Prof. Gary Dill??

[Shuul Vis]

Anyone ever heard of Prof. Gary Dill. He says he was a student of bruce lee.

[JKogas]

I think (and I could be wrong) that Dill trained with Lee on occasion but was primarily a student of Lee's "certified" instructor, James Yimm Lee.

Correct me if I'm wrong.


-John

[Black Lion]

I took classes for 2 years in one of his schools in Louisiana.Istudied a form of Kempo and JKD.Also went to 2 summer training camps that Mr.Dill holds in Oklahoma.They were both excellent.As for your question as to wether he studied with Bruce Lee well he told us that he did ,but who really knows.I never had a reason to dis-beleive him.

Black Lion

Kenpo in the morning
Kenpo in the evening
Kenpo all the time

[Shuul Vis]

I met him. His chi demo was a joke. His external stuff was decent. In my opinion he is a little crazy.

[RAYNYSC]

Mr. Dill was a student of the oakland school from 1971-1972 most of the training he got if not all came from James Yimm Lee at that time....
Now I'm not saying that he never trained with Bruce Lee as apposed to how much training time did he really have with bruce lee.... ( meaning in hours,days & years ) Not long/much when you do the math not to mention the time span in which he was a member of the oakland school....
As far as I know he got a letter from James lee giving him permission to teach JKD two weeks before James died....

[knuckleheadJKD]

I found this on a JKD site! I don't want to start any trouble but this is what Simo Inosanto has to say and Mike Krivka about a few of the so called instructors of JKD!

Backlash - Part 1

Written by Mike Krivka
NOTE: The response from last months publication of Paula Inosanto's letter was better than I could have expected. In this months newsletter I will share with you the information I gathered concerning Gary Dill, with Lamar Davis and Dr. Jerry Beasley being covered in coming issues ...

http://www.martialartskoncepts.com/html/articles/kuttingedge/garydill.htm

Professor Gary Dill
Mr. Dill was the first person to contact me concerning Paula's letter. After a lengthy phone conversation Mr. Dill invited me to attend a seminar he was giving in Northern Virginia the following weekend.
At the seminar Mr. Dill produced a packet of documents that he considered to be indisputable proof that he was a "real JKD man". This packet included a personal letter from James Lee, several certificates from various martial arts organizations (recognizing him as a Grandmaster in Bushido Kempo/SDS-JKD) and letters from the now disbanded JKD Society.

Sifu James' Lee's letter (which is the cornerstone of Mr. Dill's "credentials") does in fact authorize Mr. Dill to train in what he was exposed to during his short time under his (James Lee's) direction; but it also explicitly states, not once, not twice, but three times, that he is to not, under any circumstances, teach or claim to teach JKD. This was stated in such a way as to not be confused or misinterpreted by Mr. Dill or anyone else who read the letter. Obviously it was...

Mr. Dill is using an abbreviated version of the letter, which includes only Sifu Lee's reference to training with a small group of friends, and not the admonitions against teaching JKD. Mr. Dill's version of the letter could lead one to believe that he was given permission to teach; but in no uncertain terms Sifu James Lee it was okay as long as he was "just working out with a select few to keep your skills in JKD and Wing Chun - for your own benefit - not to try to pass yourself off as an instructor in our style of no style".

It appears that Mr. Dill is exactly what he warns people about in his own literature - that he is one of the many "rip-off artists out there claiming to be teaching JKD but wouldn't know JKD if it was in front of them. Many of them have no authentic lineage, no real training ... Let the buyer beware"!

Thanks for the warning ...

[Shuul Vis]

Dill came to my old school for a seminar since he was friends with my teacher at the time. Let me tell you this guy is crazy in my opinion. He did a "chi" demonstration where he held out his hand against my teachers chest and attempted to move him without using any force. (my teacher was 300 pounds or more) For about 2 minutes he just stood there barely touching his chest and then eventually my teacher fell backwards slightly. From my observation, it looked like my teacher did this out of respect for Dill and not from any unseen chi force delivered from Dill. Mr. Dill also talked about alot of questionable things that supposedly happened to him but i wont get into those because i feel he was sharing some very personal experiences and dont want to compromise his trust, even though im angry at him. His external martial skill was decent but man i was ****ed that this guy was giving these chi demos when it was obvious that he was a fraud. How are we supposed to learn about internal power when there are guys like this spewing nonsense all over us? I am mostly saying this for those who might be doing one of his seminars. Call him out on his chi projections. I strongly feel that it is our duty as martial artists to do so.

[SifuLMDII]

Hello Everyone!

Gary Dill NEVER trained with Bruce Lee! He openly admitted this to me back in 1990! I have heard others say that now he claims to have trained some with Bruce, but he told me that he NEVER met him! All evidence points to the fact that he didn't even train with James Yimm Lee very much!

Keep Blasting!
Sifu Lamar M. Davis II
Hardcore Jeet Kune Do
http://www.HardcoreJKD.com
Sifu@HardcoreJKD.com

"Hit Fast, Hit Hard, Hit First ......... ALWAYS!

[HuangKaiVun]

I worked with an instructor who had been partially certified in Dill's system.

The system is very thorough, very complete, and very effective. Lots of moves.

[RAYNYSC]

Hey Lamar,
Thanks for the info on Mr.Dill. ;)
That whole story about how he got permission to teach JKD from James Lee just went out the window I guess....:eek:

Peace

[KFord]

I just started training with a guy certified by Dill and it is my understanding that he has changed over the years as the responsibilities have gone to his head. I have done TKD for over 10 years and I feel I have enough of a background to determine the usefullness of technique being taught, and what I have seen so far seems very practical.

It is unfortunate that Bruce went off to make movies instead of staying around to defend and finish what he started. The only flaw I can find in the style of no styles is that technique must be trial and error to be in the true spirit of JKD, and even if it works once there is no promise it will work again. The idealistic approach to martial arts that Bruce started is a great thing in the right hands and in realistic mindsets. The entire don't (teach the forbidden art) seems like one hell of a marketing ploy to me. If the moves are there and the results are useful, what does it matter where they came from and how "pure" it is? Makes me wonder how many guys out there have created a superior fighting system that doesn't get the attention it deserves because the guy never made movies. How many people do you think would line up for a made up art called "Slap Dung" if Jet Li's name were attached to so called secret/selective schools?