I mean, I'll have to do that again because since since that shoulder injury, I just started doing them explosively again. literally like what I uh when did I hit back last? Actually, yesterday cuz I had my upper body day on Friday and I remember I was I was doing some explosive dips, push-ups and and pull-ups, you know. Yeah. I mean, we all train in different ways. I don't know if you ever seen it. If not, what's happened to you? There's a strength calculator online and um it's based on your age. What can you do for various types of lifts? push-ups, pull-ups, dead squat lift, all these different things. And um I always my goal has always been I want to be in the top 1% of that in the world at that age. And but I've I've dropped out of it, I think, because of this injury cuz I can't do 100 push-ups in a row anymore for the first time ever. And um so it's like but it's funny because when you know, you and I know it's a lifestyle. It's a choice. You get up and you you work out and you exercise. And there was a period of my career for for quite a few years where I didn't I was drinking. I was even smoking, believe it or not. I was just so focused on building the business and I had so many financial challenges. And then I started suffering from depression. And it's weird. I I started reading books about depression and happiness. And instead of just thinking, you know what, Paul, you've stopped working out. You need to get back. You got to go to the gym, man. You're good. Just got to get back to the gym. But you you almost have to go back to your ground roots. Um, now just to wrap up and it's it's been a privilege, a real pleasure, Dave. Thank you so much for taking the time today. What can you tell us about some of the future projects that you're working on and you know what what's ahead for you? And and at the back end of that, I want to talk about potentially helping you raise some funds for any future movie projects that are up and coming and how we can collaborate with my network to do that. Oh man, there's there's a lot of good projects to get involved with, man. uh quite a few actually from from different writers too, you know. Um I I I I have some of my own but from like you know through networking you meet so many people. So my plans the big fight this summer right boxing I could be the next Jake Paul after this man. I can't wait for you to announce that when it's when it's live. It's going to be big man. It's going to be big. So obviously that and then what I feel will be my magnum opus the one the the film project the script that I wrote that I told you great feedback from Shan let of course you know the writer of Blood Sport writer director Double Impact you know Lionhe Heart and then Bay Logan big Hong Kong producer and then um you know Matias Hughes even loved it like every everybody like really you know likes a even even that director from um movies and television recently told me And I specifically wrote that for myself to play. But see, I'm very I'm very smart. I know I don't have that like big name yet. I will after this project though, but because I don't have that, you know how you you'd mentioned Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, they they made sure they wrote a role for a really good actor who could partake in it, which you know, Robin Williams, Goodwill Hunting. So there's actually three roles in here outside of mine that are really really good you know and ideally we will get two known good name actors you know if we get three great but but at least two and that'll help the distribution a lot plus this unique concept that is going to be tied into it and everything else it's going to be quite the project you know quite something so yeah and then there's movies there's one from Germany uh called order the Dragon and uh they're they're looking at getting one of these iconic people that we had talked about in there that I'll be starring alongsideing. And and then here's a cool thing though. Um, there's another project that, you know, I actually I had like a I had a I'm on the phone all the time by the you know how networking is, you know, like I literally was on the phone for hours earlier today uh talking to the producer and this because the interesting thing and I and I'm glad he's like I really think you got something that you know is much more than just action or martial arts stuff. and I started talking to him a little while ago, but today was the long conversation. So, it's more of a a thriller like I'm not doing karate or killing people or anything with guns, you know, but like it's it's a great acting role. Yeah. Yeah. So, so th those projects right now on the horizon. I love thrillers. Now, where can people get to watch tell us a little bit about The Last Kumate because it's for sale if people want to to to watch it. Where do they tune in to do so? Oh, yeah. the uh do the the the last the last kum. So you could order it from Amazon. You could get the Blu-ray or you could stream it on Amazon. Um or it's actually on Tuby now. Oh, is it? I had a lot of people reach out to me after it was on Tuby and Oh, I finally seen the last kumay. I finally seen the last kumay. People like it, man. Yeah. No, it's it's amazing. Um so this is my commitment. If if your fight's all happening, fingers crossed it will. We won't say where is it going to be, but I'll fly out there and if all goes well and you win that fight, let's go out for a steak meal and we we'll celebrate on that trip. Oh man, like look that the afterparty is going to be off the charts, bro. Insane. Yeah. Like look, I'm whatever happens in the fight, I mean, I'm going all in and um I'm very confident even though on paper there's no way I should beat this guy on paper. Yeah. But I I do plan to get the real life Hollywood ending and beat this guy. But the afterparty. Yeah, man. Be part of the entourage because I'm already I've already assembled a lot of the afterparty by the way. So we we might have to stay we might have to get our steak the next day. Yeah. You know, like on Sunday or something. But uh we'll be out partying all night, man. It'll be You know what? One one last question I wanted to ask you. when you're writing these scripts, it's got to be a challenge how many love scenes you put into these movies. Is that a problem for you? You know, like the the thing is um what I think worked really good in Lion Hart was the fact that he didn't sleep with that hot blonde. Yeah. We wouldn't have liked him as much. It's like, dude, you're trying to make money cuz like your brother died and and you're trying to take care of your niece and your sister-in-law. It's like, what are you banging this chick? It's like, no, that's not a priority. we would like he wouldn't have the purity that the character has. That's true. So, for example, this script that I wrote, you know, there's going to be a nice actress in there and if there were different circumstances, perhaps there could have been something between my character and her, but it wouldn't make sense because I'm a single father trying to take care of my daughter. There there's there's, you know, different there's situation that we get in. It wouldn't make sense. It's like, "Well, let me hook up with this chick." It's like, "No, no. You you you you're not you're going to lose what you you know, you're not going to like the character as much, right?" Well, you know, you could do an edit post-prouction or or you could do a dream sequence like in Double Impads on the boat. Dave, listen. Well, you know, the thrill so the the thriller film there there's scenes with women like, you know, I'll I'll just fulfill that in that movie, but the the the one that I wrote, it wouldn't make sense in in the um in the story. Oh, man. Dave, it's been a real pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the time. Oh, yeah. Thanks, Paul. It's been fun. All right, brother. We'll speak soon. Yeah, definitely.

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