Student of Harry G. Smith
GEORGE A. DILLMAN
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).
