O'Sensei Sam Chapman

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    This Greenville, SC native first became involved with Karate in 1962 while in the Marine Corps. After completing his service, he began training in earnest, earning his Black Belt in just eighteen months.

    As a tournament competitor, things began to fall into place for Sam in 1972 when he won the Spartanburg Open. He repeated the feat in 1973. From 1973 through 1976, Sam won or placed in virtually every tournament in the south, earning a reputation as a superb technician and being as tough as they come. In 1974 he was voted the Southeast Karate Association's number one ranked middleweight Black Belt. The honor was repeated in 1975. Sam continued to fight in both tournament and full-contact Karate until his retirement from the ring in 1976.

    In the following years Sam emerged as one of the true leaders of Southern Karate. He was director of the Southeastern Karate Association (SEKA) and is currently the Commissioner of the Professional Karate Association (PKA). He was also the founding director of the South Carolina Karate Circuit in 1983. Sam has been honored more than any other Black Belt in South Carolina with accolades such as The Instructor of the Year eight times starting in 1972, then repeated in 1978 and every year from 1984 through 1989. Of all the awards and honors bestowed upon Sam, none mean more to him than being presented the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt and the title of O'Sensei or Grand Master by the Black Belt Martial Arts Hall of Fame Society in March of 1988.

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