These are my thoughts on five men who advertise their relationship to Hohan Soken and his Shorin Ryu Matsumura Orthodox karate – George Dillman, Glenn Premru, Tom Hunnicutt, Ray Gonthier and Charles Garrett.

 

George Dillman:

On June 26, 2002 I called George Dillman and asked why he claims to have studied under Fusei Kise and Hohan Soken.

George said that he never claimed to have been a student under either one, but that he did have a private, three-hour lesson with Soken in his hotel room after the Premru karate tournament was over in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1972.  He said he would run through a kata, than Soken would. They each did three kata, George said.  What impressed him the most, he said, was that Soken did not even break a sweat during or after completing his kata.  Kise, he said, never impressed him.

What’s wrong with Dillman’s stories?

1)  There were no eyewitnesses other than Soken, Kise and Dillman.  Dillman’s wife (at the time) Kim, says that she and some of their students waited in their hotel room for George to finish his meeting with Soken and Kise. Soken, as we all know, has passed away.  That leaves Kise and George to verify his story.  And Kise says that this private lesson never happened.   I’ve asked Kise several times and Kise always says: “George Dillman never had a private lesson with either me or Soken.”

2)  Why would a Grand Master like Soken grant a private lesson to a man that he has never trained with, seen or met before?  I don’t believe he would have.

3)  As anyone who was there during Soken’s one visit to the U.S. in 1972 knows, Soken became very sick during his stay before the tournament and had to leave for Okinawa within a couple of days after.  Again, why would a Grand Master give an unknown person a private lesson while he was sick?

4)  Why would Soken demonstrate kata for George Dillman in the first place?  I don’t believe he would have.  If you went up to Soken or any Grand Master and asked him to do a private kata demonstration in his hotel room, would he?

5)  Why would demonstrating six kata, three by Dillman, three by Soken, take three hours?

6)  Why would a Grand Master get up and do kata for a nobody when he had his protégé and senior student, Fusei Kise, beside him at all times?  In those days, if any kata were demonstrated, Kise, not Soken himself, would have done them.  Again, Kise says it did not happen.

My real question is this: Could George Dillman have gotten his story mixed up? 

In fact, this is what happened: After the tournament, myself, Kise, Dillman, Bob Peters and a few others met together with Soken in his hotel room.  There, Soken and Kise gave out weapons they’d brought from Okinawa as gifts to us; I picked a set of sai; George was given a set of tonfa.  Perhaps has this real meeting mixed up with his fantasy.

Dillman, in fact, never studied under or with Hohan Soken or Fusei Kise. FACT

 

Glenn Robert Premru:

"Do ya think he just wants me to go away yet?
Sensei Coffman, you may feel free to use any of this on your weakest link page and feel free to quote me as you like."
-Rick

Glenn Premru: Never met Soken or Kise before 1972, and never was promoted to the rank of JU-DAN BY SENSEI SOKEN. FACT
This a response by Sensei James Coffman to the information
on the Okinawa Karate Federation Web Page by Glen Premru. RESPONSE

 

Tom Hunnicutt:

Let’s look at Tom Hunnicutt (who, I believe, never trained under Soken, based upon looking at his karate, and from his own statements that he made up his system). FACT

 

Charles D. Garrett II:

Garrett is nothing more than a second or third dan (at best) under the Matsumura Seito system of Soken.FACT

 

RaymondGonthier:

Let me start by saying although it is a shame to talk about someone that has died... the truth is and will always be the truth:

Ray never studied with or under Grand Master "Hohan Soken". FACT

However, Charles Garrett is the closest of the four that actually trained with Sensei Soken.

You probably want to go back
HERE

Web address:

                            Dillman: www.dillman.com

                            Premru: www.azalmanac.com/AzMostWanted031304.htm

                            Garrett: www.matsumuraseitohozonkai.com

                            Hunnicutt: www.google.com

Disclaimer:

Comments stated on this page and throughout the web site are mine alone, James H. Coffman