George Dillman


George Dillman is a controversial American martial arts instructor who popularized the use of pressure points among the United States' martial arts practitioners. Dillman is a member of Black Belt magazine's Hall of Fame, and in 1997 was named Black Belt Magazines "Martial Arts Instructor of the Year". For 30 years, he ran the Northeast Karate Championships. Dillman also conducts martial arts training seminars at the former Muhammad Ali training camp at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.
Dillman calls his style Ryukyu kempo karate. His art has generated a considerable amount of controversy, due in large part to Dillman's reluctance to scientifically prove the validity of his claims. The most contentious claims have been his promotion of fake no-touch knock-outs, kiai knock-outs, and increasing technique effectiveness based on sound and color.
Dillman began serious martial arts training in 1961 with Harry G. Smith. He went on to study with Daniel K. Pai, Robert Trias, Seiyu Oyata, Hohan Soken, Wally Jay and Muhammad Ali. In 1982, Official Karate Magazine described Dillman as one of the winningest competitors karate has ever known. In May 1998, Dillman became the first martial artist inducted into the Berks County Sports Hall of Fame.
Dillman is the co-author of several martial arts books co-written with Chris Thomas including Kyusho-Jitsu: The Dillman Method of Pressure Point Fighting; Advanced Pressure Point fighting of Ryukyu Kempo; Advanced Pressure Point Grappling: Tuite; and Pressure Point Karate Made Easy. He has also produced a DVD instructional series on pressure point technique. George Dillman continues to hold training camps in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, at the former Muhammad Ali training Camp; study under Okinawan masters; give training seminars all over the world; and oversee Dillman Karate International, consisting of over 150 schools worldwide.

Career

Dillman's version of the art, which he calls Ryūkyū kempo tomari-te, has promoted itself by aggressive marketing of his books and seminars. The art is known for its emphasis on light-touch pressure-point knock-out.
Dillman's theories have generated martial arts controversy. His controversial claims include his promotion of the no-touch knockouts, kiai knockouts, and increasing technique effectiveness based on sound and color. To date, Dillman, who remains a well known figure in the martial arts world, has not provided any scientific proof his martial arts methods are effective.
Dillman was first exposed to Ryūkyū Kempo during a demonstration Oyata held in Kansas City in 1983, where Oyata introduced his art to the mainstream martial arts community. An article was written for Official Karate magazine that featured Dillman and Oyata on the front cover.
Perhaps the best known of the seminar participants was Mr George Dillman, 7th dan, Okinawan style, of ryūkyū kempo. Mr Dillman had been told by Mr Oyata when he called, that if he came to the seminar he should be prepared to endure pain. Mr Dillman states "It's totally fantastic! I've been involved in Okinawan karate for over 25 years and I've never experienced anything like it. It gives me the answers to a lot of my katas-for a long time I didn't know the question! I still don't have all the answers, but at least I am getting it. Now I can see the hidden moves behind kata practice that have been secret for years: they are totally unreal!"

Dillman's training after this point has been contested by those around Oyata, and there has never been any form of endorsement by Oyata or his organization of Dillman's teachings, while Dillman maintains that his training with Oyata was substantial and opened new paths to discovery. He also maintains that his practices of tuite-jitsu and kyusho-jitsu are based on an education he received from Oyata and Hohan Soken.

National Geographic Channel demonstration

In September 2005, National Geographic Channel's Is It Real? program asked for a demonstration of his "Knockout" Chi, during which Kyusho-jitsu and Small Circle JuJitsu instructor Leon Jay was unable to knock out Luigi Garlaschelli, an Italian skeptical investigator from CICAP. Dillman's explanation of the failure was as follows:
"The skeptic was a totally non-believer. Plus — I don't know if I should say that on film — but if the guy had his tongue in the wrong position in the mouth, that can also nullify it . You can nullify it — you can nullify a lot of things. In fact, you can nullify it if you raise those two big toes! If I say I'm going to knock you out, and you raise one toe, and push one toe down... I can't knock you out. And then, if I go to try again, you reverse it. If you keep doing this, I won't knock you out."

Publications

George Dillman is the author of many books with Chris Thomas including Kyusho-Jitsu: The Dillman Method of Pressure Point Fighting; Advanced Pressure Point Fighting of Ryukyu Kempo; Advanced Pressure Point Grappling: Tuite; and Pressure Point Karate Made Easy. He has also produced a DVD instructional series on pressure point technique.