fighting — a lifetime’s worth of study. The
reason for this is that pressure-point exper-
tise is not the result of knowing a few points;
effectiveness comes from knowing the inter-
relationships that points share.
These interrelationships (and the pressure
points themselves) are the same as those dis-
cussed in acupuncture. So pressure-point prac-
titioners become knowledgeable in acupunc-
ture — with a number of them having become
licensed acupuncturists. And this means that
karate becomes linked in a very practical way
with its cultural roots: modern practitioners
studying ancient healing methodologies.
3
TEACHING “TOO MUCH”
The first person who exposed Dillman
to kyusho-jitsu was Hohan Soken. Soken
demonstrated points and gave him a set of
notes on pressure points. But understanding
rarely comes with the first exposure. And so
it was only after meeting and training with
the great Taika Oyata, about 10 years after
his encounter with Soken, that things clicked
for Dillman, and he began to truly under-
stand the art. Dillman trained with Oyata
and received the rank of seventh degree
from him. But eventually there was a break
between them.
The conflict arose primarily from a cultural
difference that became an irreconcilable rift.
Two main problems arose. The first is that
in traditional Okinawan culture, the student
is expected to wait until the teacher deems
some new piece of information worthy of
being taught. But in Western culture, the
student gains the teacher’s approval by
studying ahead — doing extra credit, so to
speak. Dillman wanted to show that he was
studying hard, so one evening at his home
in Reading, Pennsylvania, Dillman brought
out his homework to show his teacher. It
included the notes he’d received from Soken.
When Oyata saw them, he was furious. By
studying ahead, Dillman had unintentionally
insulted him.
The second culture-based problem was
that the traditional martial arts treat infor-
mation in a way that forms layers of access.
Most students receive the external shape
of things but no real information. Disciples
receive deeper and more accurate, although
incomplete, instruction. Family members
receive what has been withheld from the dis-
ciples. And successors receive all the secrets.
However, Dillman, as a Westerner with
schools of his own, believed that it was his
duty to share with his students the best
information he had so they could become
the best students they could be. So he shared
everything he was taught by Oyata with
anyone who was eager to learn. As far as
this writer has been able to determine, the
last words spoken by Oyata to Dillman were,
“Stop teaching so much.” And the last mes-
sage sent from Oyata to Dillman (through a
third party) was, “Tell George to stop teach-
ing so much.”
As painful as the split was, Dillman has
never been bitter, and he has persisted in
singing the praises of Oyata’s skills. As a
result, the name Taika Oyata is known and
revered around the world, ensuring that this
great martial artist and his important contri-
butions will be recognized throughout the
traditional karate community.4
CONVEYING COMPLETE
KNOWLEDGE
At a Chinese restaurant, a hostess once read
a patch on my jacket and exclaimed, “My
great-grandfather knew this! My grandfather
also, but less and less each generation.” In
that simple statement, she described what had
happened to the art of pressure-point fighting.
Because these methods were held back as
advanced, secret transmissions, they were
intended only for a chosen few. But over
time, teachers died off before having the
opportunity to pass on all their knowledge.
And those who had received some instruc-
tion — increasingly incomplete with each
generation — kept that knowledge to them-
selves to be passed on only as a secret trans-
mission. So there was never an opportunity
for notes to be compared or for gaps to be
filled in so a complete picture of pressure-
point methods could be created.
But Dillman’s approach was to teach what
he learned and to expect and require that
his students do their own supplemental
research. And then he would ask them to
share their work at seminars and camps inOne of George
Dillman’s
pressure-
point students
teaches the
art of kyusho-
jitsu at the
state police
academy in
Mumbai, India.OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019 BLACKBELTMAG.COM 47