Ph
oto
s^ C
ou
rte
sy
of
W
illi
am
Ch
ris
top
he
r^ F
ord
DOCUMENTARY REVEALS FINAL
DAYS OF FUMIO DEMURA’S DOJO
W
illiam Christopher Ford, a
shorin-ryu karate black
belt and actor — coincidentally,
KLVÀOPRJUDSK\LQFOXGHVKarate
Kid Part III — has made his
GLUHFWRULDOGHEXWZLWKDVKRUW
GRFXPHQWDU\WLWOHGThe Last
Dojo.7KHVXEMHFWRIWKHÀOPLV
Black Belt+DOORI)DPHU)XPLR
'HPXUDZKRVHODQGPDUN
karate dojoVWRRGIRUPRUHWKDQ
IRXUGHFDGHVEHIRUHLWORVWLWV
EDWWOHZLWKHPLQHQWGRPDLQ
)LOPHGLQWKHÀQDOGD\V
EHIRUHWKHVFKRRO·VGHPLVH
The Last Dojo is a love letter
IURP)RUGWRWKHNDUDWHLFRQ
DQGLW·VGHGLFDWHGWR'HPXUD·V
VWXGHQWVDQGWRDQ\RQHZKR·V
ever trained in a traditional
PDUWLDODUW
7KHÀOPLVLQWHQGHGWRKHOS
YLHZHUVH[SHULHQFHWKHLQVLJKWV
DQGHPRWLRQVRIRQHRINDUDWH·V
JUHDWPDVWHUVDVKHVKDUHVWKH
GHHSHUPHDQLQJRIWKHPDUWLDO
DUWVDQGUHPLQLVFHVDERXWKLV
EHORYHGGRMRIRUWKHODVWWLPH
́>,W·V@DZRQGHUIXOKRPDJH
to a nearly 50-year-old historic
NDUDWHGRMRRIDPDQZKR
RYHUFDPHSUHMXGLFHDQGOLIH
WKUHDWHQLQJLOOQHVVWRLQVSLUH
JHQHUDWLRQVWRDZRUOGRI
Japanese karate only to lose
KLVGRMRWRHPLQHQWGRPDLQμ
VDLG.HYLQ'HUHNGLUHFWRURI
The Real Miyagi. “Ford skill-
IXOO\SUHVHQWVDKHDUWZDUPLQJ
SRUWUDLWRIDSLHFHRIKLVWRU\
WKDWZDVORVWμ
The Last DojoLVGLVWULEXWHG
E\6N\FUDIW6WXGLRVDQGSUR-
GXFHGE\1DWH-RVHSKDQG
&XUW$SGXKDQ,WLVGLUHFWHG
by Ford, a 45-year practitioner
RI2NLQDZDQVKRULQU\XZKR
KROGVWKHUDQNRIÀIWKdan
XQGHU5LFKDUG5DEDJR7DGDVKL
<DPDVKLWDDQG6KXJRUR1DND-
]DWR7RZDWFKWKHWUDLOHUYLVLW
WKHODVWGRMRFRP
12 BLACKBELTMAG.COM OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2019