Mike Dayton and I both trained at the Clancy Ross Mr. America Club, in Walnut Creek. I was competing in USPF powerlifting at the time and Mike's strongman competitions & bodybuilding contest were going on. Mike also practiced the martial arts heavily. Mike taught me to tear licence plates in half. Break baseball bats & tear phone books.
Mike's hand strength was legendary. Mike tried many times to show me how to bend & tear coins in half, but I could never come close. Mike's ability to endure pain at the finger-tips was crazy. His hands were not only extremely strong but very tough.
Mike was the only person I have EVER seen or heard of, that could tear a nickel in half. A penny was easy for Mike. A quarter was easy for Mike, but a nickel took a little extra "Mind control", but Mike Dayton could do it. I don't think anybody has ever torn a nickel in half, other than Mike Dayton. Nobody.
I used to think it was some sort of trick, but it wasn't. He took the coin between the tips of his thumb and the finger pads along the second joint of his index finger... bend forward and place his hands on his upper thighs and proceeded to use his traps, delts, thumb tips & pecs to bend and then break the coin. I didn't hear about this, I didn't read about this, I stood three feet away and watched it! Absolutely incredible[/u]!
The pain required to break handcuffs was insane. I think there were several guys who had the power, I truely thought that I did, but none, other than Mike, could endure the pain of the steel cuffs cutting into your wrist.
I will say with absolute confidence, that any feat of strength that was ever attributed to Mike Dayton was absolutely true.
Mike Dayton was an excellent bodybuilder and a phenomenal strong man.
-Tom