IFF Committee Wants Change. The Holy Ones Say “NO.”
(As Per the Script)
Products that are still evolving, delivered to a market that is still emerging, using technology that is changing on a daily basis – Kent Foster, GTE
Kent Foster is a business person talking about the ever changing economy of ideas that we live in. Unfortunately, the reality of that world has not caught up with many of “trainers” Feldenkrais Guild of North Americs who still live in the fantasy world of believing that a product (yea, it’s a product, deal with that fact) that does not change, does not do what its intended to do and does not evolve can somehow gain traction in the world.
Feldenkrais trainers such as Paul Rubin can barely attract a dozen people into their training programs and yet they passionately write that everything is fine and must stay the same. It is mind boggling. I never realized such institutionalized incompetence could exist outside the halls of academia and religion. I guess that’s what happens when you have a legal monopoly and people who are hell bent on keeping it, regardless of its futility.
“Umm…How about a little context man?!”
Sorry, sorry. I keep forgetting. Many of you are members of the FGNA and are thus not kept up to date with what’s going on at the International Feldenkrais Federation (IFF) or elsewhere in the community. The FGNA, like most bureaucratic institutions doesn’t like to get its hand dirty by taking on complex issues.
What I am speaking to today is the IFF’s Structural Review Group Report. The report made a number of practical suggestions and notations including:
“we have been attempting to regulate quality (of practitioners) through complex rules and regulations, while a more effective way to ensure quality is through culture. By this we mean that we need to rely on the baseline purposes and principals that underlie our training policy, and then encourage a culture of learning, investigation, sharing, innovation, even competition, to encourage quality”
How dare those bastards say that!! You want a method that is based on organic learning and development to have a governing structure to match it? Shame on you! Just kidding. It sounds like a great idea to me. Why not try to use a distal pathway to effect change rather than the 25+ year proximal path – control from on high, regulated by the feldenkrias trainers/gurus/overlords. The report goes on to state:
“it does not make sense to include TABs as members of the IFF, and we recommend that TAB membership in IFF come to an end.”
And:
“…the best practical change we as a community could make would be to shift responsibility for training and accreditation to the national-guild level. Then the national associations and guilds could adopt training policies which suit the regulatory climate in their countries.”
So on others words, they want to fit the lesson to the person – or in this case, to the culture. The SRC committee no longer wants to imitate the legal, law and medical professions. They want to create something organic. It sounds like a wonderful start. But of course, the IFF committee forgot one small idea: those from the trainer class who are not interested in change.
What Do The “Trainers” Think of the Recommendations?
I am sure there are some trainers in support of the changes, but they must be wearing their “cloaks of invisibility.” I didn’t read any positive comments. Here’s Elizabeth Beringer, sounding like a wounded child:
“How is it that a totally inexperienced group got all this IFF money and consultants and it goes directly to the full IFF board. Whereas I’ve been at so many meeting coming up with great ideas and consensus on some changes that go nowhere?”
Yea, Elizabeth, like TOTALLY! It’s not fair!! “How come they get to have ice cream without finishing their spinach? I want ice cream too!! And besides, their like, TOTALLY inexperienced and I’m almost 5 years old now!” Sorry, Beth. Life’s not fair. Risk takers and those who are independent have the opportunity to get rewarded. That is one of many reasons that people like Mia Segal, Ruthy Alon, Chava Shelhav, Anat Baniel, Michael Krugman and many others are actually getting known in the real world and making contributions. On the other hand, you serve admirably on committees, but don’t get to make much of a contribution. Perhaps you should learn something from that. Ever hear of “learning how to learn”?
Here’s part of the response from David Zemach-Bersin-Feldenkrais
“In the SRG letter, we are told that a small group have had a ‘revelation’ that the TAB’s should no longer be part of the IFF, and that all educational and training program policies should now be determined and regulated by each individual country.”
Oh, shit!! Now that is TOO funny. King David himself had a revelation years ago. You already know about it. What Moshe Feldenkrais really wanted was a religious hierarchy created in his name with David at the head. Suddenly, a letter magically appeared, making David and his buddies, the “Lords of the New Feldenkrais Church®” with right to call themselves “Trainers.” A term, by the way, that Moshe never used. So yes, Bersin knows all about revelation. “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord and Pass the Service Marks!” Divine revelation is the basis of Bersin’s entire career, which sadly, has become the basis for the entire bondoogle of the feldenchrist method mess.
His Holiness the David Bersin, goes on to write:
“Do we really imagine that by de-internationalizing training policies, by making the TAB’s more vulnerable to political pressures from a few people, will bring us closer to well examined and well developed standards?”
And:
“I suggest that the IFF and the Feldenkrais educational community….not make rushed decisions based on who speaks the loudest, to not make the easy decisions, but rather to make responsible decisions that will serve and protect our work in an enduring way rather than serve the interests of the few.”
I’m speechless. (Though, apparently I can still type). David Bersin lives and breathes the ethic that Moshe and his work should be controlled by a few. After 30+ years of being a feldenchrist cult leader he still tries to present himself as “sharing Moshe’s legacy.”
Feldenkrais Trainer by Fiat
Perhaps many of you do not know this, but David Bersin and his buddies are Feldenkras trainers by fiat. They are trainers because they declared themselves to be trainers. It was a legal and political process, not one based on merit. The guild came to power only after Moshe died. And the policies certifying new trainers had nothing – nothing – to do with Dr. Feldenkrais. The initial rules of the feldenkrais church, allowed the first group of American assistants (of which little David was one) to become trainers after 3 three years of practicing! THREE YEARS. Soon that was expanded to 5 years, then 10. Now, it’s ten years on paper, but the reality is 15 to 20 years – IF you can get certified at all.
And why should the trainer class certify their competition? What would be the reason? If a trainer can get barely make a living from his own trainings why would you expect him or her to certify new trainers? Hey! I just had an idea. Let’s do what the Catholic Church does and make trainer certification only available after death! That should limit the competition. “You have now been canonized as a Feldenkrais Trainer. Good luck in the after life.”
Seriously, many of these trainers are simply nuts. They are drunk on their own self-importance, doing their best to keep hold of a monopoly that they themselves created. Any change is seen as bad. They don’t want to open pandora’s box and find that practitioners discover their own power.
Just a few more quotes and I will end. This one is from St. Paul Rubin de San Francisco. Paul Rubin is one who makes no reservations of the fact that his entire professional identity comes from Moshe. He proudy states on his website that he is:
“…one of only 80 people to have completed training entirely under Dr. Feldenkrais and to have received diploma from him. Additionally, Dr. Feldenkrais served as Chair of Paul’s PhD committee at the Humanistic Psychology institute 1975-1978.”
Yes, yes, of course. And Rubin forgot to add: “Moshe told me that I am very handsome, and smart too!! My daddy is a fireman and my mommy is a school teacher.” Good lord. In other words, Moshe Feldenkrais signed Paul Rubin’s permission slip! Isn’t that special? One can only assume that if Rubin had done anything more recent he would have mentioned it on his website.
What does Lord Rubin think of the SRC’s recomendations?
“The policies that govern the creation of new Feldenkrais Teachers/Practitioners should never be trivialized to become about providing employment opportunities for people who wish to perform the functions of Assistants, Trainers and Educational Directors.”
???? What in the hell that statement has to do with the SRC’s proposal, I do not know. But it certainly speaks volumes about where Rubin’s concern lies. He simply does not want any change that would result in more competition for himself and his buddies. The need of the practitioners and assistants be damned! Who the hell do they think they are wanting to a chance to do meaningful work in the community in which they were trained? Thus speaks Lord Rubin:
“Let them eat cake.”
One final quote:
“…in the current atmosphere of false urgency to enable change, I simply have to raise these issues. There is great danger in over-fixing a system that in many respects is working well and is improving each year.”
There you have it people. The final pronouncement from Paul Rubin: “Everything is working fine. Nothing here to see. Just move along.”
When it comes down to it, I can’t say that I blame him for saying that. He did sell his soul to become a trainer. And he did give up any chance of meaningful organic development in order to become a simulacrum of Moshe. He must feel entitled to some payback for becoming a golem. Ditto for David Bersin et al.
cheers – Ryan
Hi!
as i read your articles i start to ask myself questions like
“Does anything that i know about Moshe from his books says can justify existence of such bureaucratic organisations?”
“Is there any development of FM that comes from the officials structures not from individuals as Ruthy Alon or Anat Baniel?”
As far as i know the answer is – No.
For me to see such powerful method (not a placebo as most of psychotherapies but a real thing) to stagnate and struggle to survive in shadows of the past is almost a physical pain.
And i see a lot of pure (almost) commercial self-help methods based on limited experience of their authors market aggressively and successfully providing no more than temporary relief and another delusion. Or things like pilates or core-strentgh exercises that everybody knows about.
What the hell?
Is it arrogant and childish belief of people in charge that efficient method will market itself or just rigidity?
From my point of view the duty of Moshe pupils is at least to fulfill his dream of making Method accessible for everyone not to hide it from the world.
Hey Ryan,
I’m newly re-discovering your postings. To me the recommendations of the SRC seem to suggest going from distal (hierarchy, power over) to proximal (“a culture of learning, investigation, sharing, innovation, even competition”), your metaphor seems reversed to me. But your points, in-between rants, are well-taken.
Wow, Ryan! I don’t know whether to laugh or cringe, or both! I so agree with the content of this blog, and I love the in-your-face spirit of it. On the other hand, the intensely sarcastic tone doesn’t seem to invite much dialogue. The Feldenkrais hierarchy is so ossified and stultifying that it needs an infusion of in-your-face energy, and I’m glad to see it receiving that. But I feel that what I can only hear as personal attacks on the TAB “authorities” are not very skillful.
BTW, in response to your blog about DZB and “The Advanced Workshop That Wasn’t,” I must say that I trained with David and have done a couple of advanced trainings with him, and I disagree with your sense that he doesn’t think FI can be taught in a workshop setting or at least that he doesn’t know how to do it well. While many of your descriptions of his behavior sound familiar, the workshop sounds really, really bad, and your outrage seems merited, I have learned an awfully lot about FI from David’s teaching.
At his best as a teacher, DZB’s embodied understand of FI is so transparent and luminous that it comes through as a kind of direct transmission–maybe much the same way as Moshe’s presence affected his students. And DZB has said things about FI that have stayed with me and helped me in my own work for clients for years.
Hi all – thanks for you comments. Sorry it took so long for me to post them. Looking forward to replying in detail after the weekend. (I need a break from my computer)
- Ryan
Interesting Sunday morning reading…with lots of parallels to the pilates “professionalization” process. Ahhh…communication! Keep typing, Ryan! : )
I was wondering for some time now,how after 3 years of training the young people could just become trainers, while they seemed to have pushed the older trained people from Isreal aside.
Then the rest of us new trainers cannot somehow do the same thing!
It is all organic learning for all. We all learn differently. We all share things differently.
There are no two teachers alike in any system, modality.
If this work is to become more mainstream, there needs to be many changes. Will it be Feldenkrais? No one is Feldenkrais, but Moshe himself!
Thank you for opening up this can of worms Ryan!
This is a broader context Ryan but it is not enough in my opinion. Next step is to understand how the structural review group got nominated, who they represent and how they got their mandate. The IFF is an international organization but review the nomination structure in the countries involved, the guilds in the countries involved, the unpaid volontary work of the officers & reps etc etc. From the outside those organizations look like nice democratic organizations with an hierarchical structure. I know a little bit more than the average about some of
Ryan Writes: “Feldenkrais trainers such as Paul Rubin can barely attract a dozen people into their training programs and yet they passionately write that everything is fine and must stay the same…….I guess that’s what happens when you have a legal monopoly and people who are hell bent on keeping it, regardless of its futility.”
So my brain wonders this:
How did Moshe’s Amherst training have 250+ people in a time when this stuff was a little woo woo, it wasn’t even a METHOD and there was no internet to virally promote it?
It worked because what he was doing was of quality. He simply wanted to share his findings and create some good. People talked about it – word spread…I think it’s time to remember such tactics…
Given our times and what this stuff is about (human evolution if you really look at it) the occupancy of our trainings should be a log of infinity. Definitely not 12.
but, all the IFF/SRC and political mumbo ‘trademarking” gumbo put aside….I will take this sideways viewpoint:
If you look at one of the reasons as to WHY the Declaration of Independence was constituted, a big reason was to make known the violation of King George the 3rd and that he was unfit to rule….
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”
I do think we need to continue to bring such “facts” to our little “candid FEldenkrais world”, especially if there are trainers out there who sense it is their God given right to hold power over how this work evolves and the teaching of it – if so, I would urge and suggest that those of us who aren’t afraid of collaboration and sharing and evolving Moshe work to create our own Declaration so we can get on with it and do great Work.
I spent 15000 euros in a PROFESSIONAL training, after completion leaving me with no structure and no job perspective. Every next-door-massage-school provides better structure and job outlook. The only answer I got repeatedly is “you’re welcome to join my advanced training”. This means there’s no income or financial return, but only encouragement to spend more money.
So I see just two job profiles here:
1. the risk taker, like you described above. But for this you don’t need a four years professional training (tom myers/anatomy trains for example didn’t complete his feldenkrais training, i guess he left after 3 years when he had the feeling he had to move on …. like luke skywalker or something) and no devotion to a certain trainer or guild.
2. becoming a trainer, but as it is a pyramid and there are only so many students, there can only be so many trainers. no wonder regulations are so strict.
What I’ve learned in the feldenkrais professional training is part of the most valuable things I’ve ever learned in my live. The Feldenkrais Method is the most profound stuff I know and I’ve looked at I guess everything that’s out there. Including Yoga, Rolfing, Accupuncture, Gurdjieff, you name it.
So right now I’m busy with (1.) and to find out how to employ what I’ve learned in a way that many people can benefit from it, as well generates income for me. I guess Ryan and many others are doing the same. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that pyramid ship will sink eventually.
Thank you Ryan, once again, for illuminating this convoluted mess!
I agree Irene, let’s get on with collaborating, sharing, and evolving this great work that Moshe created!