Amherst Trainer: “The Old Battles Are Dead Ends”
In the previous post, “Beware Feldenkrais Trainers Bearing Grudges,” I promised to share with you the voice of a few trainers who have more balanced and inclusive ideas about the community. Below is a verbatim email as it was forwarded to me, only edited to delete several names:
“Thank you [names trainers] and others who see that the old battles are dead ends. Practitioners are flocking to Mia, Jochanan, and others who are not officially in the fold. There must be a reason. Perhaps some practitioners want to get a better feel for what the method is as transmitted by those closest to Moshe. Perhaps they want to enhance their awareness or learn new skills not avaiable otherwise.
The FM as a method has been twisted, distorted, over simplified, changed into movement work, a feel good work. a relaxation method, a new age business, etc. And I am only considering what those in the fully accredited guilds have produced including at times what official trainers have created to make their work popular and saleable. There is no way to control what people will do by creating service marks and protected domains. In Europe [there is no] service Mark in Germany and the world hasn’t ended. There are problems but not insurmountable. As for the crossover, there are many crossover practitioners who have contributed their skills and abilities to the work. They have added to the community, not detracted.
For myself I have learned much from Mia, Anat, etc. that I would not have learned otherwise. In many ways the FM is a difficult life long process to get to the gold that Moshe developed. Why do we continue to argue over politics when there is much work for us to do to perfect and expand what we have and figure out how to transmit what we have to new generations so they can do better than us. There are no limits except those we impose on ourselves and I applaud [name Of trainer] letter which points out how we can have creative cousins. I applaud innovation that takes us to new more powerful realms.”
How about that? Is it a message of hope?
I will have a great deal to say about the message in a future post. For I now, I want to take note of the trainer’s statement that practitioners are flocking to Mia Segal, Anat Baniel and others. I don’t actually know if people are “flocking” to them as I have not seen any numbers. But I do know that Guild-certified trainings are getting smaller in the United States- on average – and this has been happening for many years. What about in the rest of the world? Perhaps you can add a comment if you have more information.
Moshe’s Natural Monopoly
My own view of those “outside the fold” is that they have created what Moshe himself had – A natural monopoly. They are not the exclusive owner of any service marks and don’t try to own or control all aspects of their work. Rather, they are they are “the artist” if you will, or “the band” doing their work. They have the natural monopoly that comes from doing their own work and being their own person. Yes, they attribute Moshe and they give credit. But they themselves have marketing gravity and attention. And it’s not because of their relationship to Moshe, but because they chose the path of independence.
The attention and success that they have is something that a “Guild Trainer” will find very difficult to get. You can be succesful and noted within the Guild system. That’s wonderful. But when a person’s calls himself or herself a “Feldenkrais Trainer” they are, by definition, comparing themselves to a dead person. The comparison may be implied and it may not be immediately obvious to all, but it is there. In my view, it is an instant communication of second-rate status no matter how amazingly skilled the person may be. And similarly, a person who spends their time getting approval from lawyers, bureaucrats, committee members and the like and limits what they say and do to be a member of a rule and conformity-based system…well…look around…you can see the result. I’m not say it’s all bad. Who knows, it may even be necessary. But every decision that you make has consequences.
That’s all I’m saying.
Thank you Ryan for airing our laundry in such a creative way…you are digging for the gold; not muck-raking…well maybe a little muck must be raked…at any rate this is work that needs doing. I agree 100% with the writer above that we cannot ‘protect’ with service marks a dead man’s legacy; but we can create our own authority following the path of independence. All the zest, Deborah
Thanks Deborah. You are keying in one of the passages from above that I like as well – legal restrictions can only take us so far. More to come. – Ryan
i don’t get the point. cantcha write a bit more simple please? alll the feldies write like they are einstein, i can’t deal with thath, i am 21st century citizens, i need simple. ok.
Hey Puhf – Thanks for your message. Point taken. Generally speaking, Feldies tend to be a bit wordy. Even more so in my case, as I have way too much education. And a big chip on my shoulder. In your view, what specifically needs simplified? What questions to do you have? Thanks – Ryan
(And by the way – even though you are using a fake name, you are not anonymous. I know who you are…)
I’d like to argue this point Ryan (cause i can):
You say:
“The attention and success that they have is something that a “Guild Trainer” will find very difficult to get”
um…..well….here I go:
From my own personal experience, which has been all with guild trainers, or at least have been certified by the FGNA have been, and I will name them, “Jeff Haller, Jerry Karzen, Bonnie Humiston, Beatriz Walterspiel, Alan Questel, Katrin Smithback”…..I learned immensely from these folk. I learned SO SO much. It has been a blessing. I never thought ‘huh, FGNA trainer, they MUSt be out there comparing themselves to a dead guy”.
They do their work not because of the fact that they have been anointed with the FGNA status, but because, at least it seems, they have a desire to do good work and bring something forward and to others.
Since i finished my training, I have experienced other trainers, Mia was one of them, and I will admit, she didn’t blow me away, nor did she offer anything of great use to my practice. (It’s the plain truth. I feel, think, sense, that my training and how I took it in and applied it was pretty damn good. I know many don’t have this parallel experience, and it seems that now, many trainers are now seeking out and capitalizing on the ‘many’ floundering practitioners who feel they have been ‘sold short’ in their training programs and need help. It seems a big clean up is occurring to resurrect such folk. but that is an aside all to itself….. )
I will give Mia this much: it was just pleasurable to see such a wonderful women at her age still so full of vigour, life and vitality. That WAS a blessing – but in terms of depth into the work – not so much.
IN terms of learning a higher level of skill, having studied with Moshe intimately doesn’t cut it. For me, it is a question of what you have done to further your own understanding of what Moshe might have done, looking at all, ALL the content, transcripts, lectures, ideas etc., that he had synthesized and put forth and then really studying the inner workings of the human system – not for your own convenience, but for the deep interest on human evolution and how it might be better improved – it seems that is what this work is all about?! – all the pleasantries and niceties of beautiful grace which that mesmerize, seem childish and old after a while.
The trainers and also assistant trainers that I have encountered that I have learned from either in FI, personal communication the most and have furthered my understanding, and/or thru various other realms, especially in the projects I have been working on, (Dennis Leri, Roger Russell, Carl Ginsberg, Deb Bowes, Allison Rapp, Larry Goldfarb, Russell Delman, Robert Spencer, Sheryl Field, ALiza Stewart…sorry if I left someone out) have been priceless in so many ways –
Monopoly or not and whether they compare themselves to a dead person or not……
the main nectar (I think) is how and what they are imparting to those they come in contact with, and HOW and WHAT their purpose is when they get out of bed every morning……….At least I know that is how I function.
As always, Ryan, thanks for the intellectual stimulation. Irene.
Thanks Irene. I’m not really seeing where we disagree. They are all very talented people who do good work. To an extent you and I are already “within” the system so all the people you mentioned have a certain “cache” or star power or whatever. Though even that has its limits.
The people that I mentioned – Anat, Mia, etc. Have that “star power” within the system and also without. They have an additional way of reaching people. Anat and Mia, in particular, are brands, with or without Moshe Feldenkrais. The others that you mention? Not so much.
Excellent work ryan. Perhaps an organized revolt is in order.
I topped that with TOR, can’t be more anonymous man! (or am I d only feldy who could possibly know how to use this stuff?) what to simplify? I’ll show you! I underdid everything that has been done before! wait two months more. this will be huge …
Personal star power (and really good marketing) do create a “brand” for an individual. But those people too shall pass… and then how is their brand carried on? Probably by some kind of structure with rules and requirements, and relying on others skilled and adept in the true nature and power of the work, “the stuff that REALLY matters”.
To me, our big question is how well does the WORK speak – and how is THAT communicated and grown once Elvis Has Left The Building?
Moshe had star power. He did not leave a well-oiled organizational machine to carry on his work after he left – that has been the job of others to create. And that is or ought to be a “work in progress”, always looking at ways to improve as we learn from our experiences.
The old battles ARE dead ends. Let’s move on, in some different way. I think we need to create something that gets PAST individual stardom, that captures and communicates the huge power and beauty of this work, so that we can perhaps move beyond individual personalities (and all the stuff that tends to go on when lots of strong personalities are involved) and grow THE WORK.
cheers -
Violet
Thanks Violet. I agree with your sentiments to a certain extent, but it’s not a job that I personally will be taking on. I’d like to see the work get deeper and stronger within the culture but without a strong Guild or a governing body. And then when it gets strong enough, multiple organizations can grow out of that. I think that will require a great deal of free and open source materials and much cheaper and accessible trainings. But what will actually work…only time will tell.
cheers – Ryan
Thanks Puhf. Looking forward to seeing what you are up to. Your comments all come from the same IP address and your first one had your real name. So it was easy to put two and two together….
But all is well regardless. – Ryan
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ’0 which is not a hashcash value.
Ryan and all,
it is not a “natural monopoly” it is monopolistic competition where the actors (feldys) believe it is a monopoly and act accordingly.
A monopoly is created by “barriers” to entry.. Education requirements, money, restricted supply, guild membership and associated branding. Natural monopolies are where there are implicit barriers like sewer lines. There are few of these.
They think there is a unique product but really it is only a unique brand.
The reality is that the product/service of somatic type practices is endless and no barriers. As an old yogi I met said, you silly people have hot yoga or twisty yoga or skinny model yoga, all you need is the ground and air.
There are endless ways to be fed but only one mcdonalds. In monopolistic competitive markets the rational game is to create a well controlled brand and put it everywhere ie Starbucks. Or create a single niche and charge way too much and restrict output.
I am a monopoly as I offer a practice that is absolutely unique, but my market is serviced by all the churches and hospitals in the world. So it is a distinction that has no economic meaning. What you are pointing out is the trainers create the niche (expensive and restricted) and the trained get stuck with a horribly weak brand.
When people come to me and ask about trainings (maybe half a dozen in 15 years) I say if money and time don’t matter and you do it for yourself go for it, but it is an insanely bad economic choice.
Ps I quit my Econ phd program to become a feldy and quit feldenkrais to not be branded