N

ot many figures in the
modern martial arts loom
larger than — and generate
as much controversy as
— George Dillman. A mem-
ber of the Black Belt Hall
of Fame, he’s been a significant presence for
more than 50 years and has made an indel-
ible impact on the arts. The following are
seven ways Dillman has changed the martial
arts and why it matters.

1

POPULARIZING BUNKAI
When Bruce Lee exploded on the scene,
he roundly criticized the martial arts com-
munity’s practice of kata. He demonstrated
convincingly that those movements could
never work as they were taught. What Dill-
man did was to argue that the problem
wasn’t with the forms but with how they were
being interpreted. “There are no blocks in
kata,” he insisted over and over again.
Dillman showed practical and realistic
applications of those traditional movements.
Traveling the world, he demonstrated how
kata were practical for self-defense, and in
so doing, he made the word bunkai (break-

down) a familiar term in traditional martial

arts circles.

The result of this is that an entire genera-

tion of practitioners was freed from inef-

fective practices and given permission to

interpret kata in meaningful ways. Ironically,

all over the world, contemporary karateka

are teaching courses and seminars, as well

as generating countless YouTube videos, on

kata bunkai, kata for self-defense, kata for

the real world and so on — and many of them

have no idea who Dillman is. But because of

him, the lexicon and practice of traditional

arts have changed forever.

2

LINKING THE PRESENT

TO THE PAST

One of the more alluring characteristics of

the traditional martial arts is the promise of

fighting secrets. Unfortunately, those who

studied found few secrets, just techniques of

varying degrees of effectiveness. Even kara-

te’s so-called “lethal techniques” did not seem

to work as advertised, and the notion of ikken

hissatsu (to strike down the opponent with a

single blow) seemed a hopeless ideal.

And so the karate community focused

on performance and competition, on scor-

ing points and demonstrating athleticism,

and the art more and more has come to be

populated by children and teens screaming

their way through creative forms that blur

the lines between martial arts, gymnastics

and dance.

But Dillman brought karate back to its

fighting roots by demonstrating that the

traditional movements of kata are not only

useful in self-defense but also valuable as a

repository of information on pressure points

(kyusho-jitsu).

“Kata contain the angle and direction for

attacking the pressure points,” Dillman likes

to say. This is something of a summary for

beginners because what he teaches his stu-

dents to recognize is that kata contain com-

prehensive information on pressure-point

At George

Dillman’s home

in Reading,

Pennsylvania,

he and Taika

Oyata pose

with the

certificate that

proclaimed

Dillman a

seventh-

degree

black belt.

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46 BLACKBELTMAG.COM ƒ OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019