Fumio Demura

I’m not one to follow mainstream media and I’m not sue this would have been covered in mainstream media, anyway. But I just became aware that two days ago on April 24th, Fumio Demura passed away at the age of 84 years old. To anyone who hasn’t followed the martial way, the name likely won’t mean much. to me, it means the death of another influential icon that inspired the path of life that has made me who I am. In fact, I only came by this information by accident… If I hadn’t been subscribed to several martial arts pages, I would have been oblivious to the incident. But hopefully, as I write about some of his details, you may come to recognize this martial arts icon that has led so many in previous decades…

During my youth, I obtained a number of Demura’s books, including “Bo: Karate Weapon of Self-dense” and “Sai: karate Weapon of Self-defense.” During the 1980’s and without even realizing it, Demura was seen on the big screen as Pat Morita’s stunt double in the Karate kid movies. Interestingly enough, Morita knew nothing of karate and had absolutely no skill, despite being cast as the teacher in those movies. Demura would stand in as the one who performed the majority of the fight scenes, including the iconic scene where the Cobra Kai students corner the protagonist outside a chain-link fence where Mister Miyagi beats the ever-loving shit out of all of them. Yeah, that was Fumio Demura…

A practitioner of Shito-Ryu Okinawan karate, Demura began studying the martial arts at the tender age of 9, only a couple of years earlier than I did, myself. He committed himself to the art, and at the age of 21 he began studying the art of Kobudo, the art of Okinawan weaponry that I came to know him through. I’ve read several of his books and learned a great deal, even from the printed page. Throughout the 1970’s Demura would come to the United States and write several books, among those, the ones I mentioned in this post. in the late 1980’s, he would be awarded his 7th dan in Shito-Ryu and would go on to obtain his 9th dan in the early 2000’s.

All of these are statistics that one can easily find anywhere online. For me, Master Demura is recognized as a a true traditionalist, a practitioner of the martial way and an inspiration to one who would dedicate their life to the martial arts. Although I never had the honour of meeting him, Master Demura had an impact on my life and even in his death, he reminds me of the shortness of one’s life and how our existence is but a flicker; and the importance of making the most of our time while in this life. He left his mark and he won’t be forgotten; even if it’s by an unknown practitioner of Uechi-Ryu in the Canadian Prairies. Rest in peace, Master Demura. We’ll take it from here… ☯️