Student of Harry G. Smith
G E O R G E A.
D I L L M A N
George A. Dillman, a 9th degree black
belt in Ryukyu Kempo Tomari-Te, and honored by Black Belt Magazine
as “1997 Instructor of the Year” is one of the USA’s best known and
well-established martial arts personalities. Dillman came to the
attention of the martial arts press when he began competing in the
early 1960’s. By the end of that decade, he had started running his
own tournament, called the Northeast Open Karate Championships. This
competition was held annually – the first kicking off in Palmer
Park, Maryland in 1966. The site was moved to Suitland, Maryland in
1967, and moved again to Reading, PA in 1968 where it was held until
1996.
Official Karate Magazine (Nov. 1982),
described Dillman as, “One of the best competitors karate has ever
known.” Dillman was four-times National Karate Champion (1969-1972)
and during this period was consistently ranked among top ten
competitors in the nation by major karate magazines. During his
nine-year competitive career, Dillman claimed a total of 327
trophies in fighting, forms, breaking, and weapons.
Dillman began serious martial arts
training in 1961 with Harry G. Smith. He went on to study with
Daniel K. Pai, James Coffman, Sam Pearson, Robert Trias and Seiyu
Oyata. Dillman has always considered himself a student, never a
master of the martial arts. To this end he and his wife and students
have traveled throughout the United States to meet and train with
various martial arts experts.
Because of his perseverance, Dillman’s
martial arts talents have earned him widespread U.S. media coverage.
He has appeared on 35 national TV shows, including Real People, Mike
Douglas, PM Magazine, Evening Magazine, and NBC’s Sports Machine.
Dillman has also been featured five times in Ripley’s Believe It or
Not, and has been the subject of over 300 newspaper and magazine
articles. Dillman, who was a professional boxer for three and one
half years, is the only person known to have trained with both Bruce
Lee and Muhammad Ali. In May of 1988 Dillman was inducted into the
Berks County Sports Hall of Fame. He was the first martial artist to
be included.
Currently, Dillman travels the world
teaching seminars on pressure points and Tuite (grappling) hidden
within the traditional movements of the old martial arts forms. It
is his research and scientific dissection of the old forms that is
earning him his most notoriety. Never one to shy away from
controversy, Dillman has rediscovered a formerly secret level of
meaning for kata movements, and has made that interpretation
understandable to all. He has produced a video tape instructional
series on the pressure points, and has written six books with Chris
Thomas. The books are entitled: Kyusho-Jitsu: The Dillman Method of
Pressure Point Fighting; Advanced Pressure Point Fighting of Ryukyu
Kempo; Advanced Pressure Point Grappling: Tuite; Pressure Point
Karate Made Easy; Humane Pressure Point self-defense; and Little Jay
Learns Karate. The books have been said to be “The definitive
martial arts books of the century, “and” Unparalleled among current
martial arts literature.”
Dillman is the chief instructor for
Dillman Karate International, an organization of over 85 schools
worldwide, with an enrollment of nearly 15,000 students. Dillman has
studied under five 10th degree black belts from Okinawa and is
currently furthering his personal study through research, practice
and the sharing of techniques with Prof. Remy Presas (Modern Arnis)
and Prof. Wally Jay (Small Circle Ju-jitsu).
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