Mark Clark has spent almost his whole life studying martial arts, but he never anticipated it would help him recover from a crippling accident.

Now the American Karate Academy owner and instructor wants to help his students learn the focus and discipline that helped him heal.

Twelve years ago, Clark and his son were walking to his car outside Francis Scott Key Mall when an SUV backed into them.

He was able to protect his son using a dive roll, he said, and he credits his years of martial arts for the skills he needed to save their lives.

“I think my training made me quick enough to react, to draw my son, cover him, and then instead of holding down and taking the force of the vehicle, which would have killed us both, I went with the force,” he said.

His son was not seriously injured, but the crash left Clark unable to walk for six years.

Recovery was difficult physically and emotionally. Martial arts helped with both challenges, he said.

Doctors told him that he would never walk again, but by incorporating elements of Eastern medicine into his Western physical therapy regimen, he slowly became more mobile.

Clark began doing stretches pioneered by judo master Moshe Feldenkrais in which he was helped into a fetal position and slowly stretched back out again.

The exercises helped him manage the pain, he said, but it was a long time before he was in a condition to teach karate again.

Clark had taught martial arts in Frederick  since 1993. Before that, he was an Army boxing instructor at Fort Hood.

Being unable to teach made him feel like he had lost direction in life, he said, so he relied on the discipline and techniques he had been studying since the age of 4 to get back to teaching.

“I think having the martial arts gave me a center. It was something I knew that I could go back to,” Clark said.

“I took little steps. I said, well, first I’m going to learn to stand up again, and then I’m going to learn to take a step. I made those goals just like when I was a karate student.”

Clark returned to teaching slowly. He gave lessons from a chair or told his instructors what to demonstrate for the class.

Before he was injured, Clark had four American Karate Academy locations. He decided to close all but the Frederick site and focus his attention there.

He can now teach regularly, but the accident left him with a painful condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome.

“It’s a pretty severe, mean monster,” he said.

Clark’s students understand that he may need to pause or adjust the lesson when he has reached his limit, he said. In fact, many come to him to manage their own pain, and he has had students referred to him by their doctors.

Clark teaches four to five classes to a total of about 180 students. He teaches children as young as 4 years old, as well as families and adults.

Life skills share the curriculum with self-defense.

Clark teaches his students safety techniques, such as having a plan for emergencies, as well as the dive roll that saved him and his son. He encourages his students to be independent and focused and to set goals, he said.

“I let everyone know they’re going to get knocked down. It’s a matter of how well they get up that makes the difference,” he said