Fumio Demura was born in Yokohama, one of the big ports at Japan's west coast, from a big family with 5 further brothers and three sisters. As a child he was sent to Kendo to make his weak body strong. When his teacher moved away, he changed to a Dojo which also offered Karate and Iaido besides Kendo (the Dojo of Sensei Ryusho Sakagami). Later when he studied at the Tokyo university he also started training Aikido and Judo. He got special instruction in the art of sword fight by Sensei Sakagami and also by Taizaburo Nakamura and Seiji Ueki.

He met the legendary Kobudo expert Sensei Kenshin Taira in the Dojo of Sensei Ryusho Sakagami. He learned how to handle Bo, Sai, Tonfa and all other traditional weapons of defence. Aditional teachers on Okinawa were Yochoku Higa and Choshin Chibana - both experts of the Shorin-Ryu and students of Sensei Anko Itosu. 1961 he won the Japanese championship in Kumite (free fight). The following years he was always one of the first eight.