It is with great sadness that I post this notice that an icon and idol of mines has passed on to the next life to be with his teachers.  I had the privilege and honor to have demonstrated karate with him to honor U.S. Veterans in Northern Ky a few decades ago and also learn Shushi no Kon Dai Bo Kata directly from him with two of my senior students as well.  A great loss to the Martial Arts/Karate world.  A true Karate Master.

 

Fumio Demura (出村 文男, Demura Fumio, September 15, 1938 – April 24, 2023) was a Japanese master of karate and kobudo (traditional weaponry). He was Pat Morita's martial arts stunt double in the first, third and fourth Karate Kid films (and the inspiration for "Mr. Miyagi").

 

Demura was born on September 15, 1938, in Yokohama, Japan. At the age of 9 (1947/48), he began training in karate and kendo under an instructor named Asano. At the age of 12 (1950/51) he started training under Ryusho Sakagami in Itosu-kai karate. Demura received his 1st dan black belt in 1956,and won the East Japan Championships in 1957.In 1959, he began training in kobudo, a style of Okinawan weapons training, under the direction of Taira Shinken. In 1963, he "came to know the Koga Ryu Ninjutsu Soke, Seiko Fujita- a 14th Generation Koga Ryu Ninja - personally" (quote attributed to Fumio Demura himself). Demura met martial arts scholar Donn Draeger, who introduced him to Dan Ivan, who would eventually bring him to the United States of America as a karate instructor.

 

In 1965, Demura came to the United States, representing the Japan Karate-do Itosu-kai. From his base in southern California, he became well known for his karate and kobudo skills. In 1971, he was ranked 5th dan, and he remained at that rank until at least 1982. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Demura wrote several martial arts books, including: Shito-Ryu Karate (1971), Advanced nunchaku (1976, co-authored), Tonfa: Karate weapon of self-defense (1982), Nunchaku: Karate weapon of self-defense (1986), Bo: Karate weapon of self-defense (1987),^] and Sai: Karate weapon of self-defense (1987).

In 1986, Demura was promoted to 7th dan in Shito-ryū karate. In 2001, he was expelled from the Itosu-kai, and became the Director of Shito-ryū Karate-do Genbu-kai. In 2005, he was promoted to 9th dan. He resided in Santa Ana, California, until his death.

In October 2010, Demura performed for the United States Martial Arts Festival, hosted by Koyamada International Foundation (KIF) at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center in Redondo Beach, California.

 In the 1980s, Demura became involved in the Karate Kid series of films. He was the stunt double for Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi. The Karate Kid screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen stated that Mr. Miyagi was named after Chōjun Miyagi, the founder of the Goju-ryu karate style, and that Fumio Demura was the inspiration for the character.

Demura appeared in several films and documentaries, including: The Warrior within (1976), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977), The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part III (1989), Shootfighter: Fight to the death (1992), Rising Sun (1993), The Next Karate Kid (1994), Masters of the martial arts (1998, presented by Wesley Snipes), Mystic origins of the martial arts (1998),^[24] Modern warriors (2002), XMA: Xtreme Martial Arts (2003) and Ninja (2009). Demura is the subject of the 2015 documentary "The Real Miyagi" 

 ^{Video link:  https://youtu.be/36h5TSj3i1M}