Shamokin man to compete in SlapFIGHT tournament on Saturday
Mar. 2—SHAMOKIN — Bill Dales is known as the Shamokin Thunder Clap.
The 46-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Local 158 Heavy Highway Laborers Union worker from Shamokin is a professional slap competitor in a growing combat sport where opponents strike each other in the face. Dales will put his name and reputation of no flinching to the test on Saturday when he competes in the SlapFIGHT 2023 Invitational 10-Man Light Heavyweight Tournament at an undisclosed location in Missouri.
"I kind of like it," said Dales, a 1994 graduate of Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia. "It takes a special person to like this I guess. I don't know how to explain it. It's not for everyone. I like smacking and getting smacked. I'm one of those weirdos I guess."
SlapFIGHT Championship was created in 2017 with the mission to adapt viral slapping videos into a regulated combat sport. Having hosted 17 professional slap fighting events, SlapFIGHT has become the world's leading producer of slap content, according to its website.
Dales will face off against nine other men: Rocky Moore, Monkey Wrench, Bayou Bastard, Slim Reaper, Okuma 915, Black G-Sus, The Mexicutioner, DEMON and Bdot. He enters this weekend with a balanced record: two wins, three losses and one no contest.
In November, the Nevada state commission that regulates slap fighting approved UFC President Dana White's license to promote the Power Slap League, which is not affiliated with SlapFIGHT Championship. White and other UFC officers are involved in the league, but the UFC does not operate it, according to the Associated Press.
Power Slap is being featured in the TBS show "Power Slap: Road to the Title." The first four episodes averaged 275,000 viewers, according to the AP.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and YouTube celebrity Logan Paul started their own league last year, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Combat and loss
Dales's journey to SlapFIGHT began nearly 30 years ago. In high school, Dales was on the wrestling team. While attending the Williamson College of the Trades in Media, he was involved in football, wrestling and cross country. He was in the military between 1995 and 2003. While he lived in Philadelphia, he dabbled in combat sports and mixed martial arts.
Dales in 2013 moved to Shamokin where his grandparents and great-grandparents were from. Here began the biggest struggle and darkest time of his life, he said.
Dales, a father of eight, lost his 15-month-old son Alex on March 21, 2020, when the child choked to death in his sleep. Soon after, his relationship with the boy's mother deteriorated and they split up. Nine months after the death of his son, he was diagnosed with cancer. He started drinking alcohol a lot, he said.
"The whole time, I was angry and frustrated, and I needed an outlet," said Dales. "I was looking into MMA or bare-knuckle fighting."
A month and a half after Dales went into remission for his cancer, he was contacted by SlapFIGHT and competed in his first battle in November 2021.
"When I first started, I didn't expect it to get like this, to get this known or this popular," said Dales. "I thought it was going to be a novelty like a roadside attraction. It's started to kick off pretty good."
Dales said he is known for his ability to not flinch. He credits his talent of facing adversity head-on because he faced so many physical, emotional and mental struggles throughout his life.
"I'm just used to facing everything," he said. "I just don't flinch. I'm so used to things hitting me and hurting me. If you flinch, you can't see where things are coming from, and you always want to see where things are coming from."
The rules
According to the rules listed on Slapfight.com, all participants must wear a mouth guard and cotton ear wicks. No headgear or hats are permitted. Additionally, no equipment is permitted on the hands, arms or shoulders (such as braces or wraps).
Competitors—one being a striker and the other being a defender—stand across from each other at a barrel. No one is allowed to touch the barrel and no one may move their feet in any direction.
A "permitted slap" is a flat, open-handed strike of the palm side of the hand to the permitted target area. The entire striking of the fingers and palm above the wrist, must make contact and impact simultaneously, in the permitted target area. Strikers may not lead impact with the carpal bones. The fingers may be in their natural open position or closed, and may contact anywhere on the defender's face or head as a natural extension of a permitted slap, other than to a facial orifice. The striker must have two feet in contact with the ground through the completion of the permitted slap. The striker's feet must be parallel to the power slap table and the striker's shoulders must be square to the power, according to the rules.
The goal is to slap your opponent as hard as possible. A person wins by judge's decision, doctor stoppage, giving up, getting knocked out or being disqualified, said Dales.
Some people can walk away with swelling, red marks or bruises, but Dales boasts he hasn't had anything like that for himself.
"I train like I'm doing everything else," he said. "I work out like I'm still fighting MMA. I work out with weights. I focus on maintaining proper stance and techniques so I don't fail or club anyone. I train my neck, I train for whiplash, I train for a solid neck and jawline. There's not too much defense against getting smacked in the face."
Dales said he also chews beef jerky and wads of gum to train his jaw.
Dales and his family have been at the undisclosed location this week taking in the local sights before the tournament on Saturday. His fiance Melissa Howard doesn't watch, and his children can't watch due to an age restriction at the tournaments.
The winner of the tournament will receive a championship belt. He said he is not a liberty to talk about any monetary awards he may receive.
The SlapFIGHT 2023 Invitational can be watched at 7 p.m. on standard PPV on Fite for $10 or by signing up for Fite for $6.99 a month.
