Beat Adversity Like Ben Hogan

Ben Hogan's car after a head-on collision with a bus. With serious injuries to his pelvis and collarbone, would he ever come back to pro golf?

I'm going to tell you a story that took place 65 years ago about a golfer, because it applies directly to your black belt journey. On February 2, 1949, professional golf's reigning champion, Ben Hogan, was driving on a Texas road one night with his wife Valerie when a Greyhound bus collided with his car head-on. Hogan threw his body across Valerie's lap at the last minute to protect her. It worked. But the car's engine smashed into the driver's seat, and the steering wheel rocketed into the back, directly behind the driver's seat where Hogan had been a split second before the crash.

They both suffered injuries, but Ben's were life-threatening. The situation was so dire that the U.S. Air Force flew a surgical specialist from New Orleans to Texas to save Hogan's life.

He suffered a double-fractured pelvis, a fractured collarbone and left ankle, and chipped ribs. While lying in his hospital bed, doctors found blood clots in his legs. To prevent the clots from traveling to his heart and creating a fatal blockage, surgeons tied off the veins surrounding the clots in his legs. His legs withered and atrophied so much that they feared Hogan would never walk again. Golf? That would be out of the question.

With injuries this severe, many survivors would have settled for the sweet gift of continuing to breathe. But mount a comeback to return to the top of one's field of excellence? Not likely.

Ben Hogan Tests His Limits

Ben Hogan's seemingly effortless swing at Merion, only 11 months after the accident.

Eleven short months after the car accident, Hogan competed in the Los Angeles Open. The world watched, expecting him to quit early on his first day.

The quit never came. Hogan had a reputation for stubbornness. Fine. "Tomorrow then," the experts said.

Day 2. Practice swings. Four more hours of walking. Eighteen more holes. Still, he finished.

Day 3. Today was sure to be the day where this guy would finally come to his senses and pack it in. But no, he played. And he played well.

After four days and 72 holes, he was tied for 1st place with Sam Snead. Snead finally beat him in the playoff round.

Both medical and golf experts told him he'd never compete again. But Hogan decided to find out for himself.

So did the world jump on Hogan's bandwagon and throw him their support? Minds changed? "We were wrong to doubt you Ben." No. Those words never came.

Hogan still had more to prove. Was his performance at the LA Open a fluke?

Six months later he won the U.S. Open, and went on to win it again in 1951 and 1953.

He won The Masters in 1951 and 1953, too, and The British Open in 1953. All of this after a life-threatening accident. All of this after he was told repeatedly that he could not do it. Thank goodness he didn't listen to anyone.

And when reporters badgered him repeatedly, "How did you do it?" he simply told them, "People have always been telling me what I can't do. I guess I have wanted to show them. That's been one of my driving forces all my life."

Most people don't have the patience or the drive to work through the daily effort, focus, and strength--physical, mental, and emotional--that Hogan had to put himself through to rebuild his body and his talent.

But what does Hogan's story, this golfer, have to do with you?

Everything.

Because whether you are:

• a martial artist trying to earn your black belt
• a black belt trying to get to the next level
• someone interested in learning martial arts or self-defense but have been told by someone that "You wouldn't be good at it," "It's not for you,", "Not at your age," "You should get in better shape first before you start," "You're too busy, you'll never find the time to keep up with it," etc., etc.

Hogan teaches us a valuable lesson that you can use in your life every day, and in many ways.

In the golf world, Ben Hogan's book, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf is the seminal golf coaching text. But I think his greatest lesson is one that even non-golfers can use:

Others will set your limits for you if you let them. Don't. Other people will tell you what is possible for you your entire life, from your cradle to your grave. Mark my words: It will be relentless. And it will even come from people who love you, who have your best interest at heart.

But the fact is, no one knows how far you can go, or what you can accomplish, until you put it to the test for yourself.

What have you been told you "can't do?" Imagine the rewards, the experiences, and the joys you are missing.

Be like Ben Hogan. Get out there and keep swinging. I know you can do it.