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About Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
Moshe Feldenkrais, D.Sc. (1904–1984)
Physicist, engineer, martial artist, author, and founder of the Feldenkrais Method®
Moshe Feldenkrais devoted his life to understanding how people learn, move, and change. Born in 1904 in what is now Ukraine, he left home at fourteen and traveled to Palestine. His early interests in self-defense, autosuggestion, and human development grew alongside his practical work and scientific education.
In Paris, he studied engineering and physics, worked with Frédéric Joliot-Curie, and studied judo with its founder, Jigoro Kano. He became one of the first Europeans to earn a black belt and helped establish judo in France. During the Second World War, he worked in antisubmarine research for the British Admiralty.
Recurring problems with an injured knee led him to investigate his own movement and habits. Drawing on science, martial arts, and the study of human development, he developed the Feldenkrais Method of somatic education, taught through Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration®. His books, recorded lessons, and practitioner trainings continue to support learning around the world.
Books by Moshe Feldenkrais
Book
Body Awareness as Healing Therapy
The story of Nora and a close look at Feldenkrais’s approach to relearning everyday abilities.
Book
Embodied Wisdom
Collected articles and interviews exploring awareness, learning, and human development.
Book
Higher Judo: Groundwork
Groundwork, balance, and the organization of skilled action through judo.
Book
Awareness Through Movement
An introduction to the method through ideas about self-image and practical movement lessons.
Book
The Master Moves
Conversations and movement lessons from a five-day workshop with Moshe Feldenkrais.
Book
The Elusive Obvious
How familiar habits can conceal possibilities for learning, awareness, and choice.
Book
Body and Mature Behavior
An early investigation of posture, anxiety, gravity, and the development of human action.
Book
Thinking and Doing
Early writings on imagination, autosuggestion, and the relationship between thinking and action.
Book
Hadaka-Jime: Practical Unarmed Combat
A practical self-defense manual revealing early ideas about coordination and learning.
Book
Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense
An early self-defense book connecting practical skills with observation and effective action.
Articles & Videos
By Moshe Feldenkrais
Learn to Learn
Feldenkrais’s own explanation of learning through time, awareness, and reduced effort.
By Mark Reese
Moshe Feldenkrais’ Work with Movement: A Parallel Approach to Milton Erickson’s Hypnotherapy
A comparison of Feldenkrais’s movement work and Milton Erickson’s approach to experiential learning.
Lecture & video
Moshe Feldenkrais at CERN: “Physics and My Method” (1981)
Watch the 1981 CERN lecture, with written companions exploring physics, learning, and choice.
Commentary by Moti Nativ
On Better Judo: Moshe Feldenkrais on Learning, Balance, and Mastery
Explore Feldenkrais’s five Better Judo essays through Moti Nativ’s introduction and commentary.
In His Own Words
Movement is life. Life is a process. Improve the quality of the process and you improve the quality of life itself.
Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
If you know what you are doing, you can do what you want.
Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
What I’m after isn’t flexible bodies, but flexible brains. What I’m after is to restore each person to their human dignity.
Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
Moshe Feldenkrais Photo Galleries
Explore photographs from Moshe Feldenkrais’s life, his martial arts work, and his teaching. The galleries offer a closer look at the people, places, and experiences behind his work.