The method was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-1984) who was a son of a jewish family. Raised in Belarus he emigrated to Palestine at the age of 14. There he worked as a private teacher and in other several jobs. Later he became an engineer and was helping the British army in WWII with the construction of submarine detecting technology.
He was one of the first European students of Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo, and got a black belt which was very unusual for Europeans at that time. His experience in martial arts made him a teacher for Jiu-Jitsu and other close-combat techniques for the Hagana. That laid the basis for a system that is known today as Krav Maga.
However, Moshe Feldenkrais didn’t become famous as martial arts teacher. And old knee injury from his youth led him to a revolutionary sight of body function and treatment. No doctor, no medicine and no treatment cold free him from his knee pain. So, he started self evaluation and soon found out that not the kind of movements or sports caused the pain but the use of his body during the movements. That became one of the most important declarations of the method: it’s not WHAT we do that causes pain, arthritis or herniated discs - it’s mostly HOW we do what we do.
Another important proposition is the idea of a „self image“ that is built through genetics, society requirements and self-education. This „self-image“ contains our ideas of self-value, abilities, skills and also the restrictions of our possibilities.
The Feldenkrais method was originally meant as a tool for self-education to change the view one has on himself, to increase the variety of abilities. Our „self-image“ can be changed by making new experiences. The more we discover what we can learn in the field of motor control (even if we never thought we could reach another level there) the more we are able to develop in other fields such as arts, sports, our profession or social skills.
That’s why Feldenkrais lessons focus on self evaluation and problem solving. Students get tasks that have to be solved, mostly by trial and error but later by experience.
