I'm a black belt-turned-professional pillow fighter who used my winnings to start a dojo in the tough Miami neighborhood where I grew up

• Hauley Tillman won the Pillow Fight Championship in 2022.
• He used the $5,000 in winnings to open a dojo in the Miami neighborhood where he grew up.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with "Champ" Hauley Tillman, 35, a father of two and a martial artist from Miami's Liberty City neighborhood. He relied on his martial arts skills to help him win the Pillow Fight Championship, or PFC, bracket in 2022.

Tillman then used the $5,000 in prize money to help start a dojo, the Mighty Warriorz, where he teaches neighborhood children and adults. He began exploring martial arts as a teenager after a member of the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department and an expert in martial arts named Steven Tarrago suggested Tillman do so. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.

I started in martial arts before PFC. I became a black belt under Master Steven Tarrago. Basically, it started when I was homeless. I was a homeless kid — like maybe 16. I always knew how to fight.

I was just shadowboxing in the park and these police just rolled up on me and I thought I was in trouble or something. But Master Tarrago was just watching me train because, you know, I'd go to the park every day and I'd kick and do my shadow-boxing stuff.

He was telling me that day that I looked really good and that he had a school. Master Tarrago said, "Matter of fact, I'm gonna be here tomorrow at such and such time to pick you up." And I really thought he was bullcrap. I was like, "He's not gonna come." I had tattoos everywhere; I was a product of my environment. But he pulled up in the police car and took me all the way to the school.

But it was really far. So he used to come and get me in a police car every single day and take me up there to Twin Dragons, his dojo.

I was the only Black kid in the school. He trained me and I was destroying everybody. In my first tournament, I had an ankle bracelet on — making sure I wasn't getting into trouble. I remember, Master Tarrago, he got some Ace bandages and wrapped it up and told me to go out there and fight.

I trust him with my life. He's like not just my master. He's like my brother, you know. He basically gave me a chance to become a better person. I know without him giving me that chance, I wouldn't be here today.

I kept training. I did my forms and katas. I had my amateur fights. As soon as I got my amateur career going and got eligible to become a professional, I went straight in and I had a good run.

I've been competing in jiu-jitsu in all types of competitions. I'm undefeated in backyard underground fighting.

You know, I come from a really poor area. And all we had was just our hearts. Basically, Master Tarrago took me under his wings. Now, I'm a whole ninja. I'm a black belt in karate and Krav Maga. I'm a black belt in judo, jiu-jitsu, and kung fu. I have certificates and credentials for all of them.

I just got my certificate for my black belt in kung fu and my black belt for judo. So they presented it to me as one. I got one certificate for black belt for all of my styles, which is awesome. That's one of my biggest accomplishments.

Bring on the pillows

Honestly, I'm a great fighter. I'm a competitor, at the end of the day. And I just feel like I'm really the best and then the PFC — that just came. They just asked me. Because, you know, everybody says I'm one of the most dangerous fighters in combat sport. And they were like, "Hey, we've got a PFC tournament going."

And I'm like, "Uh, you're gonna pay me to hit somebody with a pillow?" I'm like, "Awesome." You know, I've been doing pillow fighting since I was a kid. We didn't really have too many toys and stuff like that so a pillow fight was like a thing growing up. And I'd be kicking my brothers and sisters — everybody's — butts ever since by me being a blackbelt. And in kung fu, I studied a lot of katas and different forms with nunchucks. So I just feel like I mastered the PFC.

You can't just go into a pillow fight thinking it's gonna be easy

Well, I'm very active but by my first pillow fight, I realized that you have to use a lot of motion and you have to have some type of cardio. You can't just go into thinking it's gonna be easy. I thought it was just gonna be like, you know, a really easy thing to do. I thought I could run through it. But you really have to have some type of technique.

I have my skill set with the nunchucks and I also realized that you do need cardio. I've seen guys get knocked out with a pillow before just because they were tired. It's really tough. I just trained a lot. I did a lot more running and calisthenics. I worked out with my weapons, with my heavy bo staff, and, of course, with my nunchucks. They weigh at least like three and a half pounds. And the pillow is like two pounds so when I actually fight, it's really light. So I have a real advantage overall.

I wanted to win the PFC so I could open a dojo in my neighborhood

I knew I wanted to give back to my neighborhood about seven or eight years ago after I got stabbed through my abdominal muscle and my liver. I was really close to death. Once I was done, I feel like God gave me — well, I know God gave me — a second chance. And I just really fell in love with martial arts and I humbled down. I was less angry. You know, I really saw life for what it was. And people started wanting me to teach them and I had one kid who was always coming by anytime when I was training.

I opened the dojo once I got the funds for the PFC. I heard people laughing, making jokes like, "This guy says he's gonna win the whole thing. And he's going to open up a jiu-jitsu school." Well, to each his own. They were laughing about it, but they don't understand. Where I come from, kids don't have chances, like how other kids have. We get looked past a lot. That's what I would say.

I told them. I said, "I'm gonna beat everybody. I'm going to destroy everybody. And I'm going to open up the school." That's what I did.

I teach over 60 students in total — kids and adults. My youngest student is three years old. That's little Joshua. He's a white belt with three stripes right now. My oldest student — she's 62. That's Ms. Brenda.

I've got a great support system

One of my teachers that's great friends with Master Tarrago — he owns this facility. So, basically, we rent space and train out of there. I want to be able to get the whole program funded so I can have it be open to more kids. Right now, people just give donations. Parents give what they can. I'm working with single parents, I'm working with single dads. I'm working with kids whose parents are deceased. I've got autistic kids, ADHD kids. You know, I just love what I do. I love my kids and we destroy every tournament that we enter. We just entered a tournament with 26 kids and we left with 31 trophies and two championship belts.

You know, I've got a great support system. I've got coaches from Spain that came in that teach judo. I have a great friend — he's a professional boxer. He's come in and helped me out. I have professional fighters, MMA fighters, people from the UFC come by and talk to the kids.

We just had a book bag giveaway. We feed them every Thursday. You know, I do all of this myself, with a little help that I get. Nobody is saying, "Hey, Champ, here you go. So everything that we do get, we're really thankful for it."

We teach boxing, karate, and jiu-jitsu. We do a lot of katas and forms — stuff like that and weapon forms. We focus on the bigger things like self-confidence and leadership skills. Discipline is a big thing for me.

It was God's will

The dojo is right where I was raised. I really felt like it was God's will. These kids come out from these little holes in the wall. And they're rising and becoming great fighters. Their grades are becoming better. Their self-esteem level is getting better. They're making better life decisions and, you know, their self confidence is getting better. It's a lot of things that just improve, improve, improve.

My autistic student, he's 15. He jumped around. He played with stuff on the floor, but I had him calm in a tournament. He went out there and he destroyed the kid. There were three kids in his division and he won first place. His mom was crying and shouting. My uncle was going crazy. The whole building was just electrified. And I'm just honored to be the sensei. I just hope God allows me to fund this and allows me to do this as long as he wants me to.