Bruce Fertman
“Touch is my primary sense. I live like a blind man who just so happens is able to see. I see what I touch. I touch what I see. I have been helping people to move well, to be comfortable, poised, balanced, free, natural, and powerful for 62 years, since I was twelve years old, teaching kids how to swim, dive, and do gymnastics, and later teaching modern dance, Alexander Technique, tai chi, and aikido.”
Bruce’s work revolves around the relationship between body and being, touch and transformation, stability and mobility, knowledge and nurturance. He explores the overlap between the sensory and the sacred, language and learning, and between personal and planetary health.
Bruce directed the Alexander Alliance International for 40 years, founding schools and programs in America, Germany, Switzerland, England, Japan, and Korea. For ten years, he taught annually for the College of Physiotherapy in Gottingen, as well as throughout Japan for Physical Therapy Departments in major hospitals.
As a child, Bruce trained as a gymnast with Olympic coaches, and with Dan Millman, (author of The Peaceful Warrior), receiving a full scholarship to Penn State University. He was a professional modern dancer for 12 years, completing his Master’s degree in Movement Arts and Education at Temple University. For 8 years, he studied Tai Chi Chu’an in New York City at the Shr Jung Institute and in Philadelphia with Cheng man Ching’s six senior American students, and also for 8 years studied Aikido with Shuji Maruyama who, as a boy, lived and trained with Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. He was awarded a scholarship to study at the Uresenke School of Tea in Kyoto, Japan, with Iemoto Soshitsu Sen, the 15th generation grand tea master. Bruce studied Argentine Tango in Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Rome. He trained in Kyudo, (Zen Archery), in Osaka, Japan.
Author of Teaching by Hand/Learning by Heart – Delving into the Work of F.M. Alexander, he is recognized as one of the foremost writers on the Alexander Technique. Other works, The Way In ~ The Way Out: Renderings of the Tao Te Ching, and co-author of Walking Well with Michael Gelb.
In 2019, Bruce founded Grace of Sense, his online community/school, and in 2022 he founded the Walking Way. He leads 9-day Walking Way Gatherings in Coyote, New Mexico
Other teachers who have profoundly influenced Bruce’s teaching are Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Byron Katie, Claudio Naranjo, and David Abram.
Upcoming workshops
Dates: October 3-5 in Missoula, MT
Private instruction available Oct. 1-5
See workshop information.
Get ready for classes with Bruce
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