User:Century Martial Arts

User:Century Martial Arts/L. Michael Dillard

Who is L. Michael Dillard
L. Michael Dillard (1950 -    ) was born in Oklahoma City, OklahomaOklahoma City. He is the owner of several businesses, a martial artist, college professor, and father among other things.

Early Life and Education
When Dillard was three a robber broke into his home while him and his mother was there. The robber tied up and beat his mother, kidnapped Dillard, then went to rob the local grocery store his mother was working at. Dillard says, "That kind of thing traumatizes a family so much. You grow up with a protective instinct."[3]

He started wrestling in seventh grade after a friend and him were on their way to enroll in school and got jumped by a gang and continued into the first two years of college. A friend of his on the wrestling team participated in a korean style of martial arts at a local dojo where Dillard started taking classes.

In 1969 Dillard earned his black belt under the instruction of Yong Ho Kim in Korea. During his martial arts career he participated in over 300 tournaments. When asked about why he retired from competing in tournaments at the age of 41 Dillard said, "I didn't retire; I just got too old to keep winning."

Dillard attended Oklahoma State University (OSU) and studied Accounting. During his time at Oklahoma State, Dillard decided to join OSU's prominent and exclusive Greek Community. Specifically, he was invited to become a brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon (SigEp) Fraternity. Dillard maintains his involvement with the Sigma Phi Epsilon organization, serving as, both, an alumni volunteer and mentor to current undergraduates in the local chapter. Like many college students, a job was a must. With martial arts being part of his background it was natural that he found work at a local martial art school. In 1973 he graduated and moved to California.

World Travels and Business Adventures
In 1973, on his way to California, Dillard stopped in at local martial art schools for training. Once in California, he made his way to a martial art school ran by world renowned martial artist, Chuck Norris. Dillard heard about Norris through Black Belt Magazine, all of the best fighters were featured in that magazine and all of those fighters were located on the West Coast.

Training in martial arts wasn't enough; he also had the need to start his business career. His accounting degree paid off and he got a job with a company that ran a few offshore drilling rigs. The company then sent him to Bombay where his martial art skills helped out on his first day on the job. During his first day one of the rig hands was yelling at him for an unpaid bill. When asked what he did about that Dillard says, "I knocked him over a chair and told him that he wasn't to talk to me that way and that once he stopped, I'd treat him with respect too." He earned an approval from the rig hand and a job in Dubai.

From his job in Bombay and Dubai he traveled to Korea in the mid 1970's. After being in Korea for a while, he found a martial art instructor and made his way to the nation's taekwondo headquarters, the Kukkiwon. Training in Korea was different than his earlier martial arts training in Okinawa and Japanese Karate. "My idea of sparring was to reach out, grab the guy's sleeve and punch him in the head-or sweep him to the ground." It was a new set of rules that had to be learned.

A company was born. The training Dillard had in Korea lead him to a way to make a living. The selling of uniforms. He decided to import uniforms that were specifically designed to fit American martial artists. Moving back to Oklahoma, he moved into his parents house and started Century Martial Arts in the garage. Other companies that have grown to huge success that started out in a garage include Apple’’’ which began the same year as Century, Walt Disney, Google, Mattel, and Microsoft'''