On Better Judo

21 On Better Judo Moti Nativ Better Judo is a series of five articles Dr. Feldenkrais wrote for the Quarterly Bulletin of the Judo Budokwai Club in London between January 1948 and January 1949. 1 Adin Steinsaltz, The Thirteen Petalled Rose: A “A true secret is still a secret even when it is revealed to all.”1 Discourse on the Essence of Jewish Existence (New York: Basic Books, 2006), Judo concepts and techniques had a significant impact on trans. from the Hebrew Dr. Feldenkrais’ development of the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic edition. education. We can see the results in many Awareness Through 2 Moshe Feldenkrais, Movement® (ATM®) lessons, although the judo component may not A.B.C. du JUDO (Paris: E. Chiron, 1938), Higher Judo: always be obvious to those without the proper background. In my Groundwork (Berkeley, CA: research on Moshe during the years 1920–1950, I did a detailed study Blue Snake Books, 2010), 2, 3 JUDO–the Art of Defense of his judo and self-defense books. As a martial artist, my study was and Attack (London & New not just theoretical. It involved experiencing the techniques myself and York: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd., 1953). teaching them to others. Through this study of Moshe’s work, I came to better understand his way of thinking about self-preservation and how 3 Moshe Feldenkrais, this relates to the Feldenkrais Method in general. Jiu-Jitsu and Self-Defense (1930), Practical Unarmed Recently, with the help of Dr. Mike Callan, I managed to obtain a Combat (London & New series of five articles, entitled Better Judo, which Feldenkrais wrote for York: Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd, 1942). the Quarterly Bulletin of the Judo Budokwai Club in London between January 1948–January 1949.4, 5 In this essay I will share my thoughts 4 Dr. Mike Callan holds the judo grade of 7th Dan. and insights on those articles. I refer to these years in Moshe’s practical He is the President of the research as the “turning point.”6 During this period, he labored on writing International Association of Judo Researchers and Higher Judo (1952) concurrently with Body and Mature Behavior (1949) a Scientific and Didactic and The Potent Self (published posthumously in 1985). It can be clearly Expert for the European seen that Feldenkrais was already carrying, in his mind and body, his Judo Union. He founded the Richard Bowen Judo method of Awareness Through Movement, which did not yet have a Archive at the University name. In this period, Feldenkrais was at his peak as an experienced of Bath. judoka. From then on Moshe decreased his activity as a judoka and 5 The Budokwai (武道会 applied his experience and knowledge of judo to lay the foundations of The Way of Knighthood Society) in London is the the Feldenkrais Method. oldest Japanese martial In Better Judo, Moshe reveals his thoughts about judo, digging deep arts club in Europe and the first judo club in Europe. into the means of mastering it. He goes through a complex process, It was founded in 1918 applying his ingenuity and leveraging his skilled body, and we can by Gunji Koizumi. https:// observe in these articles an early understanding of the foundations of en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Budokwai. the Feldenkrais Method. #31 The Feldenkrais Journal 22 Before discussing Better Judo, it would be helpful to remind readers of the milestones of Moshe’s unique approach to judo. The first, relevant to this article, is Moshe’s work in Tel Aviv at age 16, as a member of the Baranovichi group. In 1920, the Haganah, a paramilitary organization in British-mandated Palestine, was established. At that time, Moshe helped protect the properties of the Jewish pioneers and was engaged in real fights for survival, fights in which some of his friends were injured or even killed. Although the Haganah fighters were trained in jiu jitsu, they were not always able to make practical use of it in actual combat. Moshe was troubled by the results of these fights. He wondered why his friends could not use their skills to e!ectively protect themselves. 6 Moshe Feldenkrais, In what would clearly be the next important milestone, Feldenkrais Higher Judo: Groundwork (Berkeley, CA: Blue Snake published the first Hebrew self-defense book, Jiu-Jitsu and Self Books, 2010). Defense. He based this work on a behavioral study of human beings 7 Moshe Feldenkrais, that gave rise to the concept of using unconscious or instinctive ed. Reuven O"r, Thinking responses for self-preservation. In other words, he wanted to design a and Doing (Longmont, CO: Genesis II, 2013). self-defense system for the Haganah, based on “a movement someone These were chapters would do without thinking.”7 Feldenkrais mentioned this concept in that Feldenkrais added to the original. These the introduction to his translation of Emile Coué’s book, Self Mastery chapters were published Through Conscious Autosuggestion. in the English translation Feldenkrais’ background as a survivor gave him a unique perspective in 2013 and appeared in the original translation into on the practical use of judo in an emergency situation, outside the dojo. Hebrew in 1929. At the time, it was a rare judoka who thought about the use of judo 8 8 Kōdōkan Goshin Jutsu for self-defense. We see Moshe’s interest in survival throughout his (講道館護身術) are the judo development of the Feldenkrais Method. As he said years later, “The skills of self-defense. This 9 is a set of prearranged most drastic test of a movement is self-preservation.” self-defense forms in judo. From a close reading of Better Judo we will also get a preview of It is the most recent kata of judo, having been formally Feldenkrais’ intellectualism. “In those days judo/jujutsu was an art of created in 1956. It consists self-defense. Thanks to Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais it gained a scientific of several techniques and more sophisticated facet. The Japanese art was increasingly seen to defend oneself from: unarmed attack, attack as a science of combat practiced by intellectuals, university students, with a dagger, with a stick, scholars…Moshe played a pivotal role in this evolution [of judo] from a and with a gun. utilitarian practice to a scientific one.”10 [Fig 1] 9 Moshe Feldenkrais, The Feldenkrais became involved with judo when he met its founder Master Moves (Longmont, CO: Genesis II, 2011), 38. Professor Jigoro Kano in Paris in September of 1933. This was not merely a meeting between two giants; it was an event that would lead 10 Michel Brousse, Le Judo, son histoire, ses to a dramatic change in the direction and trajectory of Feldenkrais’ succès (Paris: Liber, 2002), thinking. In his famous 1977 interview about martial arts, Moshe recalled 212. that Kano had said to him that judo is “the e"cient use of the mind over 11 D. Leri., C. Alston, the body.”11 At the time, Moshe had thought that this was a funny way to M. Segal, R. Volberg, describe a martial art. During their initial meeting, Moshe was introduced F. Wildman, A. Johnson, J. Karzen, Interview With to the concept of seiryoku zenyo (minimum e!ort, maximum e"ciency). Moshe, the Extraordinary Kano challenged Moshe with a judo choking technique. Moshe Story of How Moshe Feldenkrais Came to attempted to free himself using the technique that had always worked Study Judo, (http://www. for him, but this time it did not help him. semiophysics.com/ SemioPhysics_interview_ As Kano described in his diary: “I grabbed him in a tight reverse with_Moshe.html ,1977). cross with both hands and said, ‘Try to get out of this!’ He pushed my 2019 23 Fig 1 Moshe Feldenkrais teaches judo in Paris in 1938, view of Notre-Dame from the dojo’s window. Fig 2 Feldenkrais releasing himself from a choke hold. #31 The Feldenkrais Journal 24 12 Jigoro Kano, Mind 18 G. Koizumi knew Dr. throat with his fist with all his might. He was over Muscle (Tokyo, New Feldenkrais as a judoka–a quite strong, so my throat was in some pain, York, London: Kodansha student, a teacher and a International, 2006), 47–50. scientist. He appreciated but I pressed on his carotid arteries on both Moshe’s contribution to the sides with both hands so the blood could not 13 Moshe Feldenkrais, judo community. Quoting 12 Manuel pratique du jiu-jitsu, from Koizumi’s forward get to his head, and he gave up.” Imagine a la defense du faible contre to Higher Judo: “Dr. M. small Japanese man, at the age of 75, subduing l’agresseur (1944) from Feldenkrais has made a strong, young man of 29. This incident Jigoro Kano’s introduction a serious study of the to the French version of subject, himself attaining impressed Feldenkrais and changed his Jiu-Jitsu and Self-Defense: Black Belt e"ciency. He approach to the use of his own body. [Fig 2] “At that time a Jewish has studied and analyzed scholar named Feldenkrais Judo as a scientist in the Feldenkrais began to study judo and in a happened to be in the light of the laws of physics, relatively short time was promoted to black audience. His remarks physiology and psychology, to me after the lecture and he reports the results belt. More than a skillful practitioner of the art, were very enlightening. in this book which is he proved to be a unique judo teacher of the He brought a book he had enlightening and satisfying written about judo with to the scientific mind of our highest quality. Kano had a great deal of faith him and asked me to take age.

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