Clark Thornton is a native Virginian raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. Upon graduation from high school, he joined the United States Marine Corps as a private, received a "Mustang" commission as a 2nd Lt. in 1970 and left as a captain after 10 years of service. In 1976 he graduated first in his class from Dekalb College with honors and soon began a career in the building industry. In 1988 he received a black sash in Kung Fu and decided to pursue a career in the martial arts. He started his own martial arts equipment company in 2004. In the mid-nineties he became interested in writing. He has written several essays and is the author of "Genealogy of the Longstreet Family Completed." He lives in a small community in the mountains of North Georgia where he continues to write and construct martial unique arts equipment.