He took up running and biking long distances to build his body and endurance.

When Harry first started practicing magic as a young man, he would have his brother tie him up in ropes and would then spend hours on the roof of his family’s tenement apartment attempting to free himself. In short, he was a master of deliberate practice. It was his determination to pour every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears into being the very best in the world. There was a camp that believed he was in touch with the spirit world and that supernatural powers allowed him to dematerialize to effect his escapes.īut the secret to Houdini’s success was not mystical, or even magical. Throughout his entire career, fans speculated as to how Houdini accomplished his amazing feats. Deliberate Practice Is the Key to Greatness Houdini’s life and deeds could potentially provide enough fodder for a dozen posts today we present just a few of his lessons in manliness. He showed the enormous potential of man when he knows how to hustle and push the boundaries of his capabilities. He has rightly been called America’s first “superhero.” And therein lies the heart of his appeal he seemed in every way superhuman, but he was still one of us. He refused to be bound not only by ropes and chains, but also by the constricting assumptions of what is possible for an “ordinary” man to do.

Nothing could hold him he seemed truly invincible. It didn’t matter how many chains you bound him with, how strong the handcuffs, how tight the ropes it didn’t matter whether you placed him in a crate or a vault or a safe or a prison he would always find a way out. Houdini seemingly flirted with death again and again, only to laugh in its face and emerge in the land of the living.

His enormous popularity can be traced to the human desire to defy death. He was king of the “Golden Age of Magic.” Escape Artist Extraordinaire.Īlmost a century has passed since his death, and Houdini, who was the most famous entertainer of his time, is still a name nearly everyone knows and reveres. “The Handcuff King.” “The Man Who Walked Through Walls.” Master Magician.

Harry houdini master of magic