Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Todd (00:00):
Here we are, episode two
of Ash and Iron.
I've got an incredible guestwith me today, and it's Mr
Dwayne Maddox Dwayne.
Thanks for being on the show.
Dwayne (00:10):
My pleasure man, I'm
glad to do it.
Todd (00:13):
So I'm going to get right
into it.
I want to just first start offby asking you how would you
describe yourself to someonewho's never met you before?
The people listening in.
That's a tough one.
Dwayne (00:28):
I'm a very self-driven,
motivated person.
I am the typical engineer.
I am sure if I were born in alater date they'd say I'm on the
spectrum, because the thingsyou think of with a typical
engineer, that's me.
(00:48):
But I also, you know, most ofmy life I've had a love affair
with metal, so lifting it,welding it, blacksmithing and
forging with it.
Most of my life has been aroundsteel.
Todd (01:05):
Okay, and so, like with
your love for engineering, like,
where did that come from?
Dwayne (01:11):
You know, I think
engineers are born.
You just, even at a young age,you know I'd have to have things
a certain way.
I'd have to know why I can'tjust change things around.
It doesn't work in my mind andyou know things that they give
people medicine for now.
That's just the way I wasgrowing up and it translates
(01:35):
very well into the engineeringfield.
It does.
Todd (01:39):
And did you have a certain
person in your life that kind
of inspired?
That in you?
Dwayne (01:43):
Nobody around me was an
engineer.
My father was an electrician,my brother went into work in
manufacturing.
No, there was nobody in aroundit and that's why I say I think
engineers are born.
We are just one tick away frombeing autistic.
(02:04):
You know, we're very close tothat.
I actually have friends in thefamily and their son has
Asperger's, which is a form ofautism, and it's funny because
he and I get along great.
A lot of the same things thathe has, I believe I have to a
(02:26):
lesser degree, so I can reallyunderstand him perfectly well.
I don't have any problem withthe way he does things, so
there's something there.
But yeah, I think engineers areborn.
It's almost like an illness.
Todd (02:40):
Do you have a specific
time that you can look back on
where you realize, man, I justdon't think the same way as
everyone around me.
Dwayne (02:51):
No, not that I can think
of, it's just always been that
way, and even when I was youngerI've been accused of being too
logical about things not realheavy on the emotion side, and
when I do it's usually ugly.
So I tend to stay away fromthat type of thing.
(03:13):
Yeah.
Todd (03:13):
I get that All right.
So what was young Dwayne Maddoxlike?
Dwayne (03:17):
Oh, I was a big old nerd
.
People look at me now and theysee the tattoos and size and
everything and they don't seemto believe it.
But I was the biggest nerd.
I read comic books, watchednothing but sci-fi.
I was really big on reading.
I started reading oh, I wasreading when I went into first
(03:40):
grade.
As a matter of fact a funnystory.
So my father was in the AirForce.
I went into first grade as amatter of fact, a funny story.
So my father was in the AirForce and I went to school on an
Air Force base and I don'tremember what it was.
A teacher asked us about a wordor something and this particular
(04:11):
base had bombers at it.
So that'll give you a littlebackground when I get to this.
But the word and the phrasethat I was talking about was
radioactive and of course thefirst grade teacher wants to
know why.
I, as a first grader,understand what the word
radioactive is.
So they end up calling my dadin from work and someone from
(04:32):
his work was with him andthey're like what have you been
telling your son?
He's.
I've never said anything aboutthat.
So they start and ask me andI'm like yeah, it's in
Spider-Man, like what yeah,spider-man comic, he got bit by
a radioactive spider.
So then I had to go look upwhat radioactive meant so I
could understand the comic bookand that was my new word.
(04:54):
But yeah, I guess they thoughtI was stealing secrets or
something in first grade.
Todd (05:01):
That's awesome and it's
funny too, like for a lot of the
younger viewers.
like looking it up back then waslike encyclopedia botanica yeah
, absolutely, that's what Ilooked it up in yeah, and it's
so cool, so all right, I'mintrigued now about this, uh,
this nerdy side of dwayne maddoxhere for those of you who
aren't here like and can't seehim this guy's got a mohawk, a
(05:24):
big-ass beard.
He's jacked, covered in tattoos.
Does not look like a guy who isgoing to nerd out over some
comic books.
So it's intriguing.
So what was the first comicbook you ever read?
Dwayne (05:39):
Oh, lord, lord.
If it wasn't an earlySpider-Man, like maybe
Spider-Man 3 or 4 right in there, it was probably Fantastic Four
.
Oh, early ones, I mean earlyones, these were.
(06:00):
I can remember buying them fora dime.
Todd (06:05):
Wow, yeah, the Tencent
comics.
I haven't seen them personally.
Dwayne (06:09):
They were all Tencent.
Todd (06:10):
Yeah, I remember seeing
images of that.
Dwayne (06:15):
And my brother's, seven
years older than me.
So when he got too big forcomics, in his words, he just
kind of passed them down to meand I read through what he had,
which were even older.
So yeah, I was hooked on thatat a very young age.
One of I can remember my motherasked a counselor at the school
(06:36):
.
She was concerned about mereading comics.
And the counselor looked at herand said he's in third grade
and he's reading, don't complain.
Yeah.
And so after that she just letme do what I wanted.
Todd (06:52):
So that's so cool and then
all right.
So what about current day?
Like, do you still?
Do you have any shows or anysort of comics or books that you
like to read now?
Dwayne (07:06):
comics or books that you
like to read.
Now, I don't watch much TVrarely.
There's just too much crap onthere that I just can't get
along with these days.
Yeah, I don't do comics becauseI go through them too quick and
when they're like two bucks abook and they last me a couple
of minutes.
But I do read a lot.
Typically I'll read a full bookevery couple of days.
(07:32):
Okay, I'm one of those peopleif I don't care how tired I am
or how late, I have to have atleast like a half hour to read
before I go to sleep and whileI'm waking up in the morning
I'll read for a half hour or sowhenever I get a break, and most
of mine, I'd say all of mine.
(07:52):
Sometimes I'll read history Iwas always fascinated with the
conquerors but it's usuallyfantasy or science fiction.
Okay, stuff that I can't do.
You know, if it's stuff I cando, then I'll go do it.
I'll read about it, you know.
Todd (08:11):
Yeah, well, all right.
So what is your all-timefavorite fantasy book or sci-fi
book?
Dwayne (08:18):
Oh, this will get you.
So Dragon Riders of Pern isabsolutely my favorite.
It was written by a lady namedAnnie McCaffrey she's passed now
but she was a genius and it'sone of those books that it keeps
you guessing and figuring outthe long game.
(08:40):
It starts out making you thinkit's like a medieval age time
frame, with dragons introduced,and by the time you get done
with the series you find outit's actually a science fiction
about interstellar travel.
Oh, that's cool.
It keeps you moving throughthat whole range.
Todd (08:58):
It's amazing book, it's a
classic you ever get to send me
the link to that so I can checkit out.
Dwayne (09:03):
Yeah there's.
I think there's like 12 or 13in the series, I believe, but
it's outstanding books.
Todd (09:12):
Did you ever read any of
like the Dragonlance novels, or
not so much?
Dwayne (09:16):
Yeah, I did read some,
but none of them come to mind.
That's, I'd say, the Pernseries.
That and I was always hooked onDune.
That was a big one at a youngage.
Todd (09:31):
Did you hear?
You saw that they remade thatinto like a film recently.
Dwayne (09:35):
Yeah, I've seen them.
Todd (09:36):
Okay, was that one any
good?
They're not bad, they're notbad.
Dwayne (09:40):
That world of Dune is so
big and so immersive it's very
hard to capture that on film.
So this last one they didn't dobad because of the advances in
CGI and stuff.
I think they got as close asthey could for a movie.
Todd (09:58):
And I'll bet you too, the
way that your brain operates.
It's like seeing those kind ofspecial effects and things.
I bet that just intrigues you,doesn't it?
Dwayne (10:05):
trying to figure out how
they did this or that.
Yeah, absolutely, um, but yeah,those two were were my big
reads back then and you know, inschool of course they're not
gonna let you have comics.
So the closest I could get tothat, like when I had to go to
the library or something, wouldhave been mythology.
Todd (10:27):
Oh, okay.
Dwayne (10:28):
You know shit, you got
Thor Odin, all the other
different mythologies, so thatgot me more hooked on history
and that took up a lot of mybrain space growing up.
Todd (10:41):
That's fun.
I feel like it's a form ofescapism in some ways, too
Absolutely.
You know, it's like I'm tiredof all of this around me.
Let me read about some dragonsand spells and that kind of
stuff, and I've always beengravitated towards that as well.
I'm curious you were talkingabout growing up on a military
(11:03):
base.
You were talking about growingup on a military base.
What is that like?
I've obviously never grown upon one.
I've been to a couple.
Is that?
Dwayne (11:13):
It's a, you know, I
guess it's a lot like anywhere
else.
It's just and we didn't.
I didn't know any different.
But when you're living on base,everything is military right.
The only police you see aremilitary police and so, with my
(11:34):
dad being in the air force, theyhave pretty good location for
their bases air force got it,but they have nice spots for it,
so it was always pretty.
You know pretty good locations.
You always had people around toget other kids if you're going
to play or do whatever.
(11:55):
Yeah, it kind of indoctrinatedyou into the military at birth
almost.
Todd (12:02):
And then did you move a
lot because of that.
Dwayne (12:04):
We did.
I was actually born in a littletown called Irvine, scotland,
okay.
So my father was stationed, Ithink he worked at Lockerbie Air
Force Base and we lived I guessthe midwife's home was in a
(12:25):
little town called Irvine, whichis on the coast, I think the
west coast in Scotland, and wewere there I believe I was three
or almost, maybe four, when wemoved back.
So it's kind of funny.
Were when we moved back, soit's kind of funny.
(12:48):
We had a nanny that watched alot of the kids my age and when
I came back stateside I had astrong Scottish accent I was
told and you know that doesn'tgo over big with kids.
So I took a lot of teasing whenI first came back.
Todd (13:03):
I was sitting here looking
at you going.
What would Dwayne sound liketoday if he had a Scottish?
Dwayne (13:08):
accent.
I couldn't do it if I had tonow.
But yeah, they said I had astrong Scottish accent then
that's cool.
Todd (13:18):
So I see your tattoos.
You're covered on both yourarms there.
What do tattoos represent foryou?
Dwayne (13:28):
Well, you know, of
course, on my left arm is, I
guess what you would call atribal.
That's just one.
I enjoyed the pattern, thoughtit looked good.
The ones on my right arm I'vedone for my family.
So on my shoulder I've got araven, which to me that
symbolizes my wife and herspirit and the way she is.
(13:50):
Below it I've got a warrior'shelmet under a skull.
So that's kind of my thoughtsof me, like the aging warrior,
and you know we all look towardour death and you know we all
look toward our death.
I've had a lot of close brusheswith death below it.
About three and a half years agoI had an amazing introduction
(14:12):
to my life and my granddaughterwas born.
Oh, that's awesome.
Her name's luna, luna catherine, so you know a moon and a tiger
, so lunar and cat.
And then she's always been acharacter, but for way too long
she wanted us to feed her andshe would sit there with her
mouth open.
And that plus the fact that Ithink for the first two years of
(14:37):
her life her hair stuck up inthe middle, so she looked like
one of those cockatoo birds.
So since she was born I've beencalling her Little Bird.
So there's a little bird in themountain there, and then, of
course, on my hand, I've got ademon.
There you go, and for me, thatjust you know.
(14:58):
We all fight our demons, yeah,and it keeps it in my mind that
I need to keep fighting mydemons.
Todd (15:10):
We'll go ahead and touch
on that for a second.
What do you think is a lifelesson that you had to learn the
hard way?
Dwayne (15:17):
Oh God, I'm still
learning a lot of hard life
lessons.
That's a really tough one, Ithink, for me something I kind
of prize.
Anyway, you know, as a man youhave to have your word and
(15:40):
there's so many people nowadaysthat whatever they say just
doesn't have a lot of weight toit, because if anything gets a
little bit tough they're gone orthey'll do something else.
You know, and when I'm gone Ipromise you people will say, hey
, he might have been an ass, butif he told you he was going to
(16:04):
do something he'd do it.
I'll be the first one to say ityeah, and you know that's
important to me.
Yeah, my grandfather probablybrought that out in me.
But your word is your bond.
You do it, do it.
(16:31):
My time in the military helped Icredit that with helping me
with having good self-discipline.
My wife even says of course sheloves me.
So she has to be biased.
But she says I'm the mostdisciplined person she knows,
and that's disciplined withmyself, you know.
So if I'm feeling bad orfeeling a little sick or
something and there's somethingI have to do, I'm still going to
(16:54):
do it.
You know you just do it and gothrough.
You can be sick when you'redead.
I got to a point over a littleover a year ago I got I was
probably weighing in about 215pounds and it was not all muscle
.
So I looked at myself and Isaid, well, that's gonna go, and
(17:21):
you know I'm 60 years old, soit's not that easy at this age.
But I said in three months I'mgoing to lose 40 pounds.
In three months I had lost 55pounds.
So I went a little overboard.
But you know, when I set myselfto do something, I'm either
going to do it or there's amajor reason why not.
You know I'm either going to doit or there's a major reason
(17:43):
why not, you know.
Todd (17:45):
And I think you sharing
that too touches on like a
bigger, like cultural point thatI see a lot in our current
society, where it's like peopledon't want to do what's hard,
people don't want to experiencediscomfort for the sake of, like
, some form of gain or success.
People's, people's word don'tmean anything I shouldn't say
(18:08):
everyone, but a large percentage.
What do you think causes that?
Dwayne (18:14):
Well, in my mind, it's
the people, my age, it's our
fault.
We wanted to make things somuch better or easier for the
kids we're raising.
We forgot to add inrepercussions for actions.
A lot of us, you know, gen Xerswe're called the feral
(18:37):
generation for a reason, and Ibelieve we went too far the
other way.
And I believe we went too farthe other way.
Too many of these kids, you knowthey started coming out with
the gentle parenting and allthat horse shit.
Too many of these young mennowadays have grown all the way
to adulthood and they've neverbeen punched in the face, not
(18:59):
once.
They're missing out.
I can't imagine what that'slike.
Some of the best friends I hadin high school were after we had
had a knockdown, drag out,fight yeah, you know, bleeding
tooth coming loose.
But if they do that nowadaysthey're going to jail.
Yeah, they'll call the police,arrest them.
(19:20):
When I got into something likethat in school, teacher might
look at you and go are youfinished?
And that was it.
It was over, yeah.
So too many people do not haveor they don't stand up to the
repercussions for their actions.
And I think online, as great asthe internet is, the online and
(19:44):
social media has magnified that.
I would agree with that,because you can say stupid shit,
you can call people names, youcan do whatever, but if you were
in front of that personface-to-face, you wouldn't dream
of it.
Todd (19:56):
Yeah.
Dwayne (19:56):
You know, and again I
think that results.
That is a result from too manypeople not getting smacked in
the face.
That is a result from too manypeople not getting smacked in
the face.
Todd (20:05):
You know, it's interesting
because I feel like that would
have the tendency to kind of goback and forth generationally,
right, because if you're easy onyour kids then they grow up
going.
Man, I had it too easy on me.
I need to be tough on my kidsbecause I know what I got away
with and it would seem like thatwould be a potential cycle.
Dwayne (20:25):
But if you look at, I
think some of the younger ones
are getting a little harder.
I mean, you hear some of thesewords and stuff coming back that
typically have been, you know,taboo, oh, like badass yeah.
Well, I hear a lot of themsaying the retard again, and for
a while that was, you couldn'tcome close to that.
You know I've heard themcalling each other fag and you
(20:50):
couldn't say that the last what10 years?
Or they would ostracize you.
So I think they're starting totoughen up a little more.
Todd (20:58):
And you know it's.
It's interesting.
You said that too because and Icould I could be wrong, I only
speak for myself.
But a lot of times whenever Iwas younger and we'd call each
other retarded and all that,it's like nobody ever like not
even for a second thought aboutsomebody with a mental disorder.
Dwayne (21:14):
Oh lord, you know what I
mean like we were just messing
with your buddy.
You know and and we'll probablyget in trouble for this man
when we were young, call someonea fag.
You didn't think they werehomosexual.
That never.
Most of the time you didn'teven know what the hell it meant
.
Todd (21:31):
It was just an insult to
get somebody you know pissed off
, Get them riled up so they canget punched in the face.
So they grow up decent.
Dwayne (21:37):
Well, and that's you
know, people don't realize
they're trying to make thingsbetter.
Most young men can't handlejust sitting in a room going to
class.
The reason they have theseoutbursts, you know, and
everybody's wondering why wehave schoolroom shootings and
(21:58):
all that I think a lot of thatcrap is because you're not
letting them be men, you're notletting them be boys, right,
especially in high school.
They're starting to get floodedwith more testosterone than a
damn bull shark has.
There's got to be a way to getthat out, and if they don't have
(22:21):
any way to come out, it's goingto come out on its own, and
that's when you get them doingstupid shit.
Yeah, because they're literallynot in their right mind.
Todd (22:30):
You know it's interesting.
You said that I heard agentleman yesterday and again I
don't know how true this is,don't quote this.
Everybody listening don't quotethis but I heard him saying
that 100% of all schoolshootings that the shooter was
taking some form ofpharmaceutical that had a side
effect of violence.
(22:51):
I've heard that.
Yeah, it's like what?
Like 100%.
Dwayne (22:56):
Yeah, and you know it
concerns me.
I have no doubt the way I wasgrowing up, I was an angry
little shit most of the time.
They probably.
I don't know if my mother wouldhave let them, but growing up
in a family today they probablywould have medicated me.
You just have to find a way torelease that, you know.
(23:20):
Thank goodness I met somebodyat a younger age that was
teaching martial arts and mymother was smart enough to see
that I needed some kind ofoutlet and she felt me getting
beat up a little bit was a goodthing.
And there I did, and thathelped me to focus a little more
(23:41):
.
What kind of martial arts didyou take?
So I started out it was justkarate.
Okay, what we call karate nowit's actually kung fu Chinese.
Karate is really Japanese.
So most of what everybody callskarate now is Kung Fu from the
(24:02):
Chinese martial arts.
But there was a TV series outwhen I was younger called Kung
Fu with David Carradine.
So nobody wanted to be confusedwith that TV series and all
that.
So they just called it karate.
But it started with that.
I got all the way up to a blackbelt and then went into the
(24:25):
military.
I trained some in JapaneseBushido while I was in service
and then did some jujitsuafterwards.
Todd (24:36):
Now is Bushido, while I
was in service and then did some
Jiu-Jitsu afterwards.
Dwayne (24:39):
Now is Bushido.
Is that like sword fighting?
That's the top of it, yes, butit's Bushido's very good about
balance and you know more aboutthe flow of fighting.
It was the only thing availableat the time where I was at, but
it taught me a lot more than Ithought it would.
Todd (25:00):
When I was younger I took
martial arts for a short while.
I was in a form of martial artscalled Bondo actually, and it's
spelled B-A-N-D-O.
I wasn't in it too long, but itwas more of like a very strong
stance, bruiser kind of martialart, or at least that was my
(25:21):
interpretation of it when I wasyounger, because I was small and
everybody seemed bigger than me.
So it may not have been that atall.
But as I've gotten older I'vetalked to my girls.
I've got three little girls, asyou know, and I'm like dude
jujitsu.
I agree, it's like if I couldput them in anything, I'd put
them in jujitsu.
Dwayne (25:41):
I definitely want my
granddaughter to take jujitsu
100%.
Todd (25:48):
And then for everyone
listening right now that doesn't
know what jujitsu is like, willyou explain that to them?
Dwayne (25:53):
Well, jujitsu is a
grappling art, so probably the
most renowned practitioners arethe Gracies.
The Gracies, yeah, they broughteverything out, but especially
if you have the length, itdoesn't take the serious muscles
that actually hurts you some inthat, but it is in a really
(26:16):
super advanced form of grappling.
It's used leverage to attackweak points on the body.
Todd (26:23):
And it's.
I would say it gives you thebest fighting chance against
someone that's bigger than you,absolutely yeah and it is a.
Dwayne (26:30):
I think you know I hate
to quote other people, but Joe
Rogan said it's a human,absolutely yeah and uh, it is a.
I think you know I hate toquote other people, but Joe
Rogan said it's a human chess.
Yeah, that's probably one ofthe best things, cause you're
thinking two or three moves inadvance.
If I do this and he counterswith this, then I can do this
and I'm going to end him, or youknow what's what's interesting
about that statement, though, isit's only human, human chess.
Todd (26:52):
If there are two people
that know jiu-jitsu, that's
right.
If it's one person who's justaggravated and they don't know
anything versus somebody who'sskilled in jiu-jitsu, it's a
one-sided fight, even if you'rekind of a beginner you know a
lot of people walk around day today and like, well, I'd whip
his ass.
Dwayne (27:11):
They've never been in a
fight in their life.
You know they think, well, yeah, he's not going to tell me I'm
going to bust him.
If they come across someonethat has any kind of training,
you're going to lose, yeah.
Todd (27:24):
That quick.
It's interesting that you saidthat, because when I was in
Bondo, I remember getting into afight at school and forgot
everything the second that fightstarted, because it was like I
just went into, like adrenalinepumping, like I'm not even
that's what most people do yeah,and it would be different.
Now I think that I'm older, likeI'd be a little less adrenaline
(27:47):
filled, but you know, whenyou're in middle school or high
school, you know it's like allyou can think of is your heart's
racing and you're like I'mtrying to hurt somebody.
Dwayne (27:54):
And when all you can
hear is your heart thumping.
You're not thinking, you'rejust reacting, which means if
that other person's able tocontrol that, you've lost they
control you.
Todd (28:07):
You know I I won that
fight, but it wasn't the way
that I wanted to win, he mustnot have been trained either.
Well, when he hit me, he hit meso hard.
I spun around and hit him witha back fist accidentally, and
then he stopped hitting me.
He was like, damn, he has goodreactions.
And I I was like how did thatjust happen?
Like I didn't even mean to, hejust hit me so hard.
I just spun around and hit himand he was like, oh, it stunned
(28:29):
him.
Dwayne (28:29):
He was kind of like.
You know, it's funny the wayyou mention that when you've
trained enough and you'resuccessful, you don't really
think about a lot of it.
It is reactions, your body goesinto muscle memory.
Todd (28:44):
Did you watch?
Do you watch any of the UFCstuff?
Oh yeah, did you watch when MaxHolloway knocked out Justin
Gaethje?
Dwayne (28:50):
I did not see that one.
Todd (28:52):
Oh my Lord, those are two
damn warriors there, Bro yeah,
it was so crazy because in thefirst, I believe it was in the
first round Somebody's going tocorrect me in the comments, but
I believe it was in the firstround right as the bells getting
ready to ring.
And this is so crazy to watchLike I'll have to pull it up
after this and I'll show you.
(29:12):
But the um, what do they callthe?
The commission opened up thegate to the octagon to go in as
the bell was ringing because thefighters were over here and
they thought clear, let's justgo ahead and get in there, right
.
Well, right before the bell rang, max holloway does a spinning
back kick as justin gaethje dipshis head down and lands it
(29:32):
right square on his nose, breakshis nose, but it knocks him
backwards and when thecommission opens up the gate, he
starts going out of the octagon.
It was like, oh my gosh, justalmost, and that was how round
one ended.
So from the rest of the fight,max just continued to just like
dominate, and that's crazy.
That's saying a lot when you'rebeating Justin Gaethje like
(29:52):
that, because Justin Gaethje isdouble tough.
Dude, so durable and very.
You know.
Here's what's weird.
My perception of Justin Gaethjewas that he was just like a
punching bag, but somehow hewould win.
But I didn't realize how goodhe was.
No, he is outstanding.
And whenever I went back and Istarted looking at his fights,
(30:14):
the thing that shocked me washis record.
It's like wait, he's only lostlike four fights.
I was like I don't know why.
I thought he lost a lot.
Dwayne (30:23):
And it's like no he is.
Todd (30:23):
I think Max has lost more
than he has.
I would say they're probablyeven at this point, if not a few
more.
Dwayne (30:30):
Max Holloway went
through a period there.
I don't know if it was histraining camp or who, but he
lost quite a bit.
Todd (30:38):
It was all Volkanovski In
a group there.
Oh yeah.
Dwayne (30:41):
That guy's a savage.
Yeah, that's another.
You don't lose any pride losingto him.
He is a badass.
Todd (30:51):
Yeah, I remember watching
the earlier UFCs, like UFC 1.
Yeah, like with my uncle Hoist.
Dwayne (30:59):
Gracie.
Todd (31:00):
Dude, they were allowed to
kick each other in the face.
Oh yeah, punch each other inthe nuts.
Dwayne (31:04):
You could hit butt.
Todd (31:05):
Yeah, it was crazy.
Dwayne (31:07):
Grab him by the hair
Like I was.
Just like that is.
Yeah, they kicked a downopponent.
Yeah, it was a fight then.
Yeah, they called it.
That's why it got banned off TV.
They called it humancockfighting.
I remember hearing that One ofthe politician's wives she went,
(31:29):
you know, stumping to try andget it removed and it was banned
off TV for quite a while.
Todd (31:37):
Yeah, I heard an interview
where Dana White was actually
talking about how, in thoseearly days, like when he first
started taking it over, likenobody would let him use the
venue to like host their fights.
Dwayne (31:48):
Yeah, Cause he couldn't
televise it.
Todd (31:51):
Yeah.
And then Donald trump actuallywas like yeah, I got, I'll let
you.
I think he let him do it at theuh trump.
He did yeah at the trump centeror trump hotel or trump tower,
yeah, and I thought that wascrazy and that's.
Dwayne (32:04):
You know, dana white.
Uh, they, it's funny whenpeople try to give him shit.
But they try to give him shitabout sporting donald trump.
He's like he told that storyand he said yeah, I'll support
him.
You're damn right, you don'tlike that, fuck you well, you
know, we're just that straightwith it.
Todd (32:21):
It's interesting that you
said that too, because I feel
like back in the day, like, uh,politics, religion, like certain
things like that, like yoursexual orientation, like that
was the stuff you kind of keptto yourself, yeah, and I think,
because of social media, like wefeel obligated to share
everything we do with everyone,and I say we, but I mean like
just the general public, I thinknow my opinion for what it's
(32:46):
worth.
Dwayne (32:47):
Sure, too many of them.
It's this damn victim mentalityand they want to be part of
that special group, but theydon't want to do something
special to get it.
So if I tell people I have adifferent sexuality, or if I
have this, or you know I hadsome childhood trauma, well shit
(33:08):
, that's life.
You know, the first thing I knowabout you should not be who you
choose to sleep with, right,personally, as long as you're
sleeping with a consenting adult, I could not give a shit less.
Who you choose to be with,that's up to you.
It's not my thing, but if youenjoy it, you do you.
Todd (33:30):
I feel like that's the
majority of people.
Dwayne (33:31):
Yeah, but I shouldn't
know right off that you're gay
or whatever.
That has nothing.
I don't care what you're doing,I don't want to know about any
of that.
That shouldn't be the biggestthing in your whole identity.
Todd (33:48):
That is the key, right
there.
Identity, oh yeah, everyonewants to fit in somewhere, and I
think that they labelthemselves as I'm this, I'm.
I'm a republican, I'm ademocrat, I'm a homosexual, I'm
a whatever.
So they can belong.
And if you join a side, thenyou obviously have opposition I
(34:08):
think it's even further thanthat.
Dwayne (34:10):
a lot of them,
especially, you know, the gay
and lesbian community.
I've known some gay and lesbianand the ones that I get along
with, that's just what they doat home.
It's not smacking you in theface every minute of it, you
(34:32):
know.
It's not every part of theirbeing.
I think a lot of them nowadayswant to be part of that little
protected class, like if theycome out and say they're
bisexual, well then you're notallowed to pick on them.
I'd get over it.
So many picks on you, pick back.
Quit being a little bitch.
Todd (34:51):
Dude, I got picked on a
lot.
I was small, so a lot I wassmall, so did I.
I was so small, I think Iweighed 120 pounds when I
married my wife.
I don't know why she married me.
Dwayne (34:59):
When I went into the
Army I was right at six foot
tall and 130 pounds.
I was as big around as a minute.
I had to go in under a specialwaiver saying that I would gain
because to go in under a specialwaiver saying that I would gain
X because I was underweight.
And in basic training the drillsergeant would go through the
lunch line with me and whileeverybody else was bitching that
(35:26):
they didn't get enough to eat,he'd tell the lunch ladies there
he's like no two of those.
More potatoes, more beans.
Todd (35:30):
We got to get this boy in
shape.
Dwayne (35:32):
And I had to sit right
next to his grumpy ass and if I
just slowed down to breathe,he's like eat boy, You're too
damn skinny Eat.
And I just shoveled food untilI was sick of it, you know yeah.
Todd (35:46):
It worked, yeah Well, all
right.
So fitness has been a big partof your life, at least since
I've known you when.
Dwayne (35:55):
So fitness has been a
big part of your life, at least
since I've known you.
Where did that come from?
Well, if I'm being honest, Ihave always, and even now, when
I look in the mirror, all I seeis a scrawny 14-year-old, and
I've always fought to get pastthat.
I think people describe it nowas body dysmorphia.
(36:20):
I still, and I control itpretty good, but it also, I use
it and it helps me going in thegym.
When I look at myself, I seethe areas that I need to work on
.
Okay, you know people think thatpeople that go to the gym are
very vain and you know they'relooking in the mirrors because
(36:42):
they think they look good.
It's just the opposite For me,anyway.
When I look in the mirror, Isee shit to me.
That's just unacceptable, thatI have to improve.
And that keeps me going.
So that you know that's alwaysbeen a part of me.
Plus, even at a young age, I'vealways had a mouth on me.
(37:05):
No, you better be able to backit up.
I know that's surprising.
No, and you better be able toback it up.
Todd (37:11):
I know that's surprising.
Dwayne (37:14):
But hey, if you're going
to be stupid, you better be
tough yeah that's right.
Yeah, so yeah, that's alwaysbeen a part and it's even, you
know, at my age.
Now it's even more importantbecause I see a lot of people my
age people that I grew up with,and they're just miserable and
(37:37):
they look terrible fitness-wiseand people want oh wow, I can't
walk around here without gettingout of breath.
Well, it's because you're 70pounds overweight.
Damn it, lose it.
Todd (37:53):
Yeah, I noticed this In
American culture we're overly
sensitive to say anything and inother cultures.
They'll literally identify youas fat.
Oh yeah, they'll straight callyou that.
I watched this guy on YouTube.
He speaks like 20-something,30-something different languages
and he goes around to all thesedifferent cities and he went
(38:14):
into Chinatown and they justlike will literally be like hey,
fat boy, come here Like that'syes and it's not.
They're not saying it in adisrespectful way, they're just
like well, you're fat and I'mtrying to get your attention and
that stands out in Chinabecause there aren't that many
fat people.
Yeah, so that stands out inChina because there aren't that
many fat people, yeah, so it'sinteresting that you said that I
(38:36):
would even go as far as to saya lot of this.
Self-conscious things about meare what drive me to be
excellent in those areas.
Dwayne (38:46):
Oh yeah, you know, I
agree, and that's kind of what I
meant.
Yeah, I see faults in mephysically much more than I see
in others.
Now, that being said, we're ina terrible state of being here
in the United States, Whateveranybody's politics are.
(39:12):
I was happy to hear thatKennedy got appointed.
Some of the stuff I hope he'sable to do it.
You know, we're feeding ourkids poison here, yeah, and
because someone's making moneyoff of it 19, one of the biggest
(39:34):
examples I have.
My wife for a long time thoughtshe was allergic to oh shit,
gluten.
She thought she had glutenallergies Because when she ate
something like that, instantlyshe would swell up and it was
painful.
Her rings would cut into her,Her socks would cut.
(39:55):
I mean, the swelling was almostinstantaneous If something was
just cross-contaminated.
We heard a guy online.
He was talking on the Joe Roganpodcast and a lot of what he
said really made sense.
And he said in 1993, so this iswhat the man's name was, Gary
(40:21):
Brekka.
Okay, he said in 1992, folicacid was considered a waste
product.
Okay.
So drug companies it was abyproduct of one of the
processes, something they weremaking, and I can't remember
what it was, but drug companieswere spending millions of
dollars to dispose of the excessfolic acid because it was
(40:44):
considered a waste, a hazardouswaste.
So they lobbied Congresscontinually and they finally
told Congress that people need aform of folic acid,
methylfolate, after it'sprocessed.
So they convinced Congress topass bills that required it to
(41:09):
be an all-white bread.
We're the only country that hasthat.
It is against the law in Europe.
Wow so, and I can imagine morethan a few politicians bought
stock in that company.
Then they passed the bill.
All of a sudden, what wasmultimillion-dollar debt now
(41:30):
every bread and grain companyhas to buy this folic acid.
So literally overnight, it wentfrom hundreds of millions of
dollars of loss to probablyclose to a billion dollars
revenue in one day.
Wow so, those fuckers made money.
But only 60% of humans canprocess folic acid from its raw
(41:54):
state.
So 40% of America couldn't evenprocess this shit, and that's
what was causing the swelling inher.
So, following his advice, weboth got on methylated vitamins
and methylfolateate cut back onthe white bread.
After about a month it wentaway.
(42:17):
Her problems went awaycompletely.
We don't overdo it, but she caneat white bread now and it
doesn't tear up.
She doesn't have any reactionto it now and there's a lot of
people that have that.
Todd (42:32):
Well, and it's crazy,
because it's not just folic acid
, right, it's right, dyes, it'sall.
Oh yeah, there's bugs in ourfood.
Think of all the stuff, in allkinds of stuff well, logically,
I'm not against the bugs.
Dwayne (42:45):
If, because there are
countries that eat bugs for a
delicacy, sure it's thechemicals in some of these dyes
and we have to ask ourselves whyis it legal here and nowhere
else in the world?
Yeah, look at, the cereal inCanada Comes from the same
factory.
Their cereal is a bigdifference from ours, really
(43:07):
Doesn't have those dyes and shiton it, because Canada doesn't
allow that.
They don't want you to poisontheir citizens.
Todd (43:14):
We do yeah, I heard that
yellow, some form of yellow dye.
I don't know which one it is,because I know there's like
different ones, but one of themis like a byproduct of coal tar.
Yeah, and it's like and we'reeating it.
People have to wear hazmatsuits to like work with it and
we're eating it.
What's kind of weird.
Dwayne (43:30):
You want disgusting?
Look up margarine.
Oh no.
Todd (43:34):
I don't want to and see
what it actually is.
Dwayne (43:35):
I don't want to.
I'm serious.
I think Mr Brecka actuallymentioned that.
When I looked up what margarinewas, that was it.
It's actually an oil product.
There's no food in that shit.
(43:55):
That's why you can sit a thingof margarine out and it doesn't
go bad.
Leave the top out, set it upthere for a month.
Mold won't grow on it becauseit's not an organic product and
we slather it on shit from hereto the moon.
There's just so many and that'swhy we have and see if we get
unhealthy, we get fat.
Well then they can sell allthese drugs to us.
(44:17):
You're not allowed to fat chainpeople.
So you know they just get lessand less healthy and fatter and
they're selling more product tous and Americans are running
around fat and happy.
We've got to change that.
And people are big on excuses.
(44:39):
And when I mentioned abouthaving self-discipline, I could
sit on my ass at home and say,shit, I'm 60 years old, that's
too hard to do.
That.
That's bullshit.
You have to hold yourselfaccountable for that stuff.
So when I get a little extrabreak, I'm in the gym, I'm doing
(44:59):
something.
You know you've got to makeyourself do that and get
healthier.
I don't have all the medicinesthat people my age have.
I don't have a lot of thehealth problems they have.
I've had my own bouts withcancer and stuff, but that's
completely different.
Yeah, this obesity problem inAmerica is ridiculous.
(45:23):
I travel with my job and it'svery disappointing to me when I
walk through an airport inanother country and it's very
easy to pick out the AmericansBecause the majority of the time
they're the fat ones.
Todd (45:42):
And you kind of use that a
lot of the times to like
motivate you to stay healthy.
Dwayne (45:45):
Oh, absolutely.
That's my negative role models.
Todd (45:49):
Have you seen Butterbean's
story recently?
Dwayne (45:55):
I have Him working with
Diamond Dallas Page.
That's amazing.
Todd (45:57):
Dude, his transformation
is ridiculous.
Dwayne (46:03):
He was an outlier, to
say the least.
That man was faster than anyone.
That fat had a right to be.
He was incredible when he boxed.
Todd (46:11):
So for those of you who
don't know, butterbean, very
heavyweight boxer 300 plus withwith ridiculous knockout power.
Um, he actually I don't knowhow recently or when, but he was
actually doubled over couldn'tstand up straight and had to
walk with like arm crutchesbasically to get around.
Dwayne (46:31):
He was on a wheelchair
most of the time.
Todd (46:33):
Yeah, he was in such bad
shape.
And then Diamond Dallas Page hehas a rehabilitation program
where he works with people anddoing yoga and exercise and
balance and stretching andthings like that to try to help
them get healthy again and it'sunbelievable.
If you guys get a second, youdefinitely should watch that and
(46:54):
check it out.
It was inspiring Like I watchedit and I was like dude, that's
awesome.
Dwayne (46:58):
That is so awesome.
Like Diamond Dallas Page, I sawpictures one time of his scans
of his back and that hits mebecause I've had a lot of back
problems.
He's got, I think, three orfour discs that are just gone.
It's bone on bone.
There's no reason why he shouldbe walking and moving normally.
(47:22):
But whatever he's doing, itworks.
Todd (47:25):
Yeah, that's for sure.
I'm going to switch gears herejust a little bit.
I want to ask you if you couldgo back 20 years ago and talk to
yourself what?
What would Dwayne Maddox nowsay to Dwayne Maddox 20 years
ago?
20 years ago, yeah.
Dwayne (47:46):
Now, that would be a
tough one.
Todd (47:49):
Knowing what you've gone
through and done in the last 20
years, what would you say toyourself?
Dwayne (47:55):
You know, jokingly, I've
always said if, if I could go
back and talk to myself at 20,I'd tell myself to stay away
from anyone named Tammy, causeboth my ex-wives are named Tammy
.
But I say that jokingly.
Um, to be honest, I am very um,because both my ex-wives are
(48:17):
named Tammy, but I say thatjokingly.
To be honest, I am verycomfortable and happy where I am
in life.
I've got a peace like I'venever had.
My relationship with my wifeand our family is just amazing.
And even bad things they happenfor a reason.
Sure, the way my mind works.
(48:42):
I would not be who I am now ifI didn't go through those things
, no matter how painful.
So I think I'd have to stayquiet because I have to go.
Have to stay quiet because Ihave to go.
My, my mind and body has to gothrough those trip, you know
those tribulations, uh, to getto where I am now.
So I don't think I'd change athing it's a wise answer.
Todd (49:03):
I like it all right.
What's?
What, would you say, is thesingle most difficult thing that
you've had to go through inyour life?
Dwayne (49:15):
So I mean, I know, you
know this, but most people would
think my time in the Armybecause I was an airborne ranger
and while that was difficultand it was a very defining time,
what I'm about to say nextprobably most people will think
(49:35):
I'm crazy, but maybe we'll gettime to explain.
Sure, probably the best thingas a person that ever happened
to me was being diagnosed withcancer.
Todd (49:48):
Really, by far.
Yeah, it's definitelyinteresting.
You put it that way.
I'm curious.
I'd like to hear that story, ifyou don't mind sharing yeah.
Dwayne (49:59):
I had just hired into my
current job with Miller Miller
Welders had moved to theBirmingham area I think I'd only
been there about three monthsand I found a family doctor, so
a new doctor.
I went in to do a physical andwhile I'm doing the physical,
the doctor says I was 40 at thetime and he said you want us to
(50:25):
test PSA.
I didn't even know what thehell PSA was.
I'm like sure I'm here, let'sdo it.
So it just drew blood right.
They ran an extra test.
I think it was a week later I'mdriving to go see a customer
and the nurse calls me and youknow she says Dwayne Maxley.
(50:49):
Yes, she told me her name, thatshe was a nurse for Dr Gray.
She said I need you to stay onthe line just a minute.
Dr Gray needs to talk to you,which I've never had that happen
in my life.
So I thought, okay, this isgoing to be a little interesting
.
And he gets on the phone and hesaid your test came back
(51:11):
positive for cancer.
He said you need to come in andwe need to run some additional
tests.
I said well, hang on a second,let me pull over to the side of
the road.
He said oh my God, you'redriving, yeah.
So I pulled over.
He kind of explained to me thenext steps and what had to
(51:31):
happen and I sat there for aboutat least a half hour and my
mind was thinking how am I goingto tell my family that I have
cancer?
I eventually came to grips withit enough to you know, get my
(51:57):
act together and I think I wenton and headed to the customer,
told my wife at the time whatwas going on and we set up plans
to get.
I had to go in and get a biopsy.
It was prostate cancer, whichtends to run in my family.
And before I get too muchfurther, any man at 40, get
(52:19):
checked.
It's just drawn blood, okay, sothere's no reason to put it off
.
Sure, it was.
We did the biopsy.
It came back.
It was pretty bad.
Met with an oncologist team andthe doctor said look, I'm going
(52:40):
to be honest with you,straightforward.
You need to make sure youraffairs are in order.
This has spread quite a bit.
We don't know now if it hasspread beyond the prostate, but
I'm going to give you about a50-50 chance of coming out of
this.
Wow.
So, while you think you canunderstand what that's like.
(53:08):
It's very difficult untilsomeone is telling you it's a
crapshoot.
You may or may not live throughthis and of course, like anyone
else, I'm human.
I went through a week or twowhere I was depressed and did
(53:28):
the why me shit?
And you know I'm going tofucking die.
But again that self-discipline.
After I got through that I said, nah, I got a 50-50 chance,
it's all I need.
I said if death's coming for me, better pack his fucking lunch.
(53:49):
I am not going to make it easy.
If he's going to take me, he'sgoing to fight for it.
And you know most people don'task.
They see me with the mohawk andthey think they just think it's
weird.
But to me this was a reminderto me.
This was the haircut I worewhen I was in the Army and
(54:11):
because you know I was at warthen and when the cancer hit I
was at war again.
It was me against the cancerand I was not going to lose.
So kind of doing the mohawk wasmy wayawk, was my way of
putting on my war face.
(54:32):
Yeah, and I went through theinitial surgery.
It came out okay, we thought itwas all gone and then a couple
of years later it came back andthey found that it had spread,
it had metastasized, so itturned into a form of bone
(54:54):
cancer, which I believe anddon't quote me on this.
Sure, I don't think anyone diesfrom prostate cancer.
I believe what happens is itmetastasizes into something else
and that's typically what killspeople and it can be a very
painful death.
But if you can have a good form, mine was a form of cancer that
(55:19):
caused almost like bone spursor growth on the bone or growth
on the bone, the bad part of itwhen it did come back, it
started attacking the weak spoton my body which was in my back.
I had been injured in the Armyand that's where it went at.
(55:42):
So you know, long story short,I've had five of what you would
call a disc fusion, wherethey've had to go in and remove
sections of bone that were justtoo ate up.
(56:05):
Most people would have been on,you know, and I don't mean this
to sound bragging, but where alot of people would have been on
disability.
I said I'm not disabled, that'snot stopping me.
If I'm alive, I will move, Ican walk, I can work and be
productive.
Having cancer and that you know, everybody thinks, you know
you're going to die right, butyou don't really know because
(56:27):
you've not had to face that hard, you've never had it right in
front of your nose.
And cancer taught me I'm somuch of a better person since
then.
I used to be very angry.
(56:48):
I didn't have any friends.
Really I wasn't big on showingany kind of emotion, and cancer
reinforced me.
It actually taught me thatyou're not promised tomorrow.
You might think, yeah, I'll dothat and nobody can read your
(57:10):
mind.
You might think, yeah, sheknows I love her.
Maybe, but do you want to missthe chance to tell her that
Because you might not haveanother chance?
Yeah, and you know I take a lotof blame too.
In my own way, the best I could, I tried to explain a lot of
(57:33):
that to my wife at the time andI had to go through that journey
to get out the other side andshe just couldn't come through
that journey with me.
I was a completely differentperson than what she buried.
I like to think it's a lotbetter person.
(57:57):
I have no problem telling peopleclose to me that I love them.
I make sure my wife doesn't go,probably not more than a couple
hours without me saying it.
That's awesome Close friends.
I'll hug a friend and let themknow I care.
I don't get angry.
(58:18):
I don't.
When I used to be, I would tryand piss people off just to see
what they're going to do.
I don't do that anymore.
Life's too short to spend yourtime angry.
I don't fixate on negativethings like that.
I cut them loose and I'm gone.
I am so much happier now andstress free.
(58:42):
I don't stress over shitanymore.
It is what it is.
Todd (58:46):
I'd imagine after that
what's going to stress you out.
Dwayne (58:49):
Yeah, it's not going to
kill me, so why do I care?
And you can imagine as a personwhen you get that attitude.
It made me so much of a betterperson, a better human being.
I'm grateful for each day and Itry and leave nothing left
(59:13):
unsaid.
Sometimes that gets me introuble.
It's not always.
You know flowers and roses,sure, but rarely do you have to
wonder where you stand with theway I'm going to let you know.
Todd (59:29):
That's one of my favorite
attributes about you is that you
are a man of your word, likeyou said earlier.
But it's more than just keepingyour promises or keeping your
word when you give it, but it'smore of I know that if I come to
you and I ask your opinion onsomething, I'm going to get the
honest opinion Like it's not.
(59:51):
You're not going to tell mesomething that you think is
going to make me feel better,like and I love that about you.
I think people need to besurrounded by more people like
that, that's willing to tell youthe hard truth.
Dwayne (59:56):
I tell people don't,
lord, don't ask my opinion if
you don't want it.
That's the quickest way to getit.
You know, and I don't try andhurt people's feelings, but uh,
life's too short to sugarcoatthings yeah, and so how?
Todd (01:00:12):
how long ago, like what
year was that whenever you uh
went when you found out that youhad initially had prostate
cancer, and then what year wasit when you found out that it
and it came back?
Do you recall that?
Dwayne (01:00:25):
So, it was.
I've been with Miller 18 yearsnow, so it was probably around
17 years ago.
Okay, I went probably threeyears before cancer came back
(01:00:49):
the first time and I had to havesome procedures and stuff done
and then it hit again.
Six to seven years ago so aboutthe time they said I was cancer
free it came back.
You know, six, seven years agoI went through some treatments
(01:01:12):
with that.
I had a surgery.
Knock on wood, everything's inremission now.
But to me, instead of crawlingin a hole saying I've got cancer
, you know, it was motivation tome to do what I needed to do,
to live my life the way I'msupposed to.
(01:01:34):
You know, if you want to be, ifyou want to live your life in
shape, fucking do it.
Talking about it doesn't doanything, you know.
Yeah, and I hear so many people, even guys I work with like, oh
man, you're lucky.
What do you mean lucky?
So to be built like that atyour age?
(01:01:55):
What do you think luck had todo with it?
Yeah, luck didn't do shit.
It's my ass getting up at 3 inthe morning, going to the gym
before I go to work.
So you can do it.
It's simple.
There's nothing magical aboutit, just get up and fucking do
it.
There's no luck.
There's no genetic lottery oranything.
(01:02:15):
I just put in the work, that'sit.
Todd (01:02:19):
Yeah.
Dwayne (01:02:21):
So and really cancer
helped enforce that with me and
really cancer helped enforcethat with me.
Before my first diagnosis I hadforgot a lot of that.
I slipped into probably a morenormal life for the way men my
(01:02:42):
age were, and normal sucks.
Yeah, that is not me and Idon't apologize for it anymore.
I don't try and fit in.
I'm me, you like it or not.
If you don't, that's great, Goaway.
Todd (01:03:07):
So, after your battle with
cancer and all of that, and
having gone through all of that,what would you tell somebody
that's listening right now thatmaybe is going through their own
season of just struggle and war?
Dwayne (01:03:12):
Well, a big thing and
like a lot of men we don't,
especially my age group we don'ttalk about things.
You just didn't.
You do it.
You know the suffering, silencething.
And I had a very close friend.
He's still kind of goingthrough it.
He's on the backside of it now,but he also had cancer and I
(01:03:37):
love him like a brother.
But I told him.
You know, when he first told meabout it I said, look, when you
have those times and you'regoing to know what I'm talking
about, you pick up that phoneand call me.
I don't care if it's midnightand I put his number down on
(01:04:00):
favorites so even if my phone'sin do not disturb, you know he
can still call me.
And he did a couple of timesand I'm proud of him he did,
Because it really messes withyour mind when you're going
through some of that.
You need to talk to someone,especially if they've had that
(01:04:21):
experience, and come out theother side.
Look, do your thing with thedoctors, Absolutely.
Get second opinion, Do what'ssuggested, Take the steps you
need to to get over it.
Your mental state, I believe,has as much to do with cancer as
(01:04:44):
chemo does.
You have to believe and notjust think this way.
You have to believe it ahundred percent.
I'm coming out of this.
This is not killing me.
You have to do and you can'tlet cancer become your whole
life, and it very quickly will.
(01:05:07):
You'd be surprised how fastyour whole life becomes.
Chemo doctors, sleepingtreatment doctors, chemo You're
talking about cancer, You'rediscussing it with your wife,
You're taking care of plant.
Everything revolves around thatdamn cancer.
(01:05:29):
And while you have to do someof those things, you have to do
other things.
For me, I was able to focus inthe gym and some days it hurt.
After the form of chemo I hadto have.
There were some times when ithurt when air touched my skin.
(01:05:51):
I can't imagine I went to thegym.
I can remember days trying tocurl five pounds and fucking
tears coming out of my eyesbecause it just hurt that badly
and I kept doing the fuckingcurls.
You got to get out and do otherthings.
(01:06:15):
Take your mind away from it,Keep healthy.
Yeah, my big savior was the gymat the time, but that is,
without a doubt, the definingmoment in my life as a person.
Todd (01:06:36):
Yeah.
So for everybody listeningright now, just don't isolate
yourself.
If you're going throughsomething, no matter how
insignificant you may think itis, because we always, always I
noticed for myself guys wealways do that Like, if I'm
struggling with an addiction,for example, like I'll downplay
it and be like, well, I don'twant to burden anybody else with
(01:06:57):
it, like it's not that big of adeal and it really does more
harm than it does.
Good, so, regardless of how youmay feel about it, just reach
out to somebody.
And if you don't have somebody,like, look up online.
There are so many resourcesthat you can connect with.
Um, incredible, like counselingcenters and people like that.
I saw one recently.
(01:07:19):
I get them recommended a lot,so it must be a sign I probably
need to get some counseling done.
But, um, there was a one whereit was like they'll fit you with
like a counselor from like aform you fill out and if you
don't like them, they'll switchyou to a different one until you
do find somebody that you feelcomfortable talking to.
So there's no excuse to likenot talk to somebody.
Dwayne (01:07:39):
Most workplaces now have
.
They've started includingmental health with that.
If you're a veteran, you've gotto have some of your brothers
you can talk to, especially ifyou're a veteran.
You know we lose 23 veterans aday to suicide.
Yeah, don't be part of thatnumber.
(01:08:00):
Talk to someone.
It's not weakness Shit.
If you know me, call me.
I'll gladly talk with you.
You have to be able to workthat stuff out and we can't all
be strong every moment of everyday.
Sure, you know, and you wantyour wife and everyone else to
think you're Superman, but we'rehuman.
Todd (01:08:24):
I get myself in trouble
with that one?
Oh yeah, because, like my wife,like she'll overhear me telling
a close friend about somethingI'm dealing with, and then it's
like you didn't tell me that I'mnot supposed to tell you that
that's right and maybe that'swrong, but that's how my brain
perceives it.
So what's next for you?
(01:08:45):
You got anything coming up, anycool projects or anything
you're working on currently.
Dwayne (01:08:50):
Well, I'm fixing to.
I need to expand my forge.
You know I think I mentionedbefore but I like to blacksmith
as a hobby and I'm reallyconsidering offering classes.
Offering classes Just peoplewho are serious.
Come out, get them started onthe basics, see if I can get
(01:09:21):
them excited about blacksmithing.
There's a lot of people seecrap online and they see the
stuff on TV and some of thoseare good.
Some of them aren't.
But I want to see if I can getpeople interested in using their
hands working.
You know doing some of thethings I do.
So I'm thinking that's going tobe my next line.
We're going to expand the forge.
I'm going to put it a littlefurther back on the property, so
(01:09:42):
it's way out in the woods and,yeah, see if other people like
beating on steel also.
Todd (01:09:49):
That sounds good.
I'll be the first one out there.
Dwayne (01:09:51):
Whenever you move it out
there, let me know and.
Todd (01:09:53):
I'll come out.
I'd love to.
Yeah, you better be.
We'll do that, It'll be fun.
And for those of you who arelistening right now, if you're
listening and you're like ohyeah, like that sounds really,
or I'd like to reach out toDwayne, what's a good way they
can reach out to you?
Dwayne (01:10:11):
You can get me on
Facebook or Instagram.
On Facebook it's just my name,it's Dwayne Maddox.
It's D-W-A-Y-N-E-M-A-T-T-O-X.
I might have those backwards,I'm sorry.
On Instagram, it's just my name.
On Facebook it's Iron DemonForge.
Todd (01:10:30):
Okay, so that's one word
just like it sounds Iron Demon
Forge.
Yeah, so very cool.
And then is there anything thatis on your heart that like
maybe we didn't touch on that.
You were kind of like, oh youknow what, on the drive up I was
thinking about talking aboutthis that you wanted to share no
(01:10:53):
, I, I think we've hit all that.
Dwayne (01:10:55):
Um, you know, really one
of my biggest things was that
with cancer and the mint yourmental part of that I could have
very easily looked at that as adownfall, as a handicap, as a
you know, I could let thatdefine the rest of my life after
(01:11:18):
that, every time I've had tohave a surgery or something,
doctors are like all right,here's the forms for disability.
I'm not fucking disabled.
I'm not fucking disabled.
I'm not doing that.
I look at it as anotherchallenge.
Yeah, I have my bad moments,like anyone else, where you have
troubles with it, but you workthrough those.
(01:11:43):
I have to envision somethinglike cancer or the surgeries
I've had since then.
Those are positive things.
When you get the opportunity tohave a struggle with something,
you need to embrace that, enjoyit, because you're going to be
stronger coming out the otherside.
And I guess that's why I enjoyworking out so much, because
(01:12:07):
it's not easy, it's tough, it'shard.
You have to envision what youwant and that has to be the most
important thing in your mindevery day.
And you do the hard things andwhen you come out you're that
much better.
So you look at the trials andthe troubles as opportunities.
(01:12:28):
You get the blessing of havingsomething to struggle through to
make you better andeverything's like that.
You know, if something goeswrong you have to think of like
shit, that's great, I'm going tolearn how to deal with this.
I'm going to learn how to dealwith this.
(01:12:49):
That's a huge part.
If you roll over and show yourbelly and play victim, you'll be
a victim the rest of your lifeand we're all seeing what
happens when a whole group ofpeople decide to be victims and
I think, whatever your politicsit, it feels like a lot of
(01:13:09):
that's changed this year.
Todd (01:13:12):
Hopefully we're gonna
start moving out of a lot of
that crap yeah, I think I thinkthat's a a good way to look at
it, because we tend to we as asociety, right we tend to get in
our feelings and and that'snever like your your emotions
are never as good as like thefacts and the logic of what's
(01:13:35):
going on.
You know, and I think that thatreally is a part of it.
You know, if you get into youremotions and you get into how
you feel about stuff, it justdoesn't ever lead you anywhere
good, because your feelings andemotions can always do this, you
know, up and down Well and alot of people don't.
Dwayne (01:13:53):
I don't mean to sound
harsh, but your feelings are
yours.
That's your problem.
That police officer that pullsyou over, he doesn't give a shit
about your feelings and youdon't give a shit about his.
Those are yours.
You deal with that.
No one else should have to dealwith your feelings.
(01:14:13):
You know, my wife is the mostself-aware person I've ever met
and you know women, as they getolder, they have some hormonal
issues happen.
She's human, just like everyoneelse, but, dear God, I love her
to death.
She knows when that's happening, she realizes it and she deals
(01:14:37):
with it.
She doesn't expect me to dealwith her feelings or you know
issues.
If we had more people like her,this would be a lot better
country, A lot better.
Todd (01:14:51):
I've met her.
She's great.
Yeah, she has to be to put upwith my ass.
That's cool.
Well, I think that's a reallygood spot to stop this episode.
Wayne, thank you for coming inand for taking the time to share
with everybody.
Dwayne (01:15:11):
Are we going to suggest
the next guy, because I have a
good one for you.
Todd (01:15:14):
Alright, so here's the
deal.
I've never done that live, butI'm not opposed to it.
Dwayne (01:15:20):
Alright let's hear it.
I'm not going to go too far in,because I want him to tell his
story.
Todd (01:15:26):
Before you do that, let me
preface this real quick For the
people listening.
They don't know Every episode Ihave the previous person and
since we've only done oneepisode, I have the previous
person nominate who they thinkshould be the next guest on the
show.
So when Jeff came in last Iguess it was a couple Um, he
(01:15:46):
nominated Dwayne.
So you guys didn't hear thatbecause we didn't do this live
on the episode.
Uh, we just did it after theepisode.
And then, uh, so now that'swhat's happening now.
So, live on this episode, we'redoing what we did the last time
and so Dwayne's about to sharewho he would like to nominate to
be our next guest.
Dwayne (01:16:04):
Yeah, so on the surface.
Well, so the guy I'm suggestingnominating he's follicly
challenged, so he has no beardand he's losing the hair on top
too, but and he's younger thanme.
Even On the surface, you wouldthink he and I would never get
along.
He is one of the best humanbeings I've ever met and his
(01:16:28):
story is so motivational.
Um, he, at a younger age, wasgoing down a very bad road and
he turned it around into apositive.
Uh, so I'm going to nominate agentleman in Chattanooga.
His name is Michael Brandt.
He owns GarageBound LLC, whichis a fabrication company.
(01:16:50):
Great person to talk to.
And some of his mission in lifeand what he's doing I think
everybody would love to hear.
Todd (01:17:00):
And I'm actually really
excited about this because the
first two guests being you andJeff, I know both of you.
Yeah, and it's going to beexciting for me to have a guest
on the show that I literallyknow nothing about.
Dwayne (01:17:15):
You guys are going to
hit it off so much, I promise
you, from that point on, you'regoing to have a friend for life.
Todd (01:17:22):
Oh, that's great.
I'm excited.
Yeah, so it's Michael Brandt,michael Brandt, all right.
Well, michael Brandt, I'll behitting you up soon if you're
listening to this episode andlooking forward to hopefully
having you on Ash and Iron.
So, dwayne, thank you so much,thank you.
Dwayne (01:17:37):
My pleasure brother.
Todd (01:17:38):
Yeah, have a great, great
week you too, man.