Introduction

I remember my first Anatomy lecture at the medical school of the University of Witwatersrand with Prof. Tobias

Philip Tobias
Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy and Human Biology, succeeding and Doctor of Science in palaeoanthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He introduced a pair of black belt judoka and ballerinas to the students, before taking the Hippocratic Oath and  dissecting cadavers.  Professor  Tobias wanted us to understand that the Hippocratic Oath was a promise to respect human dignity. We were going to dissect the body into all its parts over the year.

ANATOMY COMES ALIVE
Pas de deux
Ashley Davidoff Photography
TheCommonVein.net

Japanese judoka Jigoro Kano(right) and Kyuzo Mifune(left).
Wikipedia Public Domain

The judoka and ballet dancers were to remind us how these parts working together brought perfection: parts making the whole, and the whole bigger than the parts. This philosophy has remained with me all my life.

 

The Whole is Bigger than the Parts
The organs make up the body and when they work together the result is a miracle
Ashley Davidoff MD
TheCommonVein.net

The organs themselves are formed by the cells which are the basic building blocks of the tissues and organs

Cell to Soul
How does the cell get to Dance?
It all starts with the cell, which bonds and connects with other cells forming the tissiues which in turn form the organs. The organs do likewise, bond with other organs and form sytems, and the systems then do likewise to form the body. These accumulations function together allowing the body to have the ability to dance and able to express an inner spark of life called the soul
Ashley Davidoff
TheCommonVein.net