Dr.
Moshe Feldenkrais
1904-1984
The developer of the Feldenkrais Method |
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
jujitsu. 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.
Through an accident, 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 its 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 to 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 methods worldwide. |
