October 24th 2016 - Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc., (1904 - 1984)
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Moshe Feldenkrais
The Feldenkrais Method® was originated by Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc., a pioneer in movement science and the innovator of therapeutic and educational approaches. Feldenkrais was born in Russia in 1904 and immigrated to Palestine at the age of 14. He undertook this journey without his family as a member of a caravan from his village. As a young man, he was an excellent athlete and through the influence of a British officer, learned Ju-Jitsu. He was both a very physical young man and an excellent student with a creative mind. Even at a young age he was interested in the inner development of the human being. He was influenced by Coue's work in autosuggestion and early writings on both the unconscious mind and the self-image.
Feldenkrais earned his doctorate in physics at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he assisted Nobel Prize Laureate Frederic Joliot-Curie at the Curie Institute. During his university years, he met Kano, the originator of Judo. He became one of the first Europeans to receive a black belt in Judo and was the founder of the French Judo Association. Feldenkrais studied Judo intensively and became a well-known Judo teacher.
During World War II, Feldenkrais went to England where he worked in antisubmarine research, trained paratroopers in self-defense techniques and authored books on Judo. He aggravated an old soccer injury to his knees and began many years of extended work on himself. His own recovery process and subsequent wide-ranging research resulted in the creation of the unique educational system — the Feldenkrais Method and it components Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration® — which incorporated his background in physics and Judo along with a lifelong interest in human development. Upon moving to Israel, he gave up his work as an engineer and researcher and proceeded to use his genius to directly help people live more fulfilling lives. Feldenkrais was fluent in six languages and authored six books on his method. Feldenkrais died in 1984, leaving a small group of highly-trained practitioners who have continued to teach his method worldwide.
Suze Angel, M.A., Certified Feldenkrais Teacher
Laguna Woods and Laguna Beach CA
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
United States