On April 24, at the age of 84, one of the most prominent representatives of traditional karate died. Fumio Demura, known not only as a highly respected master who held the titles of "sensei" and "shihan", but also as an expert in Japanese martial arts who appeared in films from time to time.
Fumio Demura born September 15, 1938. Demura became interested in martial arts at the age of 8, when he went to study with a sensei Ryuse Sakagami – he taught the hard type of karate Shito-ryu Itosu Kai. Already in the mid-50s, Fumio became a real karate star in his homeland, winning the East Japan Championship in 1957 and the All Japan Championship in 1961, eventually winning the world championship at the age of 18. In the late 50s, Demura became interested in kobudo, the Okinawan art of sword fighting, and later practiced all types of fighting with Japanese weapons.
In 1965, Demura-san moved to the United States to popularize the Shito-ryu style, where he met Bruce Lee, - it was the Japanese who taught the young legend of combat cinema the basics of karate. A little later, the master met another star of hand-to-hand action films - Steven Seagal and also taught him Shito-ryu.
Fumio's contribution to the development of Japanese martial arts can hardly be overestimated: he trained hundreds of students, among whom honored martial arts masters were raised; in 2001 he became the chief instructor of Shito-ryu in the States, and since 2003 he has been the president of the Shito-ryu Genbu Kai federation, a branch of the main Japanese style; in 2003 the master received the 9th dan; is a member of the World Martial Arts Association Hall of Fame; taught karate until he was 73 years old.
In 2011, Sensei Demura was diagnosed with heart problems and after resuscitation, doctors gave 5% for his survival rate, but Fumio not only did not die, but also continued to practice martial arts after recovery.
If we talk about cinema, Demura was usually involved as a martial arts instructor and less often as a stuntman. His career began in 1973, when the legendary Hong Kong director Lo Wei I was looking for extras for a wuxia film "Princess from the Gateway" with Polly Kuan and Angela Mao. In 1984, the Japanese were invited to the project "Karate Kid", - in it and in all the sequels, Fumio dubbed the action scenes for Pata Morita. The master appeared as a stuntman in "Mortal Kombat" (1995) and TV series "Cool Walker" (1993-2001). Demura played small roles in action films "Hardest Strike: Fight to the Death" (1993) "Rising Sun" (1993) "Blood and bone" (2009) and "Ninja" (2009) by Isaac Florentine, where the Japanese also directed the stuntmen.
In 2016, a documentary film called "The Real Miyagi" about the life of a respected sensei, about whom his students and friends (among whom Pat Morita, Cynthia Rothrock, Steven Seagal, Michael Jai White, Douglas Vaughn and others) spoke of him as an exceptional person, an infinitely kind and cheerful karate master.
Demura-san may have appeared quite a bit in the film industry, but the path of the master undoubtedly deserves respect and close attention.
Rest in peace, Master Demura.
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Tags: R.I.P., Bruce Lee, karate, Pat Morita, Steven Seagal, Fumio Demura
Tags: R.I.P., Bruce Lee, karate, Pat Morita, Steven Seagal, Fumio Demura
Фильм неплох, но недавний "Городской охотник" лучше по екшену.
To be honest, there is no particular principle... when there is more time, an “old man” is added, when there is less time...
Not a bad idea. But I don’t understand something, on what basis are profiles added? And legends...
Ryan Gosling is handsome!