[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 147 (Thursday, November 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2045-E2046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO GRANDMASTER GEORGE A. DILLMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Grandmaster 
George A. Dillman on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
  George A. Dillman, a 9th degree black belt in ryukyu kempo tomari-te, 
was honored by Black Belt Magazine in 1997 as ``Instructor of the 
Year.'' He is one of the USA's best-known and well-established martial 
arts personalities. There are many who believe Mr. Dillman has 
contributed more to the body of martial arts knowledge available to the 
public, than anyone else in the 20th century.
  Mr. Dillman came to the attention of the martial arts press when he 
began competing in the early 1960's. By the middle of that decade, he 
had started running his own tournament, called the Northeast Open 
Karate Championships. This competition was held annually for many 
years.
  Official Karate Magazine (Nov. 1982) described Dillman as ``one of 
the winningest competitors karate has ever know.'' Dillman was four-
times national karate champion (1969-1972) and during this period was 
consistently ranked among the 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, 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 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 34 
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 so 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, and Grandmaster Kimberly Fritz Dillman, herself a 
two-time U.S. National Champion: Kyusho-Jitsu: The Dillman Method of 
Pressure Point Fighting; Advanced Pressure Point Fighting of

[[Page E2046]]

Ryukyu Kempo; Advanced Pressure Point Grappling: Tuite; Pressure Point 
Karate made easy; Little Jay Learns Karate; and Humane Pressure Point 
Self-Defense.
  The books have been said to be, ``the definitive martial arts books 
of the century,'' and ``unparalleled among current martial arts 
literature.''
  Mr. Dillman is the chief instructor for Dillman Karate International, 
an organization of over 85 schools worldwide, with an enrollment of 
nearly 15,000 students. He 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.
  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a great honor to pay tribute to this 
extraordinary man. George A. Dillman is a genius of the martial arts 
world.

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