"The purpose of the study of judo is to
perfect yourself and contribute to society"
— Kano Jigoro
When I met Moshe Feldenkrais in Amherst, Massachusetts, in June 1981, he was 77 years old. He was a vibrant, fascinating, and charismatic gentleman. Even with his advanced age, you could clearly see the traces of his mastery of martial arts in his carriage.
Starting in 1933, Feldenkrais headed the Jujutsu section of the École Spéciale des Travaux Publics de la ville de Paris, located in the Latin Quarter. It was then that he met Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, who encouraged him to study this method. In 1936, Moshe established the Jujitsu Club de France with his teacher, Mikonosuke Kawaishi. That year, he earned the rank of shodan, first-degree black belt; he went on to achieve the rank of second-degree black belt (nidan) in 1938.
While we have photos of Moshe from that period, some of which caught him mid-motion, they are merely static snapshots. It was always problematic, if not impossible, for me to imagine him in action in the dojo, dynamic and potent in his prime. That is until I discovered a rare gem: a judo demonstration filmed in 1939, months before the start of the Second World War, by the pioneering French film company Pathé. This brief Pathé Journal newsreel is a true treasure for martial arts enthusiasts and Feldenkrais aficionados alike, offering a dynamic glimpse of Moshe in his prime.
To access this fascinating film, you first need to create an account on the GP archives website, named after Gaumont and Pathé, the founders of the French film industry. (Please note that I’m providing the link for the English version of the site.) Signing up for an account is absolutely free. Once you receive your account, you can search for “demonstration of judo” to find the film clip. Alternatively, you can log in and then click on this link.
Though the film is less than 30 seconds long and Moshe is featured only a fraction of that time, its historical significance is immeasurable. Even in the brief seconds he appears, you can see the fluidity and precision of his movements and his effortless, delightful physical mastery, a hint of the deeply embodied understanding of biomechanics — and joy in action — that would later inform his teaching.
This short movie is an incredibly rare opportunity to witness Moshe in motion in the early days, a precious opportunity to witness the man behind the method. Don’t take my word for it; please take the chance to see for yourself.
If you take me up on this invitation to watch the film, I would be most grateful if you took a few moments to share your thoughts in the comments below.
I am deeply grateful to my French colleague Carmen Llerenas for bringing this film to my attention. I also want to express my heartfelt thanks to my Israeli colleague and friend, the martial artist and historian Moti Nativ, for his unwavering dedication to unearthing the history of Moshe’s early years. His passion for chronicling and preserving our lineage is genuinely inspiring; his efforts have enriched our understanding of Moshe's legacy.
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Responses:
Karin -January 01, 1970
While waiting for a Pathe account, I did an internet search and found a couple posts on Facebook with the video (29 seconds) including: https://www.facebook.com/mindinmotiononline/posts/heres-a-rare-video-clip-of-moshe-feldenkrais-demonstrating-judo/3427716160604841/ All roads lead to Rome! Or something like that. Watching it is mesmerising, • A dance of two nervous systems • Lightness of being • Embodied freedom • Moving with, not against, the other • Falling with grace, rising with ease • Life as play • My two cats having a mock-fight • Resilience, the ups and downs of life I’m curious about the breathing, I sense it being light and easy. It seems fitting that the video is on infinite replay. Thanks for the links to the background on judo and its connections with self-belief and freedom. Will follow up. Also this all makes me think about the development of modern postural yoga, some interesting cross-references.
Hello Karin - Thank you so much for doing the research and finding this link. I appreciate the reminder! I don't even remember posting the link to the Mind in Motion account nearly five years ago. It's humbling but not such a big surprise because I was recovering from surgery, chemo, and radiation back then. I'm curious about the connections to modern postural yoga you saw. I was thinking how it would be interesting to find the relationships with the canon of Moshe's Awareness Through Movement lessons. -
karin -January 01, 1970
I hesitated to share the link back to the past post because personally I find it sometimes disconcerting, unnerving while at other times pleasing, reconfirming to discover I’ve done something before and apparently forgotten it; but the impulse is still there, embedded at some level, beyond the fingertips. This always gives me some insight, if not always comfortable, but always something I learn from. Of course, I am sad to hear your very likely explanation for having forgotten so much water under the bridge. This takes me to a more important theme I can’t really make my mind up about, which is about ‘living independently from the past’. I wrote these words down from your recent class, now can’t find a link to it. Is that a quote from you or from MF and did I write that down in the wrong words? I can’t decide how I feel about the idea of ‘living independently from the past’. On the one hand, at first, it seems highly desirable and resonates a lot. On the other hand, I reject it entirely. I want to continue to develop my relationship with the/my past in order to move with freedom and courage with the whole self from the heart in the world. (Another question I have is how did Moshe Feldenkrais define ‘the whole self’ as it’s a phrase that is regularly used in lessons?) I don’t expect answers to any of these questions, they are good to live with as Rilke advised in his Letters to a Young Poet. https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/06/01/rilke-on-questions/ And regarding the links with modern postural yoga, I did whizz back to consult Yoga Body by Mark Singleton when I wrote this in my previous comment, but I need to do more thinking about it and remind myself of stuff I used to know before I say anything more. I would love to explore the links between the ATMs and yoga – that would be a long project. In the meantime I find these dialogues revitalising. Thank you for prompting this interesting thought process. I appreciate what you share and invite people to think about.
Hello Karin - Thanks for continuing the conversation. Yes, Moshe spoke about living independently from our past. My understanding is that he didn't mean to forget or dissociate from the past. Instead, I believe he was suggesting that what happened before, our responses to it, and how they have become habitual need not determine what we do now. Thank you so much for reminding me of Rikle's sage advice: "I want to beg you, as much as I can, dear sir, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer." As far as the connection between ATM and yoga, it was only a few years ago that I learned that Moshe and Mia Segal studied yoga together for several years. The relationship is not incidental or haphazard. As with Judo, Moshe's methodology incorporated and built on previous approaches and traditions. -
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