Charles "Kiyoshi" Dixon

Charles A. “Kiyoshi” Dixon, age 79 of Temple, passed from this life Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at home. Services will be held at 11:30 am Monday, March 4, 2024, at Harper-Talasek Funeral Home in Temple. Burial will follow in Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen.

Charles was born on January 17, 1945, to Willie Thomas and Elnora Gillon in Dallas, Texas. He received his MAA in Business Administration, and his BA in Human Resource Management and retired from the military having served in the United States Navy and Army. He was also the Founder of Shinjimasu International Martial Arts. As official titles go, Charles “Kiyoshi” Dixon achieved the highest level – Mejin Taisho, 10th Degree Black Belt. As a special term of endearment, he was called Kiyoshi for many years. For many decades, he served as the Chairman of Shinjimasu International Martial Arts Association (SIMA), which he founded. SIMA is a system derived from all his diligent and vast studies, it is a hard and soft system, and is a hybrid of Japanese and Chinese Martial Arts. It is grounded in his fundamental belief that one should be able to flow like water, as well be able to be as stern as a mountain. Moreover, one should trust and believe in one’s spirituality and in oneself. His great legacy has grown around the world and will continue through the vast number of SIMA Martial Arts Grandmasters, Masters, Instructors, and Students. He began studying Martial Arts at age 4 and became one of the most renown Grandmasters in the World. He was known for his incredible technique, power, speed, and overall fighting ability. More importantly, were his leadership, love, and ability to inspire the best in others. He found a way to inspire each of us to overcome depression, poor self-esteem, anger, and many other challenges, and ultimately achieve our highest goals in life. He would say “Anything can be accomplished if you are willing to work hard enough and you believe that you can do it.” He enjoyed promoting and awarding students and instructors but rarely accepted public recognition for himself. Still, some of the inevitable nominations/awards he accepted included the following: World Sports Medicine Hall of Fame January 5, 1994; Award & Membership World Head of the Family Sokeship Council Hall of Fame August 27, 1994; World Wide Hall of Fame Counsel May 15, 2012, Presidential Award signed by President Obama August 27, 2017, Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame, October 22, 2022; Lifetime Achievement Award 2022 by President Biden. He was nominated for 2024 Kenpo Karate Hall of Fame.

Charles is preceded by his parents; first wife, Pamela Pullins Dixon; sister, Bobby Calhoon; brothers, Richard Dixon, and Leon Fletcher; and daughter, Charmaine Dixon.

Those left to honor and cherish his memory are his wife, Lynne A. (Boggs) Dixon; sister, Robby Calhoon; sons, Carlos Dixon, Carlito Johnson Dixon, and Cheasequah Dyami Dixon; grandchildren, Princess Duffy, Courtney Dixon, Carla Jones, Cushshara, Kelsey Jones, Jimmy Lotts, and Willie (Tre) Hodge, III; and great grandchildren, Paris Duffy, Amaya Thouston, Lillieana Thouston, Jayda Tisby, Jordan Curry, and Jaiden Duffy.

The family wishes to extend a special thank you to Evelyn Languban for her hard work collecting photographs, preparing the photograph DVD, and choosing music for program; Pablo Rodarte for the collected special comments, prepared memorial binder, and for working with presenters to ensure comments are within the timeline; Moses Williams for conducting the funeral memorial service; and to Noel Languban, Evelyn Languban, David Harrington, Madelyn Johnson Dixon, Carlito Dixon, Dyami Dixon, Jacob Romero, Carlos Dixon, and Paula Dixon for support throughout the illness and passing of Charles Dixon. This includes providing nutritious food, helping with medical needs, assisting with the household, and providing moral support.