Two-time Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame honoree Fumio Demura marks a rare milestone anniversary this weekend as he celebrates his 75th anniversary in martial arts. The renowned karate and kobudo instructor's Genbu-Kai organization will be honoring his achievement at a banquet in Fullerton, Calif.
Demura began training in martial arts in the late 1940s starting with kendo and karate in his native Japan. At age 12 he began practicing his primary style of shito-ryu karate. He would also go on to study traditional Okinawan weaponry under famed kobudo instructor Taira Shinken, later writing books on various karate weapons including the tonfa, sai and nunchaku.
Demura moved to the United States in 1965 becoming a popular martial arts instructor in Southern California. He's, perhaps, best known as the stuntman who performed the karate scenes for Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi character in the original "Karate Kid" movies. He was named Black Belt Magazine's karate instructor of the year in 1969 and martial artist of the year in 1975.