Pilates takes its name from its innovator, Joseph H Pilates. Born in Dusseldorf in 1880, Pilates was a sickly child who had to contend with asthma, rheumatic fever and rickets. In an attempt to restore and maintain his health, a young Joseph Pilates studied Eastern Disciplines such as Martial Arts, yoga, tai chi and Zen meditation; also Western Disciplines such as boxing, body building and other recreational sports. He was also an accomplished diver, skier and gymnast. By 14, Pilates had refined his body to such an extent that he was posing for anatomical drawings.
Joseph moved to England in 1912, aged 32, where he worked as a professional boxer and taught self defence at Scotland Yard. He even worked as a strong man circus performer. At the outbreak of the First World War Pilates was interned as a German. During this enforced spare time he encouraged other internees to stay active. This is where Pilates started to develop a new approach to exercise, which would later develop into what we now call Pilates. Later in the war he worked as an orderly in a hospital. Recognising the value of a healthy body for a healthy mind, and vice versa, he set about attaching springs to the patients’ hospital beds to provide resistance and support for their ailing limbs. Pilates had found a way to make exercise accessible for everyone; even those who were bedridden for months. This first piece of exercise equipment was later to be named the Trapeze Table, shortly followed by the Reformer which was designed like a sliding bed.
After the 1st World War Joseph returned to Germany where he worked with pioneers of movement such as Rudolph Laban. Eventually word spread of the physical results Pilates could achieve and he was ordered to train the new German Army. A pacifist, he set sail to New York where he met his wife Clara who was a nurse. On arrival they set up the first Pilates Body Conditioning Studio, which housed Reformers, Trapeze table/Cadillac and small equipment; the design of which is still used today.
Joseph Pilates' exercise system, originally named Contrology, was invaluable to the dancers, circus performers and gymnasts of the day as a form of body conditioning and injury prevention. Many say he was the unsung hero of the dance world as he saved numerous careers. As word spread of the results which regular Pilates could achieve, many celebrities and actors flocked to his studio to stay trim and youthful for the cameras and Hollywood.
Pilates always believed he was 50 years ahead of his time. Many believe Pilates is needed now more than ever to condition people’s bodies so they may live a pain free and fulfilled life. In recent years even the medical profession has begun to see the benefits which the Pilates exercise system can bring to people’s lives.
After Joseph's death in 1967, at the age of 87, his work was carried on by a few trusted protégés, including Romana Kryzanowska, Jay Grimes, Eve Gentry, Ron Fletcher, M Buckingham, Carola Trier, Mary Bowen, Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel. It was Carola Trier and Bob Fitzgerald with whom Alan Herdman worked extensively when training in New York in the late 1960’s. Alan Herdman was the first to bring Pilates to the UK, opening the first fully equipped Pilates Studio in London in 1970. Each year Alan selects a handful of apprentices to study under his guidance and this is where I studied from 2005/2006.
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