… when Ida Rolf integrates structure, as nobody else can, she improves functioning…. Rolfing was a revealing and unforgettable experience for me.1</i>

This quote from Moshe Feldenkrais appears on the back cover of Dr. Rolf?s classic text Rolfing and Physical Reality, and yet the majority of SI practitioners know very little about Moshe Feldenkrais, other than perhaps having a vague notion that he developed some type of bodywork. In fact, Moshe and Ida were friends and colleagues, and they had a significant influence on each other.

Moshe Feldenkrais lived quite an interesting life. Like Dr. Rolf, he was a brilliant scientist. He was educated at the Sorbonne and during the course of his career he worked in the lab of Madame Curie. His movement background developed from his studies with the founder of modern Judo, becoming one of the first European black belts, and he eventually wrote several books on the subject.

Also like Dr. Rolf, his explorations were motivated by looking for solutions to problems the medical profession at that time couldn?t adequately address. During World War II, Feldenkrais worked with the British Admiralty on developing sonar technology for submarine detection; climbing around cramped subs and slick decks aggravated an old knee injury. Doctors told him surgery was the only option, although they couldn?t promise success. Not liking the odds, he told them he would fix the problem himself, and proceeded to do exactly that, synthesizing ideas from a huge variety of subjects ranging from biomechanics to hypnosis, meditation, and psychology.2

A fellow scientist became intrigued with the work Feldenkrais was doing and asked to work with him. What had started as a process of self-discovery evolved into the Feldenkrais Method as he figured out how to apply his discoveries to working with others.3 The hands on technique he developed for working with individuals he later came to call Functional Integration®. He also developed a verbally led process that could be taught to groups, which he called Awareness Through Movement®. By the mid-1950s, Feldenkrais had moved to Tel Aviv and had given up his science career in order to work with his method full time, gaining some degree of recognition in Israel.

The biography of Ida Rolf, as found on the websites of many Structural Integration practitioners, contains the line, ?During the 1950s, her reputation spread to England where she spent summers as a guest of John Bennett, a prominent mystic and student of Gurdjieff.?4 This doesn?t quite capture the whole of the situation?Dr. Rolf was participating in something much larger than simply vacationing as the houseguest of a friend. J.G. Bennett was recognized as a student and then teacher of the ideas of Gurdjieff, and founded the Institute for the Comparative Study of History, Philosophy, and the Sciences ?…to investigate the origin and elaboration of scientific hypothesis and secular and religious philosophies and their bearing on general theories of Man and his place in the universe.?5 Initially, it was essentially a Gurdjieff study group, but over time, the ideas and teachings of numerous other esoteric teachers were explored at their center, Coombe Springs, where hundreds of people visited, participating in various lectures and courses. It was in this environment that Moshe met Ida, at a demonstration she gave in 1958, after which he received a series of sessions from her.

There are various accounts of what happened next, depending on who is doing the telling and who they prefer to paint in a more positive light. In the audio archives of Dr. Rolf teaching (1969-1970), Ida tells the story of Moshe coming to her after his sessions, ?He looked at me and there were actually tears in his eyes, and he said, ?I can?t tell you how I envy you.? He said, ?You do in ten hours what I try to do in two hundred and I don?t get done.? And he went back, and he was really completely sincere in the matter. And I?ve never seen him since.?6 Yet in other lectures from around the same time frame she mentions speaking with Moshe just a year or so previously, and is able to give his address from memory off the top of her head. Other stories end with Ida being the one in tears, Moshe saying she would cry on his shoulder. Still others end with Ida and Moshe having a big falling out and not reconciling until meeting again in person in the mid 1970s.7

It?s impossible to determine to what extent Feldenkrais influenced Dr. Rolf?s work. Feldenkrais claimed that she gave him credit as one of her teachers as a result of his first book Body and Mature Behaviour. Certainly, she frequently mentioned this book in her teaching, usually in some reference to his idea that negative emotional states are expressed through flexion movements.8 She mentions him in one of her earliest published articles, ?Gravity, an Unexplored Factor in a More Human Use of Human Beings,? (incidentally published in the first issue of Systematics, the journal of J.G. Bennett?s organization), again in the context of Feldenkrais? ideas of how emotional states are expressed physically.

SI practitioners frequently say, it?s our understanding of gravity, one of the hallmarks of Structural Integration, that is unique. Repeated on countless brochures and websites, we read, ?Gravity is the Therapist,? and, ?This is the gospel of Rolfing: when the body gets working appropriately, the force of gravity can flow through. Then, spontaneously, the body heals itself.? Part of our belief in a unique perspective on gravity and the body may be traced back to Dr. Rolf directly, ?We are the only group that recognizes that in order for a living body to be at ease in it?s spatial environment on earth, gravity must be able to deal positively with it.?9 Unfortunately, that is simply incorrect. Structural Integration is not the only group to recognize this; Feldenkrais taught almost the same idea. In fact the subtitle of Body and Mature Behaviour is A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation, and Learning, and at least 3 of the chapters deal at length with the relationship of the body to the gravitational field. Given the emphasis on gravity in her teaching, and her obvious familiarity with Feldenkrais and his writings, it?s almost a glaring omission that, in the number of documented passing references Ida Rolf made regarding Feldenkrais, she doesn?t speak to this shared perspective. The mythology in some circles might be that Structural Integration emerged from the totally original ideas of Dr. Rolf, with perhaps a slight acknowledgement to yoga and/or osteopathy; her true genius was more likely an ability to synthesize ideas from a variety of sources into a workable whole. It?s hard to argue against Feldenkrais being one of those sources.

In the late 1950s, Feldenkrais traveled to the United States to present his work and met with what could best be described as a lukewarm reception. When he left, every indication was that he would not return. In the late 1960s, he taught his first professional training program to a group of thirteen students, most of whom had regularly attended his public Awareness Through Movement classes. In 1971 Moshe reluctantly agreed to return to the U.S. to teach an Awareness Through Movement workshop at Esalen Institute. As was the case with Rolfing before, it was the presentation at Esalen that was the catalyst for huge growth and acceptance of the Feldenkrais Method®. What isn?t generally known is Dr. Rolf?s role in bringing about Feldenkrais? initial Esalen engagement.

Will Schutz first heard of Feldenkrais when studying with Dr. Rolf. Figuring if the man was half as good as Rolf claimed, then he had to be an utter genius, Schutz traveled to Israel to track down Feldenkrais. As one of Esalen?s leading figures, Schutz extended the teaching invitation, with the initial trip being funded by Schutz, Dub Leigh (who was also training with Rolf and had thus heard of Feldenkrais as well), and Betty Fuller (who went on to head the Trager organization). Publicity about Feldenkrais? work at Esalen led to the naming of his then untitled hands-on method after Structural Integration, and it became known as Functional Integration.10 Within four years, Feldenkrais would teach his second full-length training program, this time to sixty-five students in San Francisco. While several Rolfers apparently attended various shorter classes and workshops with Moshe, only two Rolfers were fully trained by both Rolf and Feldenkrais; Dub Leigh was one, and though information is somewhat sketchy, I believe Bob Prichard was the other. Dub Leigh was involved with organizing the Feldenkrais Guild®, helping to model it after the original Guild for Structural Integration.11

In 1980, Moshe Feldenkrais started his third full-length training program with almost 250 students, but he became ill halfway through the 4 year program and was unable to complete it, turning over teaching duties to several of his senior students before his death in 1984. It?s probably safe to say that if not for Dr. Rolf?s consistent praise, Feldenkrais never would have gotten the Esalen exposure which led to these second two training programs and the formation of the Feldenkrais Guild, which continues to this day. So if Feldenkrais influenced the ideas that developed into Structural Integration, Ida Rolf certainly returned the favor in helping the Feldenkrais Method develop in the world.

Hearing stories from students of both Ida and Moshe, and searching through recordings and transcripts where they occasionally mention each other, the impression I?m left with is that while they may have had some minor arguments, for the most part, Moshe and Ida agreed with and had great respect and fondness for each other, as evidenced when one reads the quote from the back cover of Rolfing and Physical Reality, here in its original context:

<div class=’indented’>Dear Ida,
Happy Birthday to you!
It gives me great pleasure to express on this occasion my admiration for your work and the feeling of love for your work and the feeling of love for your person.
We first met many years ago in Coomb Springs, Kensington, if my memory does not fail me, when Pak Subud came to England. You Rolfed Mrs. Subud and one day you demonstrated your work to a large audience. I was in the theatre to see something that promised to be interesting.
You suddenly called my name and asked me to be your observer to tell the audience what I saw you doing and to comment on it. You solved my puzzle of how you knew my name by referring to my earliest book. I was watching your marvelous performance and let you know that by asking to be Rolfed by you. At the time Rolfing was not yet a verb, but your Rolfing was a revealing and unforgettable experience for me.
Now that I am writing to you, I would like you to know that I know of few people of your intellectual integrity. I mean people who created something and do exactly what they say they are doing. You need not do more than you say, in as much as what you do is already extraordinary. Your teaching is as unique as your insight and your skill. Structural Integration and Functional Integration have more in common than the word which connects them. Indeed, in the case of humans, structure and function are meaningless, one without the other; so that nolens volens, when you integrate structure, as nobody else can, you improve functioning.
The sharpness of your intellect and your indefatigable spirit can age but never grow old. I hope I will be there on your 100th birthday to wish you good health for the future.
Your old friend and admirer,
Moshe Feldenkrais12</div>

Notes

1. Rolf, Ida, 1977, Rolfing: Reestablishing the Natural Alignment and Structural Integration of the Human Body for Vitality and Well-Being. Rochester, Healing Arts Press.

2. A more detailed bio of Moshe Feldenkrais can be found on the web at:
<a href=’http://www.feldenkrais.com/method/a_biography_of_moshe_feldenkrais/’ target=’_blank’>http://www.feldenkrais.com/method/a_biography_of_moshe_feldenkrais/</a>

3. Feldenkrais, Moshe,1981, The Elusive Obvious. Capitola, CA, Meta Publications, p.89.

4. <a href=’http://rolfguild.org/idarolf.html’ target=’_blank’>http://rolfguild.org/idarolf.html</a>

5. <a href=’http://www.duversity.org/institute_2.htm’ target=’_blank’>http://www.duversity.org/institute_2.htm</a>

6. Ida Rolf audio archive, Tape B5 side 1

7. Carl Ginsburg, Feldenkrais® trainer, personal communication

8. Rolf, Ida, Rolfing and Physical Reality. 1978, Rochester Healing Arts Press, p. 98, 133, 134.

9. ibid p. 35.

10. ?Moshe Feldenkrais: The Silent Heritage,? Somatics. 5:1 (Autumn/Winter 1984-85), p. 30.

11. Feldenkrais, Moshe, San Francisco Feldenkrais® training program third year transcript, 1977.

12. Leigh, William, Bodytherapy: From Rolf to Feldenkrais to Tanouye Roshi. 1994, Honolulu, International Zentherapy Institute, Inc., p. 23.