Higher Judo: Groundwork 978-1556439278

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Moshe Feldenkrais Founder of the Fe ldenkrais Method

Forewords by Michel Brousse, Dennis Leri, and Moti Nativ

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Groundwork

Dr. MOSHE FELDENKRAIS is best know n for pioneering the somalic therapy that bears his name, the FeJdenkrais M ethod" . Less well known is that he was also one of the earli est Europea n practitioners of judo and wrote a number of innuential texts on the subject. Primary among these is

Higher Judo: Groundwork, first pub lished in 1952. Judo was a natura l choi ce for Feldenkrais's fascination with the relationship between mind and body; the judo mat served as a research lab for Feldenkrais's exp lorations in how to promote optimal fun ctioning through awareness. In Higher Judo, he presents judo as the art of using all parts of the body to enhance general health, revea ling judo's potential for improving mental and physi ca l coordination. Through clear instructions and lin e drawings,

Higher Judo covers specific movements and positions and shows how groundwork in particular can help practitioners develop thei r mental and physi ca l awareness to their fullest potential.

" It's how Feldenkrais addresses the deeper benefits of Judo practice that elevates Higher Judo from just a good book to a classic."-DENNls LERI, fr om the foreword MOSHE FELDENKRAIS, D.Sc., (1904-1984) cofounded the Jiu -Jitsu Club de France. He studied with Jigoro Kana (the founder of judo) and other great pioneers of the art Including Mikonosuke Kawaishi and Gunji Kaizumi. MICHEL BROUSSE, a seventh-degree black belt, teaches the cultural history of sport and the didactics of judo at Bordeaux Univernity in France. He is the author of numerous books and articles on these subjects. A former member of the French national judo team, he currently serves as Research Director of the International Judo Federation. DENNIS LERI is one of Moshe Feldenkrais's original American students, with more than thirty yearn of experience teaching the Feldenkrais Method and training new practitionern. His martial arts practice includes boxing, aikido, Chen-style t'ai chi, and Lan Shoo Kung Fu. MOTI NATIV is a Feldenkrais Method practitioner and martial artist. He leads the Bujlnkan Shiki (Awareness) Dojo with branches throughout Israel and holds seminars in Israel , the U.S., Europe, ana Japan.

Martial Arts

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ISBN 978 -1-55643-927-8

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Also by MOSHE FELDENKRAIS

Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation, and Learning The Potent Self: A Study of Spontaneity and Compulsion Awareness Through Movement Body Awareness as Healing Therapy: The Case of Nora The Elusive Obvious The Master Moves Practical Unarmed Combat Judo: The Art of Defense and Attack ABC dujudo

Embodied Wisdom: The Collected Papers of Moshe Feldenkrais

HigherJudo Groundwork Moshe Feldenkrais Foreword to the 1952 Edition by G. Koizumi Forewords to the 2010 Edition by Michel Brousse, Dennis Leri and Moti Nativ Edited by Elizabeth Beringer

SOMATIC RESOURCES Sa n Diego, Ca lifornia

BLUE SNAKE BOOKS B erk eley, Ca lifo rnia

Copyright © 1952, 2010 by Somatic Resources and the Feldenkrais Estate. Forewords © 2010 by Michel Brousse, Dennis Leri, and Moti Nativ. "A Biography of Moshe Feldenkrais" © by Mark Reese. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-without written permission of the publisher. For information contact Blue Snake Books do North Atlantic Books. Published by Somatic Resources 3680 Sixth Avenue San Diego California 92103

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Blue Snake Books Blue Snake Books' publications are distributed by North Atlantic Books P.O. Box 12327 Berkeley, California 94712

Cover design by Brad Greene Photos on pages xiv-xxxiv reprinted courtesy of Michel Brousse. Photos © 2010 on pages v, xxxvii, and 225-237 are used with permission from the International Feldenkrais Federation. Printed in the United States of America Higher Judo: Groundwork is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature. North Atlantic Books' publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, call 800-733-3000 or visit our Web sites at www.northatlanticbooks.com and www.bluesnakebooks.com. PLEASE NOTE: The creators and publishers of this book disclaim any liabilities for loss in connection with following any of the practices, exercises, and advice contained herein. To reduce the chance of injury or any other harm, the reader should consult a professional before undertaking this or any other martial arts, movement, meditative arts, health, or exercise program. The instructions and advice printed in this book are not in any way intended as a substitute for medical, mental, or emotional counseling with a licensed physician or healthcare provider. Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Functional Integration®, Awareness Through Movement®, and Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner® are service marks of the Feldenkrais Guild® of North America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Feldenkrais, Moshe, 1904-1984. Higher judo groundwork I Moshe Feldenkrais ; foreword by G. Koizumi ; fore· word by Dennis Leri ; edited by Elizabeth Beringer. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-55643-927-8 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-55643-927-X (alk. paper) 1. Judo. I. Beringer, Elizabeth. II. Title. GV1114.F45201O 796.815'2-dc22 2010043526 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED 14 13 12 11 10

Moshe Feldenkrais in his judo gi in the 1930s.

Editor's Note ... ix Forewords to the 2010 Edition A Judo Pioneer in France by Michel Brousse ... xiii The Principle of No Principle by Dennis Leri ... xxi Turning Point by Moti Nativ ... xxxv HIGHER JUDO

Preface by Moshe Feldenkrais ... vi Foreword by G. Koizumi ... vii Introduction ... xi Chapter I Chapter II

Judo Practice . ..

17

Uniqueness of Action . .. 42

Chapter III

Where We Start and Why . .. 46

Chapter IV

Principles of Ground Work . ..

Chapter V

Some Useful Exercises for Ground Work ... 56

Chapter VI

Ground Work Tactics . ..

Chapter VII

Starting Ground Work . ..

67 77

53

Chapter VIII Chapter XI

Six 0' dock Approach . .. 87 Right or Left Approach . .. 121

Chapter X

Head On Approach . .. 160

Chapter XI

The Astride Position . .. 181

Chapter XII

Opponent Facing the Ground . .. 207 Appendix: Original Photographs ... 225 A Biography of Moshe Feldenkrais ... 239 Contributors ... 243 About the Feldenkrais Method ... 245 Resources ... 248

Editor's Note

Moshe Feldenkrais is best known today as the founder of the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education *; however, when Higher Judo was first published in French in 1951, he was much better known as a judo teacher and scientist. Few people are able to reach the high level of expertise Feldenkrais attained even in one domain, but Feldenkrais managed in his lifetime to excel in three distinct areas: physics, judo, and somatics. He worked and published with Frederic Joliot-Curie, the Nobel prize-winning physicist; he was an influential member of the original group teaching judo in Europe, publishing four books focusing on the martial arts; and finally he founded the Feldenkrais Method, which takes principles from judo and physics and applies them to issues in human learning such as chronic pain, high-level performance, and self-development. In Higher Judo one can clearly see, perhaps more than in any of his other published works, the conjunction of these three domains. Higher Judo was first published under the title, Judo pour ceintures noires (Judo for Black Belts), and was clearly meant for the advanced judo practitioner. It was published in English a year later. The book has been out of print for decades, but has continued to be photocopied, shared, and discussed actively, achieving a kind of cult status. For me, as a long*See "About the Feldenkrais Method" on page 245. IX

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time practitioner of both the Feldenkrais Method and the martial art of Aikido, early exposure to Higher Judo was of pivotal importance in my development. The early chapters especially illuminated how both practices can be seen as applications of the same generative principles. As Feldenkrais's last, and most conceptually rich, judo book, Higher Judo is not only an instructive groundwork manual, but essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the relationship between Feldenkrais's martial background and the somatic education method that now bears his name. It is thus with tremendous satisfaction that I have seen this remarkable book brought back into print. The original design and text of Higher Judo has been reproduced in the new edition unaltered, including the insightful foreword by Gunji Koizumi. We have added historic photos, some notes at the end, and three additional forewords. Michel Brousse has researched and published extensively on the history of judo, especially in France where Feldenkrais cofounded the first judo club. His foreword helps place Feldenkrais and Higher Judo in its historical context. Dennis Leri was a close student of Feldenkrais's and they spent many hours together discussing his martial arts past.~· As a trainer in the Feldenkrais Method and a *See "The Extraordinary Story of How Moshe Feldenkrais Came to Study Judo" in Embodied Wisdom: The Collected Papers of Moshe Fe/denkrais by Elizabeth Beringer, ed. (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2010) to read Feldenkrais's interview with Dennis Leri describing, among other amazing stories, the evening when Feldenkrais first met Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo.

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long-time practitioner of the martial arts, he is uniquely situated to engage in a discussion of the relationship between Feldenkrais's study of jujutsu and somatics. Moti Nativ, a Feldenkrais Method teacher and professional martial artist, has devoted himself to researching Feldenkrais's martial arts past. His foreword focuses on the evolution of Feldenkrais's ideas and their overlap in the realm of judo and what was to become the Feldenkrais Method. These new forewords add significant depth and dimension to this multifaceted book. I am very grateful to all three contributors for their commitment to writing in the midst of their busy schedules. I would like to thank the International Feldenkrais Foundation for permission to use photos from their archives and Moti Navi and George Krutz for helping to make this possible. Michel Brousse is also due thanks for contributing a number of wonderful historic photos. I am also grateful to the Feldenkrais family for their support of this new edition. Thanks are also due to David Zemach-Bersin, Dennis Leri, Carol Kress, and to my husband Rafael Nunez for varying kinds of help along the way! Finally I am very grateful to Hisae Matsuda as the project editor for her professionalism and care in bringing this project to fruition. - Eliza beth Beringer

A Judo Pioneer in France by Michel Brousse

The contribution of Moshe Feldenkrais to the evolution of French judo has long been overlooked. When the French Judo Federation asked me to write a history of French judo,'~ I unearthed testimonies that allowed me to reveal and prove the influence he had had in the 1930s. Feldenkrais's name was practically erased from existing documents, a fact he underlined in his writings with a tinge of bitterness. The reasons for this silence are diverse: a conjuncture of events mostly linked to the looming world conflict. The lack of archives and the turbulence of the late thirties in France may partly explain the scant research on the early days of judo and the consequent absence of information on Moshe Feldenkrais's role in the history of the practice in the prewar world. But thanks to several publications and the relentless efforts of several family members, disciples, and researchers, some aspects of Feldenkrais's life have been made clearer. Therefore I am glad and honored to have the opportunity and the privilege to pay a muchdeserved tribute to this multi-talented physicist who happened to master the art of judo-and who made the best use of it. *Michel Brousse, Le judo, son histoire, ses succes, (Geneva, Switzerland: Editions Liber, 2002).

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The Japanese art of combat, or jujutsu, was introduced to France in 1905. It immediately fascinated the crowds, revealing a new concept of the use of strength to European audiences. It spurred a jujutsu vogue. Several Japanese experts gave lessons over the years, but none of these schools lasted as the trend waned. Mostly practiced in a few exclusive circles, this Japanese martial art was still shrouded in mystery and exoticism. In the thirties, it was essentially part of the curriculum of the police and military institutions. Moshe Feldenkrais's role has to be understood in a completely different perspective. During his stay in Paris, between 1930 and 1940-he had to flee to England to escape the Germans in 1940-Moshe Feldenkrais was to playa decisive part in the development of French jujutsu and judo, notably because his contribution led to the founding of the first permanent structure where judo was taught. In 1933 he began

Feldenkrais with Frederic Joliot-Curie.

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to give jujutsu lessons when he was a student and then a graduate student at the Ecole Superieure des Travaux Publics (ESTP) (a postgraduate school of engineering) in the heart of the Quartier latin near the Sorbonne, and later, during his time as a research assistant for Frederic Joliot-Curie at the Radium Institute. Leon Eyrolles, ESTP director, and his son Marc, who was in charge of university sports in Paris, were impressed by his achievements. Since they knew Feldenkrais was in dire straits, they offered him the use of one of the rooms in the school as a jujutsu training room. To make ends meet, Feldenkrais had to teach jujutsu at night. He was a born pedagogue, but since his students were mostly fellow researchers, he had to be convincing from a scientific perspective to successfully seduce their Cartesian minds. He instinctively applied the principles of physics he worked with and his rich cultural background to his teaching

Feldenkrais and Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo.

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of self-defense. To this must be added an essential fact: his chance meeting with the founder of judo, Jigoro Kano, in September 1933. Feldenkrais showed Kano an illustrated jujutsu book that he had authored in Hebrew; Kano was impressed by his intellectual agility and offered him his help. They met and talked on several occasions. Feldenkrais regularly used the materials Kano sent him. Like Kano, he had come to the conclusion that there could be no training of the body without mental training, making judo practice a "mental reeducation." When the Jiu-Jitsu Club de France was officially created in 1936, Kano attended as a member of the Committee of Honor. Moshe Feldenkrais invited Mikinosuke Kawaishi to join the club as a teacher. The Japanese expert was certainly attracted by the rational nature of the explanations given by the engineer. As a result, Feldenkrais became the assistant, the disciple, and friend of Kawaishi. Several judo practitioners who had known Kawaishi before he met and worked with Feldenkrais reveal that he used to teach in a traditional manner, in the same way other Japanese experts did. The teaching went both ways; Feldenkrais's influence caused Kawaishi to use a different approach. With the help of Kawaishi, Feldenkrais prepared a series of four manuals, something unheard of at the time. He made wide use of his sagacity and scientific logic to organize the various steps of the progression to be followed, starting with judo for beginners and ending with the special needs of experts. Numerous pictures were taken. They were the essential basis for the drawings illustrating this book.

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The Japanese Ambassador to France, Votaro Sugimura, with Ulon Eyrolles and Moshe Feldenkrais.

Moshe Feldenkrais was the catalyst. His contribution paved the way for a better understanding of judo in France. But, because he was not French, the black belt he received from Kawaishi was not recognized as such. As for Kawaishi, since he was not an envoy of the Kodokan Institute (the world headquarters of judo) the dan grades given by him were recognized in Europe but not officially approved by the Kodokan Institute where a specific examination was needed. In spite of this; his expertise justifies his position in the very small group of the first-dan holders in Europe. After World War II, the books he published on the subject established his reputation and allowed him to become a renowned expert, a member of the Council of Judo Specialists for the newly founded European Judo Union. In the

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early fifties, the French judo community expanded rapidly, thanks to Kawaishi's contribution. Paul Bonet-Maury, one of Feldenkrais's first jujustu students, became the head of the French Judo Federation. A new generation of judo players appeared and many memories of the past were lost. The French edition Judo pour ceintures noires Uudo for Black Belts) was published in 1951, and the next year this English version, Higher Judo: Ground Work, was published. The book is inspiring and unique. It is a text written by an expert for experts. Its historical value is clear; the book contains forgotten techniques abandoned in recent decades because of the evolution of contest rules. The approach adopted is clearly innovative. Whereas most Western liter-

A party at the Jiu-Jitsu Club de France dojo in 1939. In attendance are Jean lay, Irene and Frederic Joliot-Curie, Charles Faroux, Leon Eyrolles, Moshe Feldenkrais, Mikinosuke Kawaishi, and students.

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ature on judo puts the stress on the teaching of throws, Feldenkrais focuses on groundwork. The fact that he chose to write about a topic usually overlooked by other writers shows the maturity he had acquired and the level of expertise he had reached. Previous studies had been essentially descriptive and analytical. Feldenkrais as a scientist placed the writer in the center of the tactical action: he highlights the function of each different movement and details its scientific basis, combining explanations drawn from anatomy and psychology. Today's judo is a competition-oriented sport and an educational practice for young children. Current studies mostly highlight the factors of performance and the best systems for judo classes for kids. Moshe Feldenkrais's Higher Judo is definitely a pioneering work: it was innovative when it was first published, and is still audacious today. Elizabeth Beringer and North Atlantic Books must be thanked for the reissue of this groundbreaking book, which stands out as a linchpin in the history of judo in the Western world. - Michel Brousse Bordeaux, France, October 2010

The Principle of No Principle by Dennis Leri

Any serious judo or martial arts student will benefit from this book's helpful, detailed, and nuanced explanations of groundwork tactics and techniques. By focusing on judo groundwork, Higher Judo addresses a gap in the repertoire of many judo and jujutsu practitioners. Some of the techniques presented in the book are rarely taught these days. Indeed, some are even forbidden in many dojos because of a purported potential for injury. I suspect that Feldenkrais would say the reason they are infrequently taught is not due to any danger inherent in the techniques. It's more likely that there is a lack of experienced teachers who know or have command of the techniques. Skillful teachers comfortable with groundwork will have no qualms about learning and presenting the material Feldenkrais includes here. In fact, Feldenkrais repeatedly stresses that, in order to progress, a good instructor is essential. He writes that two years spent looking for the right teacher is much better than two years spent studying with an inferior instructor who will instill faulty practice habits. The pages of practical instruction are preceded by several illuminating introductory chapters of discussion and theory. Higher Judo constantly shifts perspective back and forth between a Western examination of the physics of judo practice and traditional Japanese judo pedagogy. Higher Judo XXi

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shares the same underpinnings of Feldenkrais's own profoundly effective general approach to somatic learning, the Feldenkrais Method. For that reason, Higher Judo will also be of great interest to Feldenkrais Method practitioners, who will find much that is relevant to their practice. It might also alert judo practitioners to the allied practice of the Feldenkrais Method, which could open up new vistas for refining one's martial art. Moshe Feldenkrais was a Russian Jew who, at the age of fourteen, walked from the Ukraine to Palestine in 1918. He helped build the first Jewish settlements there. In order to help defend his community, he became a member of the famous Haganah, a paramilitary defense organization. It was there in the late 1920s that he first learned jujutsu from some practitioners from Germany. When those who studied jujutsu tried to apply their techniques in combat, they found

Feldenkrais and his students, 1939.

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them to be ineffective. Feldenkrais changed the way the techniques were learned and wrote a small book based upon his research. The modified techniques proved very effective in actual combat. Feldenkrais left Palestine to study physics and engineering in Paris and there he met Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, around 1933. Kano had read Feldenkrais's little book and, while critical of it, recognized Feldenkrais's potential. So much so that he sent two instructors from Japan to Paris to intensively train Feldenkrais in what Kano called "proper" judo. After two years of nearly daily study, Feldenkrais set up a dojo. Mikinosuke Kawaishi, cofounder of the French Judo Federation, joined Feldenkrais's dojo a few years later as head instructor and the two formed a fruitful collaboration. In 1940, having escaped to Britain on the eve of World War II, Feldenkrais worked with the British Admiralty as a scientific officer. In London he deepened his friendship and judo practice with legendary practitioners Gunji Koizumi and Trevor Leggett. Koizumi especially impressed Feldenkrais not only as an accomplished judoka [judo practitioner], but also as one of the most truly "human" individuals that he had encountered in a life of meeting remarkable people. Higher Judo, originally published in the 1950s with an introduction by Koizumi, provides an insight not only into Feldenkrais's thoughts on judo but also into the learning process itself. Judo guided Feldenkrais's personal and professional research and later formed the basis of the generalized system of learning that bears his name, the Feldenkrais Method.

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Why study judo? What is the purpose of study? Who should study? How should one practice? What's the science and psychology behind high-level performance? It's how Feldenkrais addresses the deeper benefits of judo practice that elevates Higher Judo from just a good book to a classic. To lead us into his unique approach to judo practice Feldenkrais employs a weave of two explanatory threads: Eastern notions of the "Way" and Western scientific inquiry. The analogies and metaphors used by Feldenkrais's Japanese instructors convey an elusive flavor true to judo's roots. The scientific method of inquiry is like an x-ray revealing the mechanical and physiological principles each and every aspect of training employs. It helps to think of both judo and science (including what Feldenkrais calls mechanics and what we would call today physics) as forms of practice, as human endeavors enacted by communities of practitioners and researchers over generations. They are living traditions. Feldenkrais says: The Judo way is to action, as the scientific method is to thought. Both are "new," not in the sense that our ancestors have never used them, or that they are foreign to the human nervous inheritance, but because they use methodically what was formerly left uncultivated and therefore

a matter of chance or luck (p. 37, emphasis added).

Feldenkrais had great teachers who left little to chance or luck. He had a very deep respect for them and the tradition of practices, philosophy, and learning that they embodied.

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For him, the difference between very good practitioners and a master is a desire to live the Way. To the majority of instructors, Judo is just a more efficient method of fighting or self-defence and nothing else. The result of such instruction often falls short of even that avowed aim (p. 38).

Feldenkrais leaned heavily on his judo background when he later developed the Feldenkrais Method. While employing much of the kind of insight and research he uses in Higher Judo, he was reluctant to say about his method what he is able to say about judo in Higher Judo. He shied away from calling his own work a Way. He was either uncomfortable or too humble to claim for his own work or himself what he venerated in judo, namely its path of self-realization and the masters on that path. The movements taught are, therefore, more or less incidental and determined by secondary considerations; they are means of learning the "way," the correct physiological way of doing (p. 37). The expert judo teacher can detect very slight deviations from the correct procedure, because he has a very delicate gauge-the minimum energy principle. He eliminates all components in any movement that do not actively cooperate towards the purpose at hand. He is concerned with the "way" the purpose is achieved perhaps more than with the act. Once the higher controls are proficient, each

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new act presents no new problem .... Those who have had the good fortune to cross the path of a master consider it the most important event of their lives (p. 44).

It's tempting to quote phrase after phrase, insight after insight from the book. However, rlliet readers discover for themselves the rich historical, philosophical, and technical material in the book. What follows are a few general remarks. Feldenkrais addresses the inner urge to further one's growth, to develop some trait left undeveloped. He relates the following story: The most celebrated Japanese woman painter is over a hundred years old. She was a schoolteacher and could not develop her sense of color and form until after retirement. So she started drawing pictures and a pension at the same time (p. xv, emphasis added).

The simple and yet humorous way of using the word "drawing" display the hallmarks of Feldenkrais's approach: economy and levity. Meanings are doubled and lines of thought cross without loss of clarity. The way he orders and punctuates his exposition with layered insights is a key to understanding Feldenkrais's unique approach to judo in particular and learning in general. Feldenkrais says, "The experienced Judoka, like the scientist, has learned to test ideas by their experimental value." His Japanese teachers through their intense personal training of Feldenkrais opened him not only to the mechanics of practice but also the immense value

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of following a door Way. He was a high-level judoka but by his own admission not anywhere near the level of his teachers. He was a world-class physicist whose skills as a judoka were sought after. No doubt many scientists attain a high level of judo skill and many judo students became proficient scientists. But very few, if any, students of judo have made an exhaustive scientific study of the martial art and also been able to put their findings into a form that illuminates and adds value to both Judo and science. His enthusiasm for both judo and physics is obvious and contagious. In the book we find the word gravity used in its physical, technical sense as a constraint on one's biological

Feldenkrais throwing Mikinosuke Kawaishi during a demonstration at the Jiu-Jitsu Club de France.

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development. We also find it in the sense of seriousness, deliberation, and respect-a kind of gravitas-that Feldenkrais maintains towards his art throughout. Also in evidence is the joy that Feldenkrais finds in the study of judo. He says that there is an undeniable exhilaration in the proper performance of a throw or technique. That very exhilaration, derived from achieving independence from gravity, is central to one's practice. The performance of any act while we are in motion is exhilarating .... The thrilling feeling is quite common in most methods imparting body skill and becomes frequent with better exponents. In Judo it is the essence of the training; training is not complete until the pupils can produce these states at will and in spite of the opponent's resistance (p.26).

The joy of learning, practicing, and accomplishing is all the more valuable because it is a feeling one cannot buy. It can only be achieved through one's own labors, through a complete reeducation of one's thinking, sensing, feeling, and acting. It comes through utilizing the art of self-defense as a means to a realization of one's true nature harmonized with Nature or the cosmos itself. Given the right teacher, given a chance to learn authentic technique, given good classmates, one has the opportunity to make high-level judo second nature. Second nature means the incorporation of a real encounter with one's own nature into a higher level of technical proficiency that is available imme-

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diately and into the future. Skill level should be self-evident to any objective observer. Either one can perform or not. As one sensei told me referring to a popular teacher of questionable talent, "Tenth-dan talker, maybe shodan [firstdegree] ability!" Using physics to understand judo means one uses the tools of scientific inquiry while invoking the appropriate laws of nature. The most current thinking in physics sees laws of nature as kinds of habit that have evolved since the beginning of time and, in fact, are still evolving. So too the means for discovering and formulating those laws are evolving. At very small scales of experimental observation and analysis, one has to factor in the effect of the observer. On a more human scale, the direction of research is shifting towards the questions, "What is an observer?" and "What is observing?" What is lacking in many studies of the observer is the notion of a "practice" geared towards changing and refining how the living observer experiences the world and themselves. It is here that the martial arts in general and judo in particular have so much to offer. During the nineteenth century, modern physics came into being and so did the split of the study of experience into the physical and the mental realms. But, just because that split occurred doesn't mean mind and body, the physical and the mental, can't be put onto a common footing. Physics and judo are not as separate as one may imagine. The word physics derives from the ancient Greek phusis which is often translated as nature but which means both

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more and less than the modern definition. The ancient Greek would understand phusis as nature, not in the panoramic sense we have today but more as something innate; each thing has its own nature. Nature as phusis includes the meaning of being born, the kind of growth and duration that accompanies the coming into presence of any thinga thought, an object, an emotion, or a sensation. It's a kind of physicality that strikes us as right or relevant, as evident in the feeling of a mat as it is in the feeling of a thought or a technique. It is the very essence of a dynamic stability evident in the appearance of anything. In other words, perception and cognition are not things that happen to us, but rather things we do. Things and beings interacting bring with them their nature in a greater movement, an abiding sway. In the course of a life, one can steer one's self into union with nature via training, not employing a technique but by becoming one with that technique, Nature's technique. The practitioner blends their practice with their true nature to make new modes of action second nature. The Greeks called this process phusiopoiesis: making one's nature a seconding of the unceasing movement, ordering, and presencing of Nature. In fact, it was a central concept along with kairos (timing) in ancient Greek martial arts training. Kairos had an ethical, aesthetic, and pragmatic meaning, referring to the impact of the right technique applied at the right time for the right reason. Phusis and kairos were related, not as matter and time are in modern physics, but related to a kind of knowing that one could

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achieve through training. Knowing in this sense indicates a kind of physicality and awareness, which, when present together, show us life itself-making us yearn to train more, to be able to enact our knowledge not only now and then but for as long we live. It entails a pliancy, a flexibility of thought and action that Feldenkrais called reversibility. " ... it is bad in Judo to try for anything with such determination as not to be able to change your mind if neces-

sary ... " (p. 94). Like judo and science, Kano and Feldenkrais make appeals to principles. Principles are the universal constraints, the scaffolding and the backbone of a disciplined practice. However, it is true of both judo and the Feldenkrais Method that ultimately, in certain moments, one achieves a freedom, an "independence from heritage," a kind of movement that allows the living of the "principle of no principle." It's a kind of action, not unfamiliar to high-level judoka, needing no forethought and leaving no residue. Principles are nothing if not put into practice and for that one needs the body of knowledge of judo, a good teacher, and self-motivated discipline. You may have come to this book for the self-defense techniques. No doubt, if you are a serious student of the martial arts, you will find it invaluable for its techniques. To master them may require a reeducation of one's self more thoroughgoing than simply making a few adjustments in reaction to attack. You may have come looking

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for a higher meaning, a deeper meaning, in the study of judo. If so, you will have to acknowledge the amount of investment in mat time that is necessary. Students and teachers of the Feldenkrais Method are indebted to Feldenkrais's study of judo for the insights it yielded into mind and body; the Feldenkrais Method is, in a sense, an extrapolation from these insights, thereby making them available to a much greater audience. Whatever reason you have for picking it up, the book you hold in your hands bears reading and rereading and, above all, supports putting the Way into practice. - Dennis Leri San Rafael, California, October 2010

T H E PRI NCIPLE OF N O PRINCIPLE

Feldenkrais and Kawaishi demonstrating jujutsu.

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Feldenkrais and Kawaishi demonstrating jujutsu.

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Point

by Mati Nativ

Higher Judo: Groundwork represents a turning point in Dr. Feldenkrais's life. This book was written at the end of a period of intensive activity as a martial artist, particularly as a judoka. Following this period, he essentially retired from the martial arts and began to invest his time and energy in developing and promoting his method of adult reeducation, known today as the Feldenkrais Method. This volume was Feldenkrais's last publication devoted to the martial arts. It contains an amalgam of ideas and principles that formed the seminal concepts of the Feldenkrais Method. The ideas and terms expounded in the first four chapters of Higher Judo could easily, with only minor changes, be taken for part of Feldenkrais's early writings about his method. This connection becomes obvious when considering the fact that Feldenkrais was working on Higher Judo concurrently with Body and Mature Behavior (1949) and The Potent Self (not published until 1985), which were all written during the period from 1946 to 1948. In Higher Judo, Feldenkrais states, "The essential aim of Judo is to teach, help and forward adult maturity, which is an ideal state rarely reached, where a person is capable of dealing with the immediate present task before him without being hindered by earlier formed habits of thought or attitude" (from

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the Introduction, pp. xii-xiii). Replace the term "judo" with f