The Sevan Podcast - #366 - David Taylor

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

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should be too. Contact a licensed TD Insurance advisor to learn more. Bam, we're live. One of those people who says, I never get sick. I've never been sick. I've never been sick in my life. Now I'm sick twice in a row. What the hell's going on? I woke up this morning again, like coughing up stuff I could taste. Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to, I was just looking at something that I'm trying to find again.

We have a Home Depot in our area that caught on fire. Oh, there it is. There it is. We have a Home Depot that, good morning, Kevin. Good morning, Heidi. Good morning, Eric. I know you guys aren't saying good morning to me. You're saying good morning to all the crew. Amanda. Amanda Stack.

Brandon Waddell. Devesh Maharaj. Good morning. Alex Peters, Corey, Jason. Mr. Bellinghausen. Yeah, how crazy is that? How crazy is that? How crazy is that? This, these pictures are nuts. Hey, if you're a firefighter, this was a dream, right? Like all the firefighters I know, they, they started to be firefighters and then all they end up doing is going to old folks home

and saving old people or saving fat people or, you know, it's, it's, or they got the frequent flyers. They're just, they're starting to get wound too wound up. I'm gonna have a guest today. If you guys don't know who the guest is today, not a big deal, but you're going to be stoked as you learn about them. Holy cow. Or you're going to hate yourself. Uh, look at that. It's gone. It's gone. Can you imagine like the section with like all the paints in it and all the stuff that was flammable all the wd-40s kaboom kaboom it's like a little boy's wet dream to light a home depot on fire what are you talking about i'm just telling you the truth like that that's like investigation continues into five alarm home depot fire in san jose my goodness look at that thing whoo do they know how that started i mean uh christine why wow i always trip on your avatar it's so serious

you're like the sir you look like like the serious version of dory from um um finding nemo uh i mean my husband is a firefighter most of the big ones are fought from outside but how in the hell did no one put it out inside oh i see what you what you mean. Like just run it. Like they saw it and someone run over from the fire hydrant section and just spray it down. Hey, I like the stories where they're like, we had to cut a hole in the roof. Like no one went on the roof of this thing, right? God, can you imagine this thing? I have to guess you could see this fire from my house. Christina, why so serious? That's a good question. We'll have our own as a guest.

The lumber section. Yeah, in a Home Depot, that's just kindling, right? I mean, all the flammable stuff that explodes. I would just like to start a fire and throw like two cans of WD-40 in it and see what happens. How about a whole aisle of just flammable shit? Is our guest dumb? My wife just texted me.

What'd she say? I had a dream we were trying to find a place to have sex. No, that's not a dream. That's our life when you have three kids. But thank you. Good morning, babe, if you're listening. Normally I kiss her before the show starts, but my schedule got all jacked up this morning

because Mr. David Taylor had to postpone it by 10 minutes. And the next thing I knew I was in here and I was like, oh shit, I forgot to kiss my wife. I'm a creature of habit. So I text her, I love you. So then she told me her dream. There is there's mr taylor how are you doing dude better than this home depot oh yeah can you believe that what i don't know what happened that's the i live in um i live in santa cruz california which is like uh 20 miles south of San Jose, which is like 50 miles south of San Francisco.

And this Home Depot caught on fire. And I was just thinking like as a 50-year-old man, I still have a 7-year-old boy in me that would love to start a fire and throw in a can of WD-40 and watch it explode. But can you imagine that aisle with all the flammable like can you imagine that place i know it's funny i hope no one was hurt but i just holy cow it's that's epic wow whole home depot so it's a little boy's wet dream to just sit there and watch that no crazy crazy crazy crazy do you have any friends who are firefighters, David? Well, actually, I don't really have any friends, but so I was. I mean, I have friends.

I have co-friends. Don't lie. No, you don't. You're too busy to have friends. Well, I was saying this. So I was running back this morning. And so we get tested by USADA every quarter, you know, and USADA was here. And the guy who tested me is a firefighter at pittsburgh so we were actually just talking about that so uh is it ironic that you just

asked me about that i wonder if those guys i wonder if that's a cool job like oh you get to meet these people who you're heroes but on the other hand you're like uh pull out your genitalia okay let me see it let me see that thing operate yeah but on the other hand that guy's probably so excited to meet david taylor well you get to know him because you spend a ton of time with him you know and uh you mean why because it's the same guy that comes three times a year for the last five years or pretty much yeah i saw i'm i'm once a quitter but then i'm in like uh i'm in the water pool also so i'm i get tested probably eight or ten times a year plus competition so you but you get to know them you know you spend

a lot of time with them you know shooting the shit and sometimes you don't have to go to the bathroom so you're spending a lot longer with them you know sometimes quick today was a pretty quick trip but they're good people though i mean i think it's a tough job a little bit like you know but i but because they're on the road so a lot of them just got the job but they're all they're pretty much all pretty nice you know which is, they're probably stoked that you're so nice because a lot of the athletes just don't, um, I'm trying to think who it was that I, that I talked to. So someone was telling me that like, they would come at like, Oh,

it was Matt Fraser. Do you know who Matt Fraser is? He's the CrossFit Games champion five times in a row, fitness and alive. And anyway, he would me that, I think it was him, he mentioned that they would come to his room at 6 a.m. and he wouldn't have to pee, so he would just go back to sleep, and they would just sit in the room. I'm like, damn, dick move. No joke. One time, I had just peed. So I was getting ready to leave the house, it was like 5 a.m., and they show up at the house. I just peed. And, you know, like anyone else, you drink your coffee and you got to take a deuce.

So I was in there when I was taking a poop. And he was, like, waiting for me. And I'm like, dude, I don't have to pee for a while. He's like, I know. I have to get in here with you. I'm like, dang. That's a rough job because I felt bad for him. Yeah, that is a rough job.

Yeah. I want to be a professional athlete. Oh, how exciting. Do you know one of the perks that comes with that is you learn to pee with people watching you? Yeah. They don't tell you that. When is your, how old were you when you got your first drug test? I was in college, so it was the big tens probably.

And yeah, you just like, you're pee shy. Honestly, you're just like, this is weird. And I had to pee so bad, but I couldn't pee. And so I was one of the last people there waiting to try and squeeze this pee out. You have to pee so bad, but it's different when someone's staring at you. Just so you know, in regards to the cat, this is a completely inclusive show, not in the woke sense. We take the vaccinated, unvaccinated, the black, the Jews. We take the cats, felines, dogs.

So your cat is more than welcome to participate. We are a truly inclusive and diverse show. No, she'll be here. I mean, Coco's, she's, I got two cats that'll probably be up here at some point we'll meet them Coco and Maisie for those of you who don't know it's kind of um how old are you David 31 yeah it's not it's nuts uh what you've done in your in your short life um David has one of those you know he has he has records like what were you in high school? You were 180 and two, your, your wrestling record. Yep. Um, he won the state championships in junior high and in high school straight three years, four years, his fourth year as a senior. Um, it wasn't enough to win his, well, first, let me say this somewhere in his high school years, he went from

the 107 pound class to the 135 pound class over the summer, which is just nuts. Um, because winning is everything and screw challenging yourself, but he did that. And then his senior year, he went up to, um, 140 pounds, even though he was a 135 pound guy just to really, really, um, test himself. And, and, and, and actually the coolest part of the story is the credit that David gives to his teammate. What was his name? Matt. Was his name Matt? The guy who was normally 140 who went down and took your spot in 135 so that you could go up to 140.

That was really cool when you tell that story. I just thought that was like showed your character. Yeah. I mean, so that match, and I appreciate that. So we were wrestling like our big rival so i went to graham high school our rival was st ed's and our whole life growing up so it was myself and a guy named colin palmer and we had won everything growing up but we had never been the same weight class and that year we were both going for our fourth state titles in ohio i

was um we were in the middle division um he was division one i was division two there's three divisions in ohio but we were different weight classes. I was 135, Colin was 140. So, you know, I just, we were coming home from the tournament the weekend before, and I had thought about this all year. And I went up to my coach and said, Hey, can I go up and wrestle Colin at 140? And knowing that it could impact the duel, if I lost that match, like we could lose the duel. And, you know, we were able to work it out, but we had two brothersrian stevens and matt stevens and uh but we were able to work it out where you know we could bump the lineup around and uh there were some kind of crazy things that happened and it was uh like what like what let's hear it it's hard to remember now but i remember there was a there was how old how old were you

then you're 17 18 here in high school. So probably just turned 18 in December. So this was probably like a January, February duel for one of our last duels. So we had a phenom freshman that year. I think I'm pretty sure this was you and me. You're really dating me. Which is weird to hear you call someone a phenom freshman, which is kind of weird. This kid's name, his name was Felipe Martinez, and he was was amazing um he was actually like we were training partners that year i was a senior you know and he pushed me more than anybody in the country were pushed was pushing

me that year you know as high school so we're back-to-back weight classes he was did he come to the school because you were there no he moved in he moved in earlier um but i mean he was one of those kids that's in like sixth grade but he weighed 140 pounds and he was beating high school kids in sixth grade and it was 140 pounds in high school you know so he was like ready he was battle tested he i mean he was really good and i'm i think i think this is what happened i can't remember but he was wrestling and i think he got disqualified in the match so basically he would have won the match you know by a decision major decision whatever and i think he got disqualified so the other point got it was basically equivalent of that team getting a pin

so then that was i think right before i wrestled so the match with colin and i got a lot um bigger because now the duel was a lot closer than what it would have been. Um, and it was pretty Epic because, uh, we, you know, for high school gym, you know, there's a thousand people packed in there. This was like before really like social media, it was way before social media. Um, you know, like you go back and look at the match, like it's grainy, grainy film, but it's packed in there. uh yeah they were chanting your name that's crazy in high school it was wild and uh he got the first takedown um and then you know i was able to i think i got a takedown later in the match and um ended up getting a turn really late and that was kind of a big difference maker uh in that match and you know we both went on to win four state

championships that year and um unfortunately colin he had just a lot of injuries so in college he never was able to really kind of continue wrestling at that level because i just think injuries from growing up and he had some really odd things happen but now he's coaching a youth club in ohio doing really well um coaching a high school in ohio uh columbus sales and you know it's just i think you know all those years of competing with each other you know it was uh kind of push each other to do some really good things. You know, his more on the coaching side. What state are you in right now? I live in Pennsylvania.

So you were, where were you born? What state were you born? So my dad was in the military. So I was born in Reno, Nevada, briefly. Right. Right. And moved to Middlebrook, Florida, both before I was one. Then my dad was with Delta Airlines, lived in Atlanta, Georgia. Then moved to Evanston, Wyoming, lived in Wyoming, then St. Paris, Ohio. And then I've lived in- What does Delta have in Evanston, Wyoming?

What do they have there? We didn't. They had mountains. My dad always wanted to live in my, he always wanted to live out West. So this is obviously prior to, you know, I was just a kid, five years old. But we lived an hour and 45 minutes from the airport back and forth. So, but he just, we, you know, he really wanted to live in the mountains and, you know,

that was just where he decided to, to, to live. And it was, and then, so that was kind of like, like you know we moved there when I was five my dad was commuting out in 45 minutes to the airport he'd go he'd be gone three four days a week on his trips domestic at the time come home you know then we lived on a farm and we had you know on a ranch we had horses we had you know all kinds of stuff we had 40 acres so it was um 20 acres, 20, 40. I don't know. You ended up moving to 40 in Ohio. That was the next move. I did my research. Yeah.

So that's what it was. We have 20 in Wyoming. But then I started wrestling. And then, you know, as I continued to evolve, we started driving. So my dad would make that trip to and from work, be traveling all the time. And then we'd be driving, my mom, my dad would be driving an hour and 45 minutes one way to practice a couple of days a week. And it just got, it got a lot. And ultimately that was when we decided in sixth grade, moved to Ohio because I left 10 minutes from practice. My dad still

commuted to work, you know, an hour and a half, but, but I was 10 minutes from practice. My dad still commuted to work, you know, an hour and a half, but, um, but I was 10 minutes to practice. So it was a lot more convenient on my family. You know, at that point, you tell a story about how you were able to, because your dad worked at Delta airlines to fly for free, um, and, and check out tournaments that maybe other kids couldn't. So you got a ton of exposure. Are you familiar with a guy out of Salt Lake city? I actually, I don't think he's in Salt Lake City anymore, but he was. He worked for Delta, and he started working there when he was 20, and he went on to become the world's greatest arm wrestler by far. His name is John Brzezink.

Do you know that name? I don't. Not until now. Oh, it's a really cool story. There's a movie about him called Pulling John. Like pulling, because in arm wrestling, your first move is to pull the guy towards you. Anyway, I made the movie.

Epic movie. I hate to pat myself on the back, but it's so freaking good. It took me five years to make it. But I just find it fascinating that he also worked at Delta and your dad worked at Delta and both of you were able to parlay that into great sports. Do you think is, is wrestling fighting?

Well, I mean, some would say it's the, you know, it's the oldest version of martial arts. Um, and I think it's, there's an element to it. I think your style depends. So, I mean, some people are just like, you know, very physical in their wrestling and some people are just like you know very physical in their wrestling and some people are very technical in their wrestling and i think there's a lot of variants in between that but i mean sure i mean you get in a fight and you have if you're a wrestler you're gonna have a big advantage you know as long as you don't get knocked out on that first punch you're

getting to the ground you know you're gonna have yeah that's why you see so many mma guys so many wrestlers transition mma and almost all the the MMA champs now have wrestling backgrounds. So I would say it's pretty valuable, you know, in fighting. The thing, when I used to wrestle with my sister every single day, you know, just come home from school and we would wrestle. But basically, it was fighting, but there were rules. There was the unspoken rule, you can't punch in the face. But we would have other rules, too, like you could only use use your right arm or you could only use your left arm or you

couldn't use either your arms or and she was older than me um but wrestling the more and more i watch it i watch a lot of ufc well just every saturday but wrestling seems to me is just like fighting with um like just rules like so you don't get your teeth knocked out and like what you did to that azerbaijani guy like he didn't like that you put him in a full nelson to a pin yeah he didn't like that at all no it's uh you know wrestling is you know it's just there's so many interesting stayed down sorry to interrupt david he stayed down longer than a lot of people stayed down who got knocked out yeah well i mean getting rolled up in the world semifinals and a half, you know, it's a that's not something that people want to do. You know, it's as they're those are not very, very fun situations.

But, you know, I'd rather be on that side of it than the other side. Does when he does that, when he stays down and he's playing with his shoulders a little bit, is that more, could he have gotten injured there or is that more just ego? He's just checking, he's just, can't believe what just happened. you don't have a lot of where's it ways to go except to your back, you know? And, uh, it's just more like, I just got stacked up in the world finals. Uh, I gotta make it look like something got hurt when I got pinned because kind of how you have to rationalize it, I guess, in your head, that guy looks huge compared to you. Uh, I mean, I, he was tall, you know, he's a tall guy. I think for me, like I, in my weight class, 86 kilos, 189 pounds. I'm definitely, I would say, the biggest, if not one of the biggest in the weight class. I walk around right around 200, but it's the lifestyle that I live.

My body at 200, I'm pretty lean. I'm a little over six feet tall. A lot of these guys, a lot of these foreigners they're not very they don't live that lifestyle like they're great wrestlers tell me what you mean by that lifestyle like they don't eat like meat and vegetables nuts and seeds little starch no sugar like go to bed on time all that shit no oh no one in the world does that you know like i mean even even in very few people i mean the diet nutrition element has become so more so much more prominent you know especially in like combat sports. Before, it was barbaric.

I'm going to cut all this crazy weight, and I'm going to drink beer, and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to think I can go perform really well. You can see now, like you're an MMA guy, you can see the guys that still do that because they look bloated. Their body looks soft. They don't look right. The people that live a lifestyle, their body is lean and chiseled, and maybe they they have that weight descent, but there's a, there's a proper way to do it and to refill your body. And I would say internationally, you know, they're just not, that's just not something they prioritize. They just, they're the way they train and the way that I train is way different. You know, mine's very professional, very like regimented. Like I'm going to work on these days.

I'm going to recover on these days. I'm going to eat these things. I'm going to travel, especially now that I'm 31 years old. I have two kids. My wife and I manage multiple businesses, like my life's busy. So I have to be very regimented in those things. Those guys are just kind of waking up, going to the gym. And there are a lot of it's on talent. Um, and the ones that do more are the ones that are very successful consistently. Um, so I think that's why when you see wrestling or you see fighting, they might be the same weight class, but you're like, man, that guy looks so much bigger. It's not really that they're that much bigger. It's just that person's body physique and composition, whether it's naturally gifted or they just prioritize that stuff a little bit more is why you see that. Thank you, Caleb. I saw you changed his name to his instagram account caleb david david

caleb how's it going caleb if you need anything like a glass of water or you have any questions about the u.s air force um he's in the air force uh he can do all that you need your name changed or you want to see a video clip of when you were six caleb can do all that i just i got a little window here i saw he just popped up and sat down in the back. He's such a good dude. Such a good dude. Hey, how, how, how does, how do you meet, how did you meet your wife? What's your wife's name? Kendra. How do you meet, how do you have time to meet a girl and like, and like cultivate a relationship? I mean, I wasn't, um, I wasn't probably as intense when I was younger you know I was I was very driven with wrestling um and I was intense but I I definitely what do you mean intense what do

you mean intense um well I mean obviously when you before you know I always wanted to be a great wrestler but you know you you have different you know kind of priorities when you're younger you know and obviously I think when but when I wrestled my wife or i wrestled my wife when i was a kid that was how we met so when we were um so wow yeah this is better than i thought yeah it's pretty good so my my uh my wife's family great wrestler so her brother jimmy kennedy was a multiple time all-american university of illinois great great youth wrestler is now a coach at Penn State they just moved out here so we all live in the same area now her younger brother great athlete great wrestler state champion in high school and he wrestled at the University of Michigan

so growing up like you're all in the same circuit and my wife wrestled and she was a great wrestler too but at the time women's wrestling hadn't really taken off so she was really good her dad was just like well you're just gonna do what jimmy's doing and what cameron's doing um and she was wrestling going to practice battling bloody noses you know broken collarbones and uh you know going out and battling and we wrestled at a so as a kid there were like three major tournaments. It was, you had a tournament in November called the cliff King kickoff classic. You had a January one called Tulsa nationals. And then you had one in April called Reno worlds. And if you won one of those tournaments, you were really good. Are one of, were one of those, the iron man that I keep seeing in all the videos about you or no,

that's a different one. Different one. That's a high school tournament. So these are good tournaments. Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Eight, 10 eight ten twelve fifteen and under divisions and okay um very competitive and if you want all three of them you would win this thing called the trinity award and that was like rare you know to win all three of those awards but and there wasn't it wasn't super saturated at the time like there wasn't, like now there's 100 youth national tournaments. So to say you're a national champion, you could go to a hundred. Back then it was basically those three, like you won those, those were like big deal. So we, we were at, um, Reno and I wrestled Kendra in the quarterfinals of this tournament. So she already beat a couple of good people.

Had you ever seen her before? So I her so i you knew that i mean you know ken i knew no we knew my family was friends with her family like jimmy was a stud he was always like the way you know he was always battling like the age group above me how close did they live to you sorry i keep interrupting david but that's just bad habit of mine blame my mom it's fine how close did she live to you they live in illinois um and you were in ohio so when you say you knew them it's not like they came over for dinner shit you just saw them in tournaments these tournaments because like you're you know you're in the same youth circuit like all the best people one of the same events

okay you know you're going to the same camps and clinics or whatever you're going to um so we wrestled in the quarterfinals that morning it was wild so that morning i woke up and i had my first ever back spasm i couldn't tie my shoes i thought you're gonna say your first ever wet dream god i was really hoping you were gonna say that uh so i can't tie my shoes i can't put my socks on how old are you uh i was it was 10 i think 10 and under so i was 10 years old and having back spasms yeah I was like 9 10 years old whatever it was and I'm like nervous really nervous because you wrestle a girl you never want to lose to a girl yeah I can't tie my shoes I have a heat pad on my back you know

and basically my dad's like you better toughen up no shit you need to like you know be ready to go um and then i guess i would be scared if i was your dad i my dad's a very anxious guy so i know he was like i know he had an element in his back of his head like my son could lose to this girl no i'd be worried about your back i wouldn't be worried about that no no no i don't he was just like suck it up for being a wuss you know basically what his his response was um i just got like a you know i don't know i guess i just said i'll enter like can't let this happen i went out and pinned her in like 30 seconds so and was your back still tight when you went out there and it just goes away for a second because of adrenaline and then comes back soon as you're done yeah i mean i i dealt a lot of back issues my whole career and that was the first time i'd ever

like was an issue like i was at a competition and this wasn't right um and we'll see it bye and uh have a good day yeah bye she so yeah but she ended up i think coming back and getting like third or fourth place in that tournament. She did? Did she just hear you tell the story about whooping her ass? Yeah, yeah. She got third place. She said she got third place. So, yeah.

We went back and found that bracket sheet. And her dad says she has the film. So when we got married, like when he was giving his speech, he said he was going to give it to me. I need that video. But he still hasn't handed it over. So you're – and tell me her name again. Her name's Kendra. Kendra. So did you feel anything for her at 10 years old?

Well, I just – you know, I don't really remember that much, but her dad made her send like a school picture on the back, said, you know, love Kendra basically. after that match after that match yeah and my parent my dad and her dad had this like arranged joking marriage like that one day we would like have super babies yeah and you know i funny because that's uh you know hopefully the way that it's going to work itself out but then i was in study hall when i was in high school so my senior year I had like a bunch of study halls because I was taking a lot of online classes so I could travel and do things. And I get this ding on, you know, obviously I was on Facebook.

I wasn't doing my homework and I get this ding and I'm like, Kendra Kennedy wants to be your friend. I'm like, wow, no way. This is the girl. This girl's smoking hot. There's no way. This is the girl I wrestled when I was a kid. And of course I was sending her a message and we're joking back and forth and i'm like

and i kind of go through a profile and realize yeah this is the same girl and i came home to my dad my dad you'll never believe like who messaged me on facebook why are you doing facebook you know and uh then we just kind of started becoming really good friends like we just like talk on the phone like i was in a pretty regimented schedule when i was a kid like my parents like no joke would be like you can talk on the phone from 9 to 9 30 at night you need to go to bed so i would be on the phone at 9 30 and they'd be coming down like hey can you get off the phone i'd be talking to kendra like hiding under my pillow you know so we just became really good friends like you know through my senior year and senior year in college and then um i redshirted

she went to university of illinois and was running track um and she had a uh her she had a bone sprain achilles and it basically shredded it so you know it ended her career so they went and shaved you know cut her achilles shaved her bone and she could never really compete after that um i redshirted that year and then the next year we started dating and then we just dated all through college and then we got married in 2016 and now we got two beautiful girls my oldest will be two you sure do and my youngest will be uh well six months so it's uh it's kind of crazy how it all happens let's say this is the the heel of the foot just sitting in here and and then this this so the achilles is

that tendon that comes down right attached to the big old thick one in the back so you're saying behind there somewhere she got a bone spur and because of the shape of the bone spur started cutting into her achilles yeah because so when she stopped she stopped wrestling um when she was in seventh grade just because you know girls wrestling wasn't really a thing and you know she was a pretty girl and was tired of getting bloody noses so her dad's like are you gonna run track you know so she ran track and she was really good she was um she was second well she actually got second in the state um and got disqualified because she stepped on the line you know while running so you know she was really

competitive she's a super athlete very competitive um and uh but yeah so and she was she was every time she was running that thing was just like shredding her achilles and it was super painful and then they cut it shaved the bone reattached it um and it's just like it's you know you it was achilles injuries become are now very common but you know back then 10 years ago you know the technology was different um and it's a trip that your own body would do that to you. Yeah, it's messed up. Yeah. I want to show you something.

You just said something that – I saw this the other day. I have a live call-in show where just people call in live. I have no guests. I do it like once a week. And I always like whenever I see stuff, I pick it and I show it on a live call-in show. So I was going to show this on my live call-in show I'm going to show it to you. Uh, now give me one second. Um, you said something that made me think of this. Sorry, Caleb. I'm going to take the screen for a second. Um, Oh, should I just send it to you here? That's what I'm going to do. Caleb,

I'm going to send it to you in a, in a text. Isn't technology amazing. I can just copy the link, send it to him in a text and he gets it amazing? I can just copy the link, send it to him in a text, and he gets it. And then he plays it for the world to see. I'm fascinated by this whole podcast setup too, just like how you can get those things to come up. I mean, it's just so cool, so interactive. And there's people trying – we're live too. So let's see what this person says about you.

This guy has never had a hell in a cell match with The undertaker. That must be like a WWE reference or something. on the show recently i had aljermaine sterling i had kayla harrison on the show i don't know if you know the judo olympian yeah um i had patrick bet david on and and people get excited and i have a lot of cool guests on um uh but when i when i when yesterday they announced you were going to be on the show on our podcast and people are like oh my god i can't believe you got david taylor he's like basically like he's so out of your league i'm like oh thanks guys thanks guys okay check this check. Okay, check this out. Check this out. It's really tough when one person's working on it.

Two people can move a couch real easy. We'll have to hear the beginning again so you can understand. One person can't move it at all. You're in a relationship. Let me try to help you right now. Stop competing. It's not a fucking competition. Her success is your success, and your success is her success.

Stop competing. Oh, relationships are tough. They're not. They're only tough when one person's working on it. Two people can move a couch real easy. One person can't move it at all you in a relationship so i watch this and i'm like i can't relate to that at all because i i i i don't even really know what it means to be competitive let alone be competitive against my wife i don't think

does that resonate with you at all or it it does a lot so you know it's interesting that that you brought that up it's crazy how it's crazy how things work themselves out but i i try so right now i'm in the middle of doing this documentary um basically i'm like what's next after the olympics so what am i doing and it's going to be on live train it's a new platform it's going to be really cool i forgot to tell you tell you guys, David Taylor won the gold medal in the Olympics in Tokyo and one of the hardest sports that's ever been on this planet wrestling. Sorry, go ahead. now. And it's, it's really hard to put that in perspective because we are such a team. Like when I, when I say like, we won Olympic gold medal, we did that together. I couldn't do it without her. You know, I was, uh, we were, I was just talking to the guy that you saw, the guy who was doing, you know, coming in and do the drug test. And he was talking about how he's meal prepping and he's

talking about how he's training and he's, you know, training 4,500 calories a day. And I'm like, I've been there, man. I know what you're talking about. he's training and he's, you know, trying to eat 4,500 calories a day. And I'm like, I've been there, man. I know what you're talking about. It's like, it's so hard. I'm like, yeah, I couldn't have done it because my wife was the one that was able to do that for me. You know, she, it's like, Hey, she knew this was my dream since I was a little kid. And she's willing to always put, you know, what I was trying to do in front of what she was doing. You know, she's a nurturer, she's a lover and like, yeah, it's really hard on her, you know, all the time, but she's just like, that, you know, that was what our goal was. You know, she understood like, I'm how much I, you know, work for that. So when we see these

relationships and I think where it changes a lot for athletes is you're, it's a very selfish, right? To be the best at something, if it's the best in the state, the country, the world, you have to be pretty selfish with your time. Cause it doesn't just mistakenly happen. Like you gotta be, you know, you gotta be prioritizing like your training, your recovering nutrition and all those things, because it makes such a small detail. So if you're on your own doing it, like, okay, if you have like a girlfriend or wife that can help you with those things, that's even better. Like I was fortunate because my girlfriend and then my wife was like, she, that was, she loved doing that and helping me do those things. And, um, but then when you have kids, so you're used to being successful doing that, right? I was, I was successful doing that up to basically to win a world championship 2018

then I tore my ACL in 2019 and basically I was just training my ass off that whole time so I felt like I just reached the pinnacle part in the world and now I'm going to keep I'm going to start racking off these world olympic championships like that's where I'm at I got hurt and I feel like I'm missing time I have 10 months till the o Olympic games. I have to get surgery. I've got to come back. So my mindset is like, I got to go, got to go, got to go doing what I could do, knowing that I can't wrestle. I got a bum knee. So I was rehabbing, I was training, my nutrition was on point. So I'm like, the day I'm cleared to wrestle, I'm ready to go. I'm not missing a second because I'm out of shape and I'm not paying attention and all those things. So that was, again, when I'm talking about these things, like I was wrestling, but

my wife was the support in doing that. She's the one that like picked me up when I'm crying in bed because I'm feel like I'm never going to be back, you know? And she's the one that was like, all right, we got to get serious nutrition. You got to cut doing all this other stuff. You got to focus on what you're doing. And how about the more mundane stuff too like um you get a letter from the dmv saying you forgot to register your car but you really did and someone has to go to the dmv does she do that too yes because that shit's crazy my wife does all that shit like takes care of the home payments and i just do podcasts just sit around and talk shit that's crazy so when you're talking about relationships like it's a,

so she's there for you emotionally, physically, financially, intellectually. She's like just covering every base pretty much. Yeah. Financially I kind of do the financial stuff. Well, you know what I mean? Oh, do you do the financials? I guess I pay the bills, but I don't really, I don't do like the big stuff. Like, like if you buy a house, do you fill out the paperwork or does she, it's a good question. You know, so I'll, I don't do that she got to do that that everybody in my life knows that okay david's gonna get to a certain point but if you want to follow through and you want something done you need to talk to kendra yeah i'll be like let's get that house my banker

you know my accountant you know my everyone's just like okay just talk to kendra you know, my accountant, you know, my everyone's just like, OK, just talk to Kendra, you know, like they know. OK, so she's the adult. She's the one. Yeah, she's the one that needs to take care of all those things. You know, so what I was saying is in a relationship and I think we're athletes really struggle. And I think what's going to be unique about, you know, this next part of my journey was you once you have kids, then everything changes. you, once you have kids, then everything changes. And, you know, your, your wife goes from, okay, or your girlfriend or significant other who's supporting you, you know, kind of supporting you, but now the kids are first. And, you know, I think that changes because you're used to having success doing things a certain way, you know, like, like our whole life was built around, like we would train, you know, like I recover. And when I say weeks, that's like kind of what

it was like then, But then we were mobile. Like if we wanted to go do on vacation or go get away, we go do that. And then once you have kids now, it's like you do all that. Plus, you're responsible for somebody else. And, you know, now having two kids, you know, and I think that that's where you truly have this relationship of not competing. It's not about, well, I changed this diaper. You got to change this diaper. I fed him this morning you got to feed him this morning you know it's just like that's where you truly test your relationship and uh you have i see things

like that that's a nightmare for me for me i i i nipped that in the bud right away if a kid needed a diaper it was for me it was i guess i did compete but for me it was like i need to change the most diapers right she had the kid i need to i need to be there and do that why i i think you know it's uh it's kind of fun too because it's your it's your one-on-one time with the kid right they're just like looking up at you yeah it's just you and them it's it's uh it's been it's been so amazing you know to like to do this journey and um to be able to do these things but now like my my oldest is going to be two and she's running all over the place like now she she knows when i'm gone and you know she's excited when i get home and i think she's starting to understand a little bit like kind of like what i do not she has no idea like

what i'm doing but you know like when i'm at work like you know we're talking about dad he's at work you know and i'm training and then she's excited to come home and you're tired. Like I, when I go and train, it's I'm a hundred percent all out training. Like I don't hold anything back when it's my training session. So I'm beat tired. I come home and like early on, I'm like, man, I'm tired, but I'm like, my daughter's only going to be this age for so long. Like I'm wasting time. If I think I'm going to sit, age for so long like i'm wasting time if i think i'm gonna sit put up and put my feet on the couch then i'm like not being a good dad so now i come home and like see her and i hold her and you know it's when it comes time to putting her bed i want to lay in

bed with her and hang out with her because you know it's like i don't get this time with her forever so you know it's been it's been really fun like you know ivy's still six months old so she's like growing and she's kind of not really that phase but we're london's you know, it's been, it's been really fun. Like, you know, Ivy's still six months old. So she's like growing and she's kind of not really that phase, but we're London's, you know, being that two years old, like we can kind of have a conversation and it's, uh, it's so funny how your, your perspective starts to shift and change, you know? So now when I'm training and I'm competing, you know, I'm like, man, I want to be a good role model for my daughter. I wanted to see like what hard work looks like. And if you sacrifice, you know, I think sacrifice is not really always a great word, but that's kind of an easy word to say.

But yeah, I hate that word too. Well, it's like, but because you're doing what you want to do. Yeah, I'm doing what I want to do. You know, it's my choice, especially now. Like I've achieved what I wanted to achieve. It's my choice to do these things now. But I feel different because now it's like, okay, I'm making the choice to do this. I need to make it worth the time because I am taking away from my family, you know?

And it's like, it's, uh, it's just interesting how that shifts over time, but it all started with the competing relationship. And I'm very lucky because of my wife, it's always a team and it's hard because she carries definitely a lot more on her plate than I do. it's hard because she carries definitely a lot more on her plate than I do, but, um, I'm just very lucky. Um, she's just, just very, very lucky with her support and she's an amazing mom. And, um, it's, it's, uh, you know, we're achieving these things together, you know, it's crazy that you have two kids at 31. I had my, uh, I have three, three kids, but I had my first one at 31. I had my, uh, I have three, three kids, but I had my first one at 43. And so by

the time I have them at 40, I, and I grinded in my thirties, I film movies in a hundred countries. I mean, I was, I was, I was working and, but you're going to do both. You're going to, you're going to grind your thirties or your grinding years, right? You're taking all that shit, that incredible rich history you have in your first 30 years. right you're taking all that shit that incredible rich history you have in your first 30 years and you're going to use that but you're also going to raise kids it's it's it's amazing um does does your wife have a um way off subject now does your wife have a creative outlet like does she take pictures of the kids or does she does she have anything where she gets to express her creativity well so we have we have, um, I w I would say, well, yes, I asked because I think that's a mental

escape for people, a healthy one, a good one. Well, I mean, she's always saying, I mean, she always like David, I have all these pictures of you and the kids, but I don't have very many of me and the kids. Like you need to take pictures. I'm like, yeah, I mean, I just, I guess that's a, it's a good point. So I'm just a bad picture taker. I like people taking pictures of me, but I'm not very good at taking pictures. But we, we, so we have a juice bar that we run called K2 Roots. And when I say we, she does that. Two of them. Well, two.

Yeah. So we just consolidated. So we have one, we had two locations and we just consolidated to one location, downtown state college, just a lot easier on, on everybody. Congrats. consolidated to one location, downtown state college, just a lot easier on, on everybody. Like I'm just, I just basically show up and eat the food and pretty much like that's what she does. So that's her outlet. I mean, she's, um, and we have, I don't know, we have like 12 employees, all college kids. So she's like, she's like mom to them. So it's just, and so creative is, so all these pictures and all the creation of our food

and what we're going to serve and our menus and, you know, all this stuff, this is all her vision. Um, and I think this is her outlet of, you know, these kids are pretty lucky. Like they got a great boss. Like she's, she's a very, very good schedule of like, this is what it's supposed to be like, this is the routine you got to follow. And it's very consistent when people come in and, what it's supposed to be like. This is the routine you got to follow. And it's very consistent when people come in and, um, she's, she's phenomenal. And this is, I think, uh, a good, this is, I guess her outlet, you know? Um, but also she really loves it. She loves nutrition and taking care of people. And this is kind of a way that she can do it. Um, you know, I guess the most. And you, you've had, uh, you've been in this business for four years already.

you've had, uh, you've been in this business for four years already. It's crazy. Yeah. So we started, so I started, uh, our trainings,

my empty training center in fall of 2017. And we started key to roots in the spring of 2018. Oh, M two is it. What's M two stand for me. What's M two stand for? Uh, magic man,

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know i had a great education at penn State, but I was focused on wrestling. And I wanted to get good grades because I was competitive. But I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I was going to wrestle. I knew being an Olympic champion was my goal. And I was like, I'm never going to get a real job until after that's over. And then in that time, I remember. So I had just graduated.

I had just graduated from college. So when you come out of college, I wish NIL stuff was available when I was in school, that would have been nice, but it wasn't. What did you say you wish what was available? This NIL, this name, image, and likeness stuff for all your college kids, you can get paid, you know? Okay. Don't know about it.

When I was in school, that, that wasn't, um, that wasn't a thing. So when I graduated, you know, I, uh, you know, my brand was strong and I had some endorsements, but I graduated in 2014. So 2016 was the next Olympic cycle. And I think a lot of the brands that I was with, you know, like, well, okay, this kid's the next kid to win the Olympics in 2016. Like we're going to establish, you know, we're going to, we're going to support this guy. And, uh, it's hard, it's hard to make a team.

And at the time, you know, Jordan Burroughs was a returning Olympic champion. Um, and, uh, I was, I was behind him at that weight class. Um, I was kind of stuck. I was a tweener. I was between making 163 pounds and I was too small for 189 pounds and I was cutting down and I was very inconsistent because I just, I was kind of lost a little bit. I was not at the right weight class and I wasn't. So the brand started to go away. So after that time, the brands went away in 2016. And that's how we support. I was trying to support, you know, my, my life, my family. So I'm like, listen, I, I'm just going to take this. We're gonna do our own thing and we're going to start our own businesses and we're going to put time and effort into it. And it's something that's sustainable well after I'm done competing.

And we started a training center, you know, something I was very passionate about helping kids and, you know, it's, it's grown. So we're, you know, going into our fifth, sixth year of that and it's growing tremendously. And then we started K2 Roots, you know, and something that I was like, man, there's not a place in state college where it's a good, healthy place to go hang out and have good food as a college athlete town needed it. Um, it was something that I was becoming a lot more passionate about in my training. And Kendra was already making all that for me. So we're like, well, we could just do it for other people. And, uh, you know, now it's like, it was a hard at the time. Like people were like, Hey dude, you say you want to be a world and like a champion. And now you're putting more on your plate. You need to like focus on wrestling and training. And once

you win, you can do that stuff. i'm like what if what if well i never want to say what if i don't win but what if you put five six years into it and you're just trying to grind and you have nothing and then you're going to start your life and you're 31 years old so we started them and coincidentally when i had the outlets outside of wrestling these our businesses that was when i had the most success of my career because I focus on those things. Then I could focus on wrestling and then I had different things that I could kind of focus on. And I started to have a lot more success. It was less pressure on like, I got to be this champion.

I have to do this is the next step was like, I'm going to do this. I want to do this, but I'm also doing these other things I'm really passionate about and growing and they're sustainable. So now they're set up and they're running and they're, they're doing a great. And now it's like, we have a choice. We want to make them bigger. Do we want to keep them the same? I had a choice after the Olympics. Do I want to keep wrestling or do I want to be done? And I could honestly make that decision, um, based on, you know, what we had done. So, and then, you know, brands, brands are going to, they're going to follow and stuff. And I try and align with places that I, that I believe in. And that's an element, you know, you have a, you have a short window,

you know, to be, you know, a sponsored athlete, but now we have these things that are sustainable, you know, they create cashflow for us and we have a way to uh you know it's an outlet and it's a way to help people which are things that we really like to do yeah that's the cool part right it's it's so in your wheelhouse i need to be healthy i need to optimize my health my longevity my nutrition so it's it's it's there's nothing more that a brand could have than someone who wants to consume the product product who's at the highest level. Like we know that LeBron James sells Sprite and that Mexico, 55% of all the calories consumed in Mexico are soft drinks.

And that's why they're the leading country in type two diabetes. And that's why when they get COVID, they die. And we know that's what LeBron's doing. It's horrible. Fucking horrible. And yet you don't have to do that. You don don't have to pedal sprite to make uh 18 million dollars a year you're starting your own thing and like you can sincerely say and there's nothing better than being free man there's nothing better like no one can just walk up to that dude and be like so you think sprite's good for kids like yeah definitely yeah i mean it's horrible and that's horrible it's poison it's

nice like you know so we have control at k2 roots you know it's like so we we can make a choice every time we have a menu item we say okay do we want to put shit into this and make a little bit more money or do we want to put something good quality make a little bit less money but be happy so every time i go down a k2 honest yeah i can say i want i can i'll consume every item on this. People are like, what's the best thing? I'm like, I'll eat everything on here. Like really, even with your diet? I'm like, yeah, definitely. You know, because that's just like, I like to go down there and eat lunch and, and, and, you know, have meetings and enjoy being down there with my wife and our staff during the afternoon and not feel like I can't really eat this or I can't really eat that because I wouldn't eat it. Um,

so it's nice. It's, it's a nice, convenient thing for us, you know, to have a juice ready every single day and to have, you know, bowls and smoothies and things that I can integrate, you know, on the grab and go and, and feel good about it. And everyone else can feel good about going there too. And if it's your business, you can, um, you can just tell the truth. And if it's your business, you can just tell the truth. Like, yeah, I don't eat that thing. That's only if I win the Olympics again do I get to eat that. I come straight here and I get to eat that.

Like you can just be honest. Honesty is great. Your sister is a crazy accomplished athlete in her own right. You're a crazy accomplished athlete from a young age. It seems to me that a lot of these people who are so successful that they have some sort of pathology. Well, one of the things I wrote up here on the very top of my notes was, is like no one,

no one can empathize with David Taylor. No one can understand really what, and you may not be able to empathize with David Taylor. No one can understand really what, and you may not be able to empathize with anyone like David Taylor. You have to, maybe with your kids, you can, when you give yourself up, not to get too deep and esoteric, but what you've done is put yourself in this really unique experience as a human being. It's like you almost like you came from Mars. There's so few people who've done what you've done um but those other people seems like they always had something really bad happen when they were little like uncle buck molested him for five years or their cousin died in a car accident that they were in and they fucking lived and they fucking can't believe

they live so they have to you know they have to live two lives. You know, you know what I mean? There's some sort of, there's a great arm wrestler named Travis Bajent and a great CrossFit athlete named Danielle Brandon. And when they talk about their, or even the Hillbilly Hammer, right?

Do you know who that is from Pettigo submissions? The Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon. Anyway, so basically he lived in a trailer park. These are people who are running away from their childhood and they're using sports to try to like make friends take a cold shower and get food right but you didn't have any of that right no yeah this guy so um

uh j oh thank you uh jacob crouch so what pushes how did you do it? How do you have this killer instinct? Like, do you have to make stories up in your head? Like if I don't win this match, a monster is going to eat me or like, what, what do you, um, my, my wife's going to leave me if I don't win this match. Like what, what narratives do you spin to put, I'm guessing you have to fabricate pressure or explain to me what's going on inside that noggin years. That's a good question. And no one's ever asked me that before, you know? Um, I don't, I was just driven at a young age, you know, and I don't know why it was wrestling and what it was, but, and I was successful right away, but not like uber successful like it wasn't like i you know never lost a match as a youth wrestler you know i was losing matches um how old were

you when you started i started wrestling i was five okay you know and i would say i won my first national championship when i was eight so once i but once i was 10 you know when i was nine nine ten and under that really was when my success really started where it was like I've lost you know very few matches since then you know for the amount of matches that I wrestled and it was never you know for a lot of my peers you know it was the dads were like trying to live vicariously through their kids and that's me that's me and uh and it was um you know it was the kids didn't necessarily always want to go to the tournaments the dads were doing it at that age i was saying hey dad i want to go to practice i want to go to this place

i i want to wrestle this tournament you know i want to go this weight class and i was like always what i wanted to do and my dad would facilitate those things. So with the way that he would motivate me the most would be like, we're not going, we're not going, you, you, you wrestle like a wuss. We're not going. And I look back and like, dad, you realize like you were, you were skating on thin ice because I could have 100% just gone the different direction, you know just been like all right fine i'm but i was just so driven that i wanted to go so i would do anything i could do to make sure i could go so that next practice i was whooping ass so i'm like i want to go show them that and i'm like dad you realize that you were holding me to the standard of excellence at a young age that i was giving up like one takedown i would get taken down one time in practice. And that was like, it wasn't worth our trip essentially, you know? And, but he knew. He would say that to you? Yeah. So there was crazy accountability. Yeah. But he wasn't, so my dad was, I mean, he was really hard

on me, but he loved me and he knew that's how I was driven like if I was how did he show his love to you how did he show his love did he hold you a lot do I did he hold you a lot no I mean I just think he you know he always like you know he just always just tell me love me you know you would you would hug me you know he would he was there for me like you know obviously when I didn't it's hard you know i think it's not like there's people don't really come out of like i would say that the the success that that i had you know obviously there's a standard of excellence that i was holding myself to and he held me to the same standard it's like you say you want to do these things and this is what it's going to require

you know and and i'll take, but you have to do them, you know, very like self-driven. So he's like, all right, I'm gone for these four days. These, you know, these are the things that, you know, you need to be doing basically, if you want to go and I would do them, you know, it's like, all right, you got to have good grades. All right. So I was straight A student, you know, you have to have your homework done. I would do my homework on the airplane before the tournament started. You know, it's like, but I was picked up from practice, picked up from school and we'd have a, you know, a smoothie and, you know, chicken and rice and whatever in a bowl. And I was eating in the car and my dad and I just spent tons of time together and on the road. I don't know.

Oh, you, there it is. You spent tons of time with your dad. Tons of time, you know, and what he always did, which I think was different than a lot of other people was we always did something that wasn't wrestling related so although wrestling was the foundation on a lot of what our relationship was because we spent so much time doing it but we would also go go hunting you know so we'd go three or four days and I remember one time we went to Jackson Hole and we were gonna go hunting and it wasn't about the hunt. It was about just going and doing stuff. And it was freezing cold.

It was like 20 degrees below zero. And my dad's like, we're just going to go to the hotel and we're going to hang out. And we just spent two or three days together. I was like eight or nine years old at that time. We would go to a tournament. So every time we'd go down to that tournament, we'd go see a movie where a lot of other people would be doing whatever they were doing. We'd go a movie together, you know, go to the theater and spend that time, you know, but we had so many hours in rental cars and driving to tournaments

and flying. And, you know, I, uh, we had very mature conversations. Like we'd be driving and I used to love this game. So back then it wasn't like phones, we'd have maps. So we'd be like, all right, uh, tell me the coordinates, uh, my dad was in a military background. So he'd be like, all right, tell me the coordinates uh my dad was in a military background so he'd be like all right tell me the coordinates of this of this town you know so i have to find the town and say oh it's e11 on the map so paper paper map yeah paper map from triple a from triple a those are dope like navigate so like all right how are we going to get from uh from stillwater to tulsa for this tournament i'm like all right now we're going to jump on this highway and we're going to drive this way. You know? So every time that I met somebody, he'd always say, Hey, David, you know, go up, shake their hand, you know, tell them, you know, who you are and you know,

what you do. And my dad's a very proud dad, you know, like he flew, he represented Delta airlines the best that he could, you know, his suit was, or, you know, his uniform was always pressed correctly. He wore the tie the way he was supposed to wear, wore his hat the way he was supposed to wear it because he was proud. So he taught me to be the same thing. You know, he's like, if you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability and, uh, you know, and, and put everything into it. So yeah, it was hard, you know, like I tell him we have these conversations now and I would say now our relationship is definitely the, I would say it's the best relationship that we've had because it's more dynamic than it is.

It was just wrestling before. It was like, I mean, I can relate to him because he and my mom, they put so much into helping me fulfill what I wanted to do. Like, I don't know how they did it. Because I mean, if i had to make that decision right now for my kids it would be really hard it'd be really hard i don't to do what they did for me i don't know if it is very replicable and he's like my dad tells me he's like i could never do it again you know but yeah you can't if someone if someone tells you how hard it is to be a parent no one never becomes a parent yeah but. But, but, but you,

but you just do it right. Like you've never realized how happy you would be to wipe someone's ass. Like no one could ever convince you you'd be excited to wipe someone's ass. And yet every time my kids call me to wipe their ass, I'm like, yeah, like I could be sleeping in the middle of the night, jump out of bed. Yeah. You know, like I got this. So it's, it was, uh, it's hard, you know, it's definitely, I think that's a hard thing for people, like the got this. So it was it's hard. You know, it's definitely I think that's a hard thing for people like the empathy thing. Like, yeah, you know, people, peers, family members, they were just like, David's going to get burnout. You're doing. Yeah.

Yeah. Your dad must have heard that a lot. Your dad must have taken a lot of abuse from people. You're pushing your kid too hard. This is inappropriate. It's abuse. Yeah. I mean, probably, you know. This is inappropriate. It's abuse. Yeah. I mean, probably, you know, and I think as you have success, then obviously then jealousy

follows and, you know, like insecurity follows those things. And he just like, you just, you keep staying, you keep staying focused on what you want to do and you'll, you'll do great things. you'll do great things. And every, I just think for me, the driving factor was, I just always wanted to be the best at what I was doing. And I think in wrestling was a way that I could, I could put in the work and I could go do it in competition. And where most people were in competition with tight knob. And it was about, that was where i thrived you know it was like you could be a practice room wrestler you could be a competitor and i was good in the practice room but when i competed i was a different beast you know it was just like i was going out there

to dominate somebody and every age group that i went through people would always that was the thing like oh you're successful well you can't do it when you Well, you can't do it when you're 10. You can't do it when you're 12. You can't do that when you're junior high, in high school, college, international level. I did it the whole way through. That was the thing that I stepped on the mat. I was, I've never been afraid to put it on the line and to go dominate people, you know, and you, I could have chose the one by one point or two points or three points, but man, I was driven to win by eight or 10 or 12 or 15 every time I stepped on the mat. Um, and that was like what really motivated me when I, when things were hard and when whatever it may be, because that's what I wanted to do. And I want to do at the highest level. And so you're familiar with that. There's a person that on the mat that you enjoy embodying. And he really only exists on the mat when someone else is trying to stop you from

what you're doing and that that that does that person ever show up anywhere else in life or is it always just in competition that do those do those pieces ever align and express themselves other places yeah i think in everything you know i think like i do it does i think anything that i really care about that it that's how it is you know like if your wife's like hey i gotta talk to you you'll you'll bring it to your listening you'll be like you'll be like okay fuck i'm gonna give this 10 000 of listening right now yeah i have to work on it because like i feel yeah right you know my body would be in different places right so i have to and that's where i'm wrestling that's the one thing in my life

from an attention span when i'm competing i'm so dialed in and focused on exactly what I'm doing and everything else that I'm doing, my mind wonders in different ways, you know? So I think that in wrestling that out, it was just that thing where I could really dial in and focus on a specific task at hand. And in other things I do, I have to work, I have to work to make sure that I'm staying present in what I'm doing, you know? Um, and that's something I have to continue to work on. This thing, this to dominate out there, do you remember how old you were when that showed up? Do you remember? I feel like there's more to it too like do you do you feel dangerous out there uh i feel like when that when that whistle starts i'm just looking to score and keep scoring and i think it's something that you just you learn how to navigate like even in practice like it's gonna

be hard both guys are fighting right and as you go up in levels and guys get better and better and i i thrive in that moment when i feel the guy start to decrease and then i carry him i've heard ufc fighters say if i feel you wilt they said there's nothing better than feeling another man wilt yeah it's called like breaking your opponent and that's like an addicting feeling and uh when you felt it and you know what that feels like that's what you want to do every time you step out there. Can that happen just really quickly? Sometimes because your reputation is powerful. When people know that you do that to people and you know, you like, I wrestle a hard pace and I'm very, I'm technically skilled in a lot of areas.

So, you know, it's, uh, you can fight, but you can only fight so many situations before you give up one, but you know, that I'm coming with another one and another one and another one and another one. And that's just the way I train. That's how my mind is. And, uh, you know, the, the guys that have, you know, that have beaten me, I've found a way to, you know, do that, but it's been very few, you know, and, uh, it just, I know that I have an edge every time I step out and do that, but it also, it comes from the way that I train, you know, and if I start to modify the way I

train and I start to give in, and I heard actually Kobe Bryant talking about this one time in an interview. And he talks about that time when you start to like negotiate with yourself, you're like, I'll do another rep tomorrow. I'll make up for this tomorrow. And you're like, no, I'm not negotiating with myself. I'm doing it right now. I'm putting the work in right now because I know we'll make a difference. You know? And I think that's, you have those decisions and you just don't negotiate with yourself. You know, you don't negotiate yourself in a match. Like, I'll give up this one and I'll get the next one. No, that dude has to earn every second of what

they get on you. No free points, no freebies, nothing easy. And that adds up over time, you know? And I think that's something that everyone can apply. Stop negotiating with yourself. Stop saying, I'm gonna start my diet tomorrow. I'm gonna start training tomorrow. You got to start. And once you start, you think yourself, you feel better because now one, two, three, four weeks go by and you're like, wow've been committed you know and you you see the difference and you feel the difference and um i think that's what wrestling is really unique because when you do those things you can really understand the outcome there was a um it wasn't until i was in my i was always the kid who was picked after girls like in PE.

You know what I mean? So you'd be a team captain, someone else be team captain, all the dudes get picked, then some chicks and then I'd get picked. That was like my junior high and high school. And I was okay with it. I thought it was actually kind of funny.

And I knew that I was a fucking schlep. And then I was in my twenties and I had a housemate who was like crazy into steroids and bodybuilding and all this shit. And we were in the backyard one day. This is not, you're not going to relate to this at all probably and we're doing ecstasy just on a on a saturday just doing drugs mdma and and he and he goes he's doing pull-ups in a tree and i go and i go i've always wanted to do a pull-up and he goes hey it's not it's not a it's not a pull-up it's a contraction of your back those back muscles and then your body goes up and he the big old buff dude picks

me up and puts me in the tree and i do my first pull-up and then from there i'm like holy shit so i really just dedicate my life to that point this is going to sound weird to you but just to throwing frisbees so i start throwing frisbees three to six hours every single day, every single day. This goes on for like five years. No matter what, if someone threw a Frisbee, I would try to catch it no matter what. My brain would be like, it's impossible to catch, but I had no choice but to run after it. And I made some fucking catches where there would be like not a thousand people, but there'd be 60 people in the park who i didn't know and they would be like what the fuck running up on car hoods diving into rose bushes rolling down the cliff but if but it's not i i i i relate to it you have to set some goals where there's no option you have to even with complete failure at at hand you must right you must i must and i i would say and frisbee was easy much easier

than don't get me wrong than than fighting but but i relate to it i relate to it and i think that's like where so many people you know like i think today with social media and um and i mean i'm a big fan of social media i think it's great but you just only see what people want you to see they see the good stuff you know and i think people are losing track of like that fight like dude to be the great at something you have to sacrifice again it's not sacrifice it's not a sacrifice it's an investment you're you're choosing to make an investment yeah you know and i think that's something i have to tell myself a lot now, now that I've, okay. Cause I did, I felt like I did sacrifice a lot to get to where I am now. It's like, okay, I'm choosing this again. I'm not sacrificing. I'm investing my time because this is what I want to

do. You know? And I think that's where we lose track of that. And we, and I think in this society, like you just want it to be easy. It's not easy. Being great at something is freaking hard and it just gets harder. But you have to be wired that way. And you got to like really deep down. I want to catch this damn frisbee no matter who's in my way. I'm catching this thing. And I think in wrestling, it's just you and one other person. So you have to have that because there's no one to bail you out.

When you have like a short, you know, like I cut corner and I negotiate with myself. I didn't do that thing when it gets hard. That's what you remember. Oh, it really is. That's not just lip service. You really do. It's like, shit, I should have run harder on those sprints on the assault runner. I'll give you a good example. So, you know, Olympic gold medal. Right. Not that tournament. I was not losing. It was a done deal. I was done. I knew I was winning and, you know, I, I dominated my first three guys. I had three tech falls going into the finals and I wrestled Hassani as Donnie, this guy from Iran, who's a great wrestler, right? He's, he's gonna, this guy's gonna go down as one of the greatest

wrestlers of all time. Um, he was, he'd the olympics 2016 he won the world in 2017 i beat him in 2018 i was he won in 2019 i beat him the olympic finals in 2020 and then but in that match i wouldn't say it was a perfect match but there was just no way i was in my mind there was no other outcome but i was winning the match so i was losing with a minute 15 seconds left and i started picking it up and i got stopped 50 seconds on the clock start picking it up i got stopped 45 seconds on the clock i got stopped 27 seconds on the clock but when that happened i never looked at clock and like i was only 27 seconds left i'm like oh i got 27 more seconds to score his takedown and i was I knew it was going to happen.

So off that next exchange, I got a takedown, blew him off his feet, win. Because I had not skipped a single set, not a rep, nothing. Everything, you only can do that. I had zero doubt in my mind that I was prepared to win that match. And if I was going to lose, I lost because the guy was better than me. And I was complete peace when i was competing i it was not pressure it wasn't like oh i focused my whole life to be here it was like i'm gonna win because i've done everything right when the olympics come back home we have

a world championship seven weeks later wow wow really yeah wow and because the 2020 olympics were postponed to 2021 the 2021 championships were already on the schedule and you know i as a competitor i knew that was the going up and i i think i'd always said olympics first and then you know i wanted to win the olympics in the worlds in one year i felt like i missed 20 you know 2019 and 2020 and you know you don't want to take for granted like being healthy and being being the best and you want to go compete. But from a time, the Olympics, the world championships, I didn't have the fire to train and I didn't have the excitement to go in there and wrestle. I wanted to do other things. My whole life had been on pause for so long. I wanted to

enjoy seeing my friends. I wanted to, you know, my wife, we opened the new K2 Roots downtown. My wife had a baby just days before I left. You know? Yeah, that's crazy. That's crazy. You had a baby right before you went to the Olympics, and then you went to the Olympics and won? No, after the Olympics.

So after the Olympics, right before the World Championships. Oh, okay. So I was, like, leaving the hospital and training, coming back in, you know, being with my wife, you know, a couple days, and then I left and wrestled. But it was – I just didn't care the same that I cared, you know. And it showed. So, you know, I won.

You know, again, I had a tech fall and two pins going into the finals. And I wrestled the exact same guy. And he's hungry, right? I mean, he just lost with 17 seconds left. He was trying to win his second consecutive Olympic gold medal and lost a 17 seconds left. And he's been training to beat me for five years. And he's hungry during that eight weeks. And I'm just like, I'll go cause I'm in shape and I want to go and I want a world championship.

And that was a difference. Like from the very first whistle that blew, I was just like, do I really want to be here? Do I really want to beat this guy as bad as I did the last time? I want to win because I'm a competitor. But the decision – Are you saying that in hindsight or did you actually feel that there? I felt it. It was different.

I mean, everyone could see it. It just wasn't the same. Like I was still there, but I wasn't there. Right. And still with that being said, right, it comes down. Zach, same scenario. Minute left, I need to take down to win the match and just didn't have that it was like the different looking at the clock was like i got

a score a minute oh i got a score and i just it wasn't like this i'm gonna get 100 because what i did the eight weeks leading up to it and what i had done the 25 years leading up to the olympics were different and and that's an example and that's a good learning example you know and it freaking ate at me afterwards i'm like why did i go and go half ass? You know, like that sucks. I just won the Olympics and then I get second. And for me, second place is a failure. Like that's not what I'm training for. That's not what I'm showing up to do. And I lost this guy, but it wasn't my best version that lost, you know, it was a fraction of myself. And it took me a while to really resonate.

Like, do I want to continue to do this? Do I want to train the way that I was training? And deep down, I'm like, I want everything that I want to win. Now I'm training to beat that guy because he didn't beat me. He beat a version of me that was out there. And when I made that mind up, it wasn't about sacrifice, about investment. I'm going to invest my time and I'm going to show up. And I know by doing those things and training to beat that guy and being my best version, I can win again. I can win the world championships. I can win the Olympics in 2024. And that's the guy I got to beat. Wow. I didn't know how to do it, but you know, it was a good learning lesson. You know,

if I did- You're going for the Olympics in 2024? I'm going to do it again. um if i did you're going for the olympics in 2024 i'm gonna do it again well um won't you what's the oldest olympian in wrestling that's ever that's ever won a medal do you know uh i mean there's been guys i mean there's been guys have competed into their into their late 30s probably i'll be 33 okay so and it's like i said i'm not getting any easier but you know i'm uh i'm hungry again you know and i think if i didn't go to the world championships, I'd probably be pretty content being done, you know, and I think. Wow.

So that's it. He kind of got to thank him for that second place. I think so. You know, it's like hard to say. Like, I think if I would have been done, you know, maybe I would be done. Maybe I'd be ready to move on. I really questioned it a couple of times. Like, you know, things are different.

Where's my motivation come from? I still want to be the best in the world. You know, I hate losing. I'm a fierce competitor and I have that fire back. different where's my motivation come from i still want to be the best in the world you know i hate losing i'm fierce competitor and uh i have that fire back and when i've competed with fire it's going to be tough for the other person you know and that's uh that's where i'm at when you when you go to tokyo everyone has to get the vaccine to go there right no oh you didn't have to. Didn't have to. Oh shit. I thought you did. Well,

that's fucking way cooler than I thought. Yeah, it was. I mean, we, you know, there was, it was a tough thing. So I'm not vaccinated. You know, I have no intention to ever get vaccinated with this shot. It's what it is. But I, uh, and you say that because you've done the research, done the research, you know, I know everything that I put in my body and talk about that because you've done the research. Done the research. I know everything they put in my body. I can talk about that. And you just don't know.

In 10 years from now, people are going to be messed up. And I don't want to be one of those. I just don't want to be that, I don't know, the person that you're experimenting on. Right. And I had COVID. I think I have it now for the 18th time yeah i'm not flu you know i got the flu and i was like dying i thought i had the flu once it was horrible yeah it's terrible you know so but everyone's different everyone's different

obviously i know that it's a it's a buzzword and is what it is but you know going in the olympics like you know we were you're monitoring the situation closely, but it wasn't a moment. What weight class are you? 86 kilos. Wow, okay, shit, there's this guy Arson from – 40 years. 40 years. Yeah, fuck, that's old as dirt.

Did you watch UFC? Yeah. Did you watch Olenek? Yeah. 44 years old? My God, god he's amazing just to have the will to train at that age you know it's some it's some pretty impressive do you do you I want to ask you something else about that post you made about the vaccine but I want to talk about your dad real quick um do you by the way if you have to pee you can just go we're good this show is like okay cool

um is it a trip now that you have kids that you think oh my god like to really like you ever like sit down and empathize with your parents like wow my parents must have like can you not believe how much they love you and and how proud they must be do you know how proud your mom and dad must be they they probably they can't even probably talk about it probably yeah it's nuts it's not it must be nuts to think about what your mom and dad went how they how much they love you you know i talked to him now about it and um like you said your relationship changes before it was like we want to do anything we can to help you be successful yeah and now it's like now i can sit back and just be a fan. Like, you know, it's like, they have no involvement over what I'm doing now, but you know, now they can sit back

and like, man, I'm so proud of you. Like for all these years, you know, and you're still this committed and you're more committed now than you've ever been, you know, to do these things, you know, and like, you know, it worked out really well, you know, and the way they raised me was a perfect, I don't know, but it was the best that I know was the best that they could do. And they love me every day and they pushed me and they held me accountable, but they were there when I needed them, you know, and, um, that's where your mom and dad are really good because, you know, my dad was harder on me. My mom was definitely the nicer one of the two for sure. Yeah. The nurturer, they're the nurturer,

but I wouldn't be here without them, their sacrifice. And it's relative because in my club, I have parents that are driving an hour and a half, two hours, one way to practice to be coached by me and our staff. And it relates because it keeps you humble. You're like, I'm in it. I'm not so far removed that I'm just trying to compete and I forget about all these things.'m, I'm, I'm in it. I'm not like so far removed that I'm just like trying to compete. And I forget about all these things still in it every day. Like we just had a camp this weekend and you're coaching the kids and you're what I'm doing. I'm teaching them and we're putting, you know, we're helping them think. And from what I learned things that I'm like, I would never do those things again or things that, yeah, I think these are really

important, but we need to add two or three more things. And I think, you know, we can be really successful and, and helping them with those things. But yeah, my parents, like, it's just, they were amazing, you know, and they, they were willing to always put us first and very grateful for that. You know, when you have kids, you realize the same thing, like, man, in a couple of years, you know, we're going to be taking London to do things, you know? And like, I've already told Kendra, I'm like, I want her to have the best opportunities that she has. So if she loves something and she wants to do it, then we're going to do whatever we

possibly can to make sure that we can provide the best opportunity for her to chase what she loves to do, which we don't know what that's going to be yet. But whenever it is, we're going to try and do our best to help her do that. yet, but whenever it is, we're going to try and do our best to help her do that. My son at five and a half said, Avi said, Hey, I, I, I'm going to skateboard every single day for a year. And I said, okay, um, do that's pretty gnarly. You can't just say that. And he goes, no, no, I'm going to do it. I said, okay, um, well here, I'll hook you up. And I don't buy, I don't let my kids eat like added sugar and shit like that. I'm very, very strict with their diet. I go every hundred successful days. days you do it i'll take you out for

some ice cream and if you make it 360 and like i never give them ice cream right then i think they went to their first ice cream shop when they were six and i and uh and then i go and if you make it 365 days i'll let you pick out an ice cream cake and invite all your friends and you can rage just full blowout party. That's awesome. And I would say of the 365 days, like there was days where it's raining and I would just take him to the garage and he'd be like, I don't want to do it today. I'm like, you're doing it today. And I go, he's like, what am I going to do? I'm like, you're going to stand on the board for five minutes. He goes, I'm just going to stand on it. I go, yep. And then of course it never turned out like that. Three minutes in, he's doing tricks in the garage.

And then we're in there for 40 minutes, but there's only like five times but but it reminds me what you said like i don't know if i've ever come at him quite as i haven't we haven't had a real gnarly moment yet but like you don't have a choice like you made that decision and it's my job to hold you accountable now and if you're gonna cry that's okay i'll hug you and carry you into the garage and i'll set you on your skateboard but like my job is to facilitate and he's so stoked. He made it to 365 days and now he's, he's just a ripper, right? He has a lifelong gift of being able to ride a skateboard. And, uh, yeah, it, um, it, it made me feel good to hear your dad say that to you. And I say those things to my kid too. Like, Hey, I just, I'm, I paid for the gas in this car

and I'm driving you an hour to jujitsu practice and an hour back. You guys need to at least put in the hard work. You have to put in the hard work. You have to let me watch you. And I, and I wish every instructor could hear what you said about the responsibility you take as being an instructor. Cause some of my kids coaches that they do, like the tennis coach takes tennis serious as a heart attack. And some of the parents hate it but fuck you i'm paying for it and i'm bringing my kid there my kid's spending an hour of his life there with you three times a week you better take it serious as a heart attack i'm letting you hold my diamond yeah and i just i loved it the fact that you said that there's parents they're driving to be coached by you and your staff yeah take that shit seriously

yeah i mean it's like you know we have a good time and what we're doing, but these learning how to like become successful. They're learning how, like I'm learning, they're learning how to take ownership. They're learning how to set a goal and work their butt off for it and understand, and they can see someone doing it and they can understand like, and it's contagious. Yeah. And, uh, totally contagious, totally contagious. Great word for it. Yep. So it so it's uh it's really cool the gas story is funny because i remember we were drove down to we drove my dad was driving me down to uh in utah it was it was a pretty long drive we were going down to uh uh i don't remember the high school but um shay warren was the kid jody warren was the dad um shay ended up going wrestling at

harvard he was a couple years older than me and we were wrestling i was just being a baby i was crying i was getting my ass kicked and i was feeling sorry for myself that was one thing my dad in the tournament it was a practice it was just me and the kid okay that was what my dad hated he's like dude you've got you're gonna be tough you know you don't you're not crying you're not gonna be a wuss like that was one thing that he just like didn't stand for. And, uh, and I was, I think I was losing was that I was just crying. And he took me the hallway, pick me up against the wall. And he's basically like, you,

you need to get an adjustment to what you're doing. I'm not wasting my time and energy to come down here and watch you cry like a little baby, you know? And I'll still remember that. And was it a hard moment? Sure. Definitely. But it was a learning moment because then on the way home, we were sitting there getting gas. So a lot of times, you know, we're sitting, getting gas and I'm watching the numbers spin, you know, and I don't know, I'm even looking at it. I'm like, dad, what's that? He goes, that's how much goddamn money I'm watching you to come down here and be a baby you know and you don't realize that at the time and again people listen to this and they'll be like man your dad was psycho he wasn't a psycho but he was because he he he was sacrificing all

his time and energy to just help me do something he had no idea what i was gonna be i was still such a young age but he's like hey if this is what we got to do to help you then i'm gonna do that but he just flown for four days He just drove back hour and 45 minutes from the airport. And now he's in the car and driving me back an hour and 45 minutes to wrestle for an hour and a half practice, drive an hour and 45 minutes back, get up the next day, go back to work and do it again. You know? So yeah, I mean, I would be a little on edge too, you know, if I'm sitting there and watching, you know, my son who I know is capable of doing something better. And, you know, so yeah, that was a high standard. Um, there's a time to cry and men need to know like the, all this shit

about men need to be more in touch with their emotions, this shit, that shit. Like I, like, I want to be like, fuck off. There's a time to cry when your kid's born, when your mom dies, when you lose in a match and you go back to your hotel room and you close the fucking door there's also a time to use your emotion in a healthy way you don't and men have to learn that women have to learn that you don't let your emotions just run up from the bottom and fucking explode and start crying during a fucking practice and someone has to teach you that it was it doesn't mean you're not sensitive or that you're not in touch with yourself you i still watch the trailer to free willie and fucking cry that's okay i mean i'm that's okay it's not that you have to teach people to be fucking tough we're meant to be tough it's a it's sorry go ahead i just get so frustrated

that like someone would think that your dad did the wrong thing your dad did something so hard for him he didn't want to tell you that do you know what his instinct was to pick you up and carry you and take you to mcdonald's and make you happy he want to tell you that. Do you know what his instinct was to pick you up and carry you and take you to McDonald's and make you happy? He had to fight against that instinct and do what's right. It's my dad was, uh, so hard being rough on your kids. Go ahead. You stuff, you know? And, uh, but it's funny because I remember these times when he was like really emotional, you know, I was like, they had graduated high school. He was like, like this, he was like really emotional you know i was like they had graduated high school he was like like this like puppy i was crying all day i'm like that's all the things that you know he's so proud and it's like i i don't know you know because i was moving on it was like he's like

i've done my part like i've poured everything i can and now you're moving on and you're going to the next stage and now it's really on you you know to be successful and uh you know times that you know just different things here and there. But you got to see your dad cry. There's a lesson there. That's the lesson there. But now with my kids, I'm like, Dad, you're so soft. Like, you are not like this for me growing up.

You're just like such a softy. Like, you know, your parents are soft. But it's funny, you know, he's man. I love my dad and my mom and uh i i wouldn't have changed anything you know to be where i am now if they would have been different i'd be somewhere else you know i wouldn't i'm glad they did everything they did for me i'm glad that they raised me the raise they raised me because i feel like i make good decisions you know i've set my mind 100% committed my life

to trying to do something and I achieved it. Not hardly anyone can ever say that. And it gives me the platform to affect a lot of people in a positive way by sharing my story. So really grateful for that. Is that why you made the post about having a medical choice? Like so many athletes, I feel bad picking on lebron but so many athletes would um they just make they just publicly make the wrong choices they make

everyone around them weak they they they're not speaking honestly like no one at that level like lebron had to um got anything easy right he works hard. He earned everything that he has today. And yet from that mountaintop, he preaches weakness. He preaches Sprite. He preaches a victim mindset. He preaches it's just, it's, it's horrible. The infection he spreads from the top. And yet it's easy because that's how you make all the money, right? That's what they want you to do. And yet you posted something that said, Hey, I think athletes should have a choice whether to take the vaccine or not. Is that hard for you to do that, knowing you'll get slammed for something that you shouldn't get slammed for, but you're going to get slammed? I think there was a time when I cared more about what people thought.

And a lot of athletes, people, you care about your brand. You worked your whole life for this brand, and you think the brand is going to create revenue and it's going to do these things. And is there's an element to that. And I respect it for people that want to do that. I understand, but you're not, if you're not really being genuine, then your brand's not really what it is, you know? And I, that's what I believe, you know, and I feel like we had an opportunity, you know, over the last couple of of years. You stand up, you get crushed, you just cower, you don't say anything, or you stand up. Do you think you would have stood up if you didn't have kids? I think that having kids made it a lot different, resonated much more for me

because the way that places were pushing it on kids and all this stuff when it was like, COVID didn't even affect them. Right. And it's, uh, yeah, I mean, it was, it was a tough, it was a tough time because it was an emotional time. You know, really it was, it was a handful of us that, that were, that really believe that some people just believe it because they don't want to be told what to do, you know, and some people believe it because that's just what they believe, you know, they, for whatever reason, one way or the other, um, people wanted to always kind of say it was a, uh, it was a political affiliation, but it wasn't, we had people that believe this and all kinds of political affiliations. It's about, I want freedom to make my own choices

with my health, you know, and everyone has a reason to say that one way or the other way. And yeah, it's hard when you press send on that button, you know, that, okay, this is different. My life could change now, you know, like, yeah, maybe someone doesn't want to sponsor me because of that. You know, maybe, um, it's going to affect my relationship with somebody else that believes so heavily in this or whatever it may be. And I would say that probably had that effect. But it's what I believed. I took a stand.

I felt like also for other – But why? Why take a stand? Was it for your children? Like why not just be like, okay, you got to go to the Olympics. You didn't have to take it. Why come out publicly? And I ask that because for me, if i didn't have kids i'd be

like enjoying the world right now i'd be like yeah this motherfucker's burning down this is dope but i have kids and it's not like that you know what i mean i mean i'm still enjoying life but it's like hey i i'm gonna i'm gonna do everything i can to make this a good place for them well i think my kids was a big one because you see where the direction was going right it was like i mean my my daughter was going to be two so the time was ticking and she was wearing a mask and we already said she's not wearing a mask so we're going we're moving if that's the case and that's still in place and we have to find alternative option you know wow and for the olympics i was set if the if the i'd already made the decision if the vaccine was required in tokyo i wasn't going i was going to fight that to the death because it just wasn't something I'm not jeopardizing my health for it.

And that was a decision that I had already made. And I hope that it was a decision that wasn't going to come. And it didn't. And I feel like how close did it come? I don't think it was that close in Tokyo because it was still. I don't think it was that close in Tokyo because it was still so simple. And I feel like when you think about the future, you think about the next generation of kids, you think about these kids. So we had a group that wanted to go to the Pan Am – wrestlers that wanted to go to the Pan Am Games. And junior – it was a good junior group, like U17, 17 and under. And they weren't letting these kids go if they weren't vaccinated.

And I just don't understand that, you know, I don't understand that requirement. And if it took for us, you know, and we were fighting also for our kids, but also for ourselves, like we at the time, the USOC was under a vaccine requirement for Beijing, which was setting a precedent moving forward for other things. So we're like, okay, well, yeah, we're accomplished individuals. So we can sit back and just hope for the best and cross our fingers that it'll go away, but it wasn't going to go away. You know, so we just focused on control. We control, we started, we met with USA wrestling. We met with the USOC. You know, we talked, we took every path and met with Congress. We met with senators. We met with senators. We met with every person that we could talk about to share our story, to talk about what we felt was important to trying to educate ourselves. And, you know, and the world has kind of changed now, but I think a lot of it had to do with people just kind of getting tired of it and willing to start, you know, I feel bad for all the people that lost their jobs and stood up,

but now maybe don't have a job, you know, and it's because it's all basically gone away now, you know, and, uh, it was a messed up situation for a lot of people. And it was so messed up, by the way, my kids have never worn a mask too. I have two five-year-olds and a seven-year-old every, and my wife refuses to even wear a mask around them. They, she refuses to let them see her wear a mask around them they she refuses to let them see her wear a mask but um everyone around us was wearing masks you know and all

the stores like we had to pull our kids out of school right like our kids are like i'm afraid to you and that's a hard decision to make you know and uh it was kind of easy i i it was easy because i have a little bit of financial independence and I'm like, you know, I'm, I'm obsessive. I'm can't, can't be, you can't tell me to put a mask on my child. What's next. I think that's what was the scariest thing. It's like, what is next? Yeah. Right. So at some point, when do we just keep saying it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. And what does that look like down the road? You know, um, it's not, well, I'm not successful because I was just willing to just do what everyone else was doing, you know, successful.

Right. I'm going to set my mind to something. And if it's different than other people and they say I'm crazy, then, all right, I'm going to keep working, you know? And, uh, I think people can resonate with athletes sometimes because they see you and they see you at this certain level. But then when you have a voice, they want to say, well, stick to wrestling, do that thing. Well, I'm a dad, you know, I still value my health, you know, as much as I do and being an athlete and stuff like that. So yeah, it was tricky situation, you know, and I appreciate you asking about it, you know, and I think you can tell that, you know, it was something that we were pretty passionate about. And I leaned heavily on one of my colleagues, you know, Kyle Dake, Thomas Gilman, you know, like they were people that were also wrestling Olympics with me, you know, and we spoke all the time about it. And, you know, it was about how do we and when do we say it?

What do we do? And eventually we were just like, we got to we got to make a stand and we got to see where it goes, you know, it was about how do we, you know, when do we say it, what do we do? And eventually we were just like, we gotta, we gotta make a stand and we gotta see where it goes, you know? And, uh, it opened up, you know, you know, just to speak with people and more people rally. We have people from sports all around the world, um, many different sports, you know, athletes that were ultimately in a lot tougher situation than we were. And, uh, it was, um, you know, it's, you just, I think we can hopefully be, um, a rallying point, you know, and people are still fighting it. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No one could come. I don't think you can come to the United States unless you're vaccinated. Yeah. You know, and I think in other sports, other organizations

like that, uh, USA wrestling, you know, it's a choice, you know, and we had met with them and they were like, hey, we're going to stand and it's going to be a choice. And if you want to do it, you want to do it. You know, we're not going to require it. And just recently, so getting ready. And these are all decisions that I can talk about when doing this again. You know, Final X is coming up.

That's our world team trials, June 8th, that I'll be wrestling. So I'm wrestling in a best two out of three format. Two matches, I win. I go to the world championships in Serbia and, uh, you know, New York's a crazy place. And I just say, listen, I'm not, they're like, well, you can get an exemption because you're an athlete. I'm like, if my family can't come and I can't eat food there, I'm not going and wrestling there. Cause that's not, it's the same thing that I'm fighting against. It doesn't make any sense. Why? Just because you're making an exception for me, but not for everybody else. That's not right. You know? And, uh, but then now they're all lifted, you know, now New York's back to being,

I guess you can go and perform and compete. People can go sit in the stands. Um, wrestlers in general, um, realize this because of their, and athletes in general realize this because of, um, the personal general realize this because of the personal accountability and personal responsibility that they have in their own life, that they know that. There's two things I'd like to say. The people who use you're not a doctor, those people are severely misinformed. First of all, just for starters, the third leading cause of death in the United States is medical errors. You have to understand that. George Washington was bled to death. No one's arguing these points. Nothing has changed in medicine. The half-life of a surgical procedure is like seven years. What do

I mean by that? Every seven years, a surgical procedure that they do today, they realize was a mistake. The leading medicine that they're selling people today in the United States, I think, is statins. It's been known forever statins don't work. People leading, the leading medicine that they're selling people today in the United States, I think is statins. It's been known forever. Statins don't work. People still believe the cholesterol myth that high cholesterol is bad for you. Women who are over 60, it's just a strong correlate, but women who are over 65 that have high cholesterol live longer than women of low cholesterol. There, I mean, there's endless evidence on that shit. Even the measles vaccine. If you just, just spend 15 minutes studying the measles vaccine and look at measles in the united states 10 years prior to the measles measles vaccine coming out you'll be like wait a second something weird is going on here well you you you don't you're crazy

to use the doctor thing versus the the athlete thing it's it's it's, it's, it's bat shit crazy. You also have to understand that doctors have been that whole industry of becoming a doctor is funded by pharma, all of that education. And you can talk to great doctors and they'll tell you that like all the, I'm big in the CrossFit scene, uh, David. And so all the doctors who CrossFit, like they're torn, right? Because they know that 80, that, that, um, CrossFit has the cure for chronic disease not medicine and yet 86 of all premature deaths are like you know from from chronic disease but they don't have the cure for that they don't know medicine doesn't have the cure for type 2 diabetes crossfit does or or you know so you know change your diet lifestyle change so yeah it's nuts i'm really impressed that you did that i'm really really impressed

you did that and i mean yeah i appreciate it you know and i think it's just uh you don't get an opportunity very often to really stand up for what you believe in you know again my wife and i talked about that you know and we're like it it's an opportunity that maybe down the road that we can say to our kids like yeah this is we you know it's a stand that maybe down the road that we can say to our kids, like, yeah, this is, we, you know, this is a stand that we took as a family, you know, and we felt like this was in your best interest. It felt like it was in our best interest and, you know, we'll see where it ends up. Don't know. We don't know what's going to end up happening down the road, but we got to keep, you know, staying up for our freedom. You know, I think that's a super important thing.

For 30 years, you might be a little young for this but there was this point i was a young man as probably single digits and the and basically this anti-fat um wave came over the united states where basically you're not supposed to eat fat and so what they did to made food taste good is they added sugar so for when i was 10 to when i was 40 i don't know if they still do it but there was this you know non-fat milk don't eat avocados, don't eat eggs, don't eat meat fat. And that basically fucked our entire country. It's when I was your age, there were no obese people, like hardly any, I would never see them. I'm 50 now when I remember being 30 and there being like no obese people. And now I go outside and like, I go to, and in 50 of the people are like 300 pounds it's

probably even crazier and say where do you live again pennsylvania pennsylvania yeah yeah it's probably crazier there yeah it's uh i mean those are carbohydrate addicts you know that right those are basically refined carbohydrate addicts they're like like heroin addicts or yeah it's nuts refined carbs refined sugars will mess you up more than just buy anything else. Well, so much just extra things in there, you know? So yeah. I mean, I just think if you can eat a, you know, a diet, if it's grown, you know, you can eat it, you know, if it's, if it's made genetically, you know, if it's made and things

are altered to it, it's a good time to stay away from it. You know, so I just. You messing with any of the raw meat stuff that's becoming popular? You eating any raw meat? Yeah. I mean, I feel like, you know, I haven't eaten liver yet, but I think that's something obviously that's I do. It's just a matter of going and getting it. I mean, every year I get a cow from a farmer that's, you know, grass straight straight up you know sit and that's great

phenomenal meat you know we have friends that have chickens we get their eggs from them you know i just think it's like we try and do as much as i was possibly can you know and there's an element to any diet and lifestyle is convenience and and but you ultimately and time but i say it's like you'll make time for what's important and you'll make what's important convenient. So it's just a matter of making those decisions and going and doing it. How about your dad getting a farm in Ohio, moving to Ohio to help your wrestling and then also getting a farm so your sister could ride horses? Yeah. Your dad's something else, man. He was the man.

He loved us. He cared about us so much. And he always put us first always and how about your mom putting you in wrestling like like moms aren't supposed to do that moms are like she ain't getting out of the house too much yeah dude you got to get out of here we got to put you in wrestling yeah um you know i get that sometimes that i do too much with my kids so you know like right now it's 7m. here, and they're doing their schooling. The second I'm done here, I'll take them to the tennis courts.

Then we'll go to the beach, and I'll have them skateboard and ride and then go play in the water. Then from there, I'll take them to jiu-jitsu practice. Then we'll come home, and I'll go in the garage, and we'll do a workout. Then they get to play for an hour and go to bed. People are like, dude dude it's too much i'm like nah dude three boys three boys you don't get it three boys that's so cool man nuts good stuff i love they'll destroy my house if i don't do that yeah um last question and i bet you most people start the interview with this question i really didn didn't want to ask it, but I, but I do want to know why magic man,

David magic man, Taylor. So it's a good question. So when I was, it is a good question. It's like, it doesn't everyone. Oh, hi. Nice to meet you, David. David's an Olympian. Congratulations. Welcome back. How did you get the name magic man, Mr. Taylor? Yeah, it is. You know, not many people have like, you know, a nickname that really sticks, you know, and mine's kind of been, I think it was a couple of things.

So when, um, when I graduated high school, this guy did a documentary on me and he called it magic man of the mat. It's on YouTube. It's pretty cool. I watched it last night. It's dope. Awesome. And, uh, it was, it was really well done, you know, and that was one.

And I think, you know, you're, you you know that coming out of high school you know and then going to penn state you know that kind of was establishing like kind of my brand at the time and magic man stuck and i don't really know how it got there before that as much as talladega night or uh um stepbrothers was uh was it was a big movie back then and And, you know, they called them, you know, you call me magic, man, you call me El Diablo. That was no, it was, it was Talladega nights. And, um, and I feel like at the time I had a signature on my, my text and it was like El Diablo for a while. And then I got rid of it and it became magic, man. And I don't, I feel like that had something to do with it, but ultimately I think it stuck because of the way I wrestled, you know, it just looked

effortless when I was out there. So then as I was wrestling, like, Oh, magic man. Then when I got to Penn state, it was a matter of like, people would call me as many times. They call me David, David, they call me magic man. When I was, when I was running out there, you know, and the things that I did and the way I wrestled and the way I was creative and it came up, it was just like a good fitting. And then my hand, my, my social media became magic man underscore PSU and now it just stuck you know and like that m2 brand you know magic man it's just stuck and kind of integrated and many things that I do and uh it's been pretty good let's see I just typed in magic man into into youtube let's see let's see what we uh let's see's see if we got lucky. Here we go.

Mr. Dan told me that it's my time now. Shake and bake is dead. I just came up. I'm not in. You got a new nickname? Magic man. Awesome. Here we go.

Did you feel creative out there? were there times when you were like after the match um uh or even like that azerbaijani guy um you pin is it like are you kind of like holy shit like how did i do that do you ever like ask yourself like whoa like it's just i mean i'm i have a plan but there's some things that you just do that you just like i was blessed with this gift to do something and it just would that you just like i was blessed with this gift to do something and it just would happen you know like you get lifted up and you'd be flying through the air and then you end up on top and you're like i could never replicate that again i just have a good feel and could figure out a way to do that which was pretty cool yeah

nuts uh david i'm glad i don't know i i know I've been bugging you for like six months and I'm so glad that you, uh, I don't, I don't know how I finally got you. I guess they're right. You're the people who said, Holy shit. How'd you get David Taylor? Now I know why they say that you are a cool cat, dude. You are so cool. Um, thank you so much. I look forward to, um, uh, so we'll be televised or we'll be on YouTube the June 8th event you're doing? Yeah. So June 8th, um, we'll be on flow wrestling. That's kind of like our big media platform wrestling. Um, I'll be wrestling a wait to see who wins the world team trials and get to me. And I'll be wrestling the best two out of three format mask or garden. Um,

the world. Yeah. So that would be pretty cool. And then the world championships are in Serbia this year. Next year's world championships are in Kresnjarsk and then Paris 2024 Olympics. You know, that's what my path looks like moving forward, looking forward to that. And then we're working on this documentary about what's going to be next. That's going to be on live trained. So that will be a new platform. And i'm really excited for that i think it's gonna be really cool and we're gonna basically go through you know what it's like after the olympics and what it's like going into the next olympics in 2024 and hopefully repeating in paris so i appreciate you bringing me on and following my journey and looking forward to continue to share it yeah thank you who's the director of the film do you know um right now i mean we have a film guy that's working on it gathering the content and then you know i think editing it so i don't know

okay you know his name by any chance um linux uh i don't know the last name i can't remember sorry to put you on the spot listen the reason why i'm asking is this when that when that movie comes out when it's done if you just reach out to me i'd love to have you back on like i'll ask the director for a screener i'll watch it ahead of time i'd love to have you on for like 10 or 15 minutes to help you um promote it get eyeballs on it so yeah or i'm gonna tell my producer to reach back out to you like two weeks before june 8th so we can just find out how pumped you are you are. Um, and, uh, and we'll stay in touch and I'm really stoked to have you on, but it was really cool meeting you, brother. Appreciate that. Thank you. That's awesome. And everyone who's watching. Thank you.