Samuel J. Hyder

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Grand Master Samuel J. Hyder was always athletic. He was an all-star tackle lineman and track and field thrower at Meyers High School. He began his karate career at the age of eighteen in 1976 with Grand Master James T. Martin at Martin’s Karate, where he would train with local greats, including Jim Martin, Jr., Carl Moss, Joe Skurkis, and James Martin Sr. himself. He was named “Competitor of the Year” as a white, yellow, and green belt. Sam later went on to train bi-weekly with Master Esteban Kande in Baltimore, MD, where he earned his black belt at the age of 25 after competing nationally. Today, Sam is a ninth-degree black belt.

Sam opened his martial arts school, Hyder’s American Karate, in Hanover Township in 1990. While he was a fan of traditional karate, Sam wanted to fuse this style with what he called “American Karate,” focusing on pragmatic self-defense for a more violent and ever-changing world. Incorporating gun/knife defense techniques, choke hold escape training, and intense discipline, Hyder’s offered accessible, affordable karate for all ages. Sam would eventually train over 4,000 students, including Grand Master Tony Morrash and professional athletes like Greg Skrepenak and “Rocket” Raghib Ismail, and his karate school was a juggernaut in the NEPA competitive scene for over a decade.

In 1993, Sam and two members of his school, Daro Hyder and Suliman Ismail, traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, to compete in the Russian International World Games, where he was the only American to win a gold medal (Men’s Heavyweight Sparring). He has since been featured in Black Belt Magazine (1993), awarded the Wilkes-Barre Distinguished Service Award (1993), inducted into the World Karate Union Hall of Fame (1995), where he serves as a board member, and inducted into the World Karate Hall of Fame (1999).

Hyder continued his amateur career upon his return to the US. He amassed over 500 career victories, while bringing home over 20 Grand Championships. Next, Sam entered the world of Professional Karate competition. Travelling the East Coast circuit allowed him to register an unblemished 33-0 record in the ring. In 2023, he was awarded the World Karate Union Hall of Fame’s Platinum Award for his decade’s long dedication to the martial arts.

Sam worked in corrections in Luzerne County for over 40 years, beginning as a correctional officer and rising to the rank of deputy warden. He was one of the founders of the Luzerne County Gang Task Force, traveling throughout the United States to be educated on the threats that would eventually permeate Luzerne County. He has trained local, state, and federal law enforcement, FBI agents, correctional officers, and first responders.

Sam recently opened Hyder’s Fitness and Self-Defense on the Sans Souci Parkway in Hanover Township, offering karate-based fitness classes, children’s karate, and private lessons. He is in talks with local school districts to bring seminars to students and staff. In his off-time, Sam enjoys golfing, fishing, and traveling, and being beaten up by his four-year-old grandson, Gio.