“The Pilates Method teaches you to be in control of your body and not at its mercy.”
Joseph Pilates
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in a village in Germany in 1883, to a father of Greek origin and a German mother.
As a sick child, suffering from asthma, rheumatoid fever and rickets, he devoted himself to the improvement of his physical health: he was introduced by his father to gymnastics, body building, martial arts and boxing. He also took long walks into the nature to observe and study the movements of animals, and practiced yoga. At 14 he was already trained enough to pose for the tables of anatomy books.
It was clear to him that a "modern" lifestyle, insufficient breathing, wrong posture and, in general, lack of movement were the root causes of poor health and, for this reason, he developed some exercises to be performed according to his precise guidelines, which constitute in an embryonic state the basis of his method. Moving to the UK in 1912, he became a self-defence coach at Scotland Yard Police School, among other things.
When the WW1 broke out, he was interned together with other German citizens, first at Lancaster Castle and later on the Isle of Man, and it was in this context that, observing the results of the training on his companions and developing his concept of integrated and comprehensive physical exercise applied to a precise repertoire of bodyweight exercises, the Contrology method definitely took its shape. And it is always in this context that he himself conceived and built, using the same infirmaries beds on which war veterans were forced due to their serious injuries, the first machines that initially had a rehabilitation purpose and would later become the Reformer and the other equipment.
Returning to Germany after the war, he collaborated with the famous dancer Rudolf Laban and other physical exercise experts.
But the turning point came when, in 1923, Pilates moved to NY. On the ship he met Clara, a nurse, who will become his wife and with whom he will open his Studio, not far from the headquarters of the New York City Ballet. Starting from that moment, an intense collaboration with the NY community of dancers and art-performers began, with choreographers of the caliber of George Balanchine and Martha Graham who would send to Joseph and Clara their students to train and rehabilitate following injuries. It is from this moment that Pilates´ Studio becomes popular in NY, welcoming numerous clients and numerous students that Pilates will personally train according to the principles of Contrology - and who will then open their respective studios thus starting the spread of the Method on a wider scale.
Pilates ran his own studio and continued to personally follow his clients and students until the late 1960s.
He died in 1967, aged 83, due to advanced pulmonary emphysema, in New York.
As a sick child, suffering from asthma, rheumatoid fever and rickets, he devoted himself to the improvement of his physical health: he was introduced by his father to gymnastics, body building, martial arts and boxing. He also took long walks into the nature to observe and study the movements of animals, and practiced yoga. At 14 he was already trained enough to pose for the tables of anatomy books.
It was clear to him that a "modern" lifestyle, insufficient breathing, wrong posture and, in general, lack of movement were the root causes of poor health and, for this reason, he developed some exercises to be performed according to his precise guidelines, which constitute in an embryonic state the basis of his method. Moving to the UK in 1912, he became a self-defence coach at Scotland Yard Police School, among other things.
When the WW1 broke out, he was interned together with other German citizens, first at Lancaster Castle and later on the Isle of Man, and it was in this context that, observing the results of the training on his companions and developing his concept of integrated and comprehensive physical exercise applied to a precise repertoire of bodyweight exercises, the Contrology method definitely took its shape. And it is always in this context that he himself conceived and built, using the same infirmaries beds on which war veterans were forced due to their serious injuries, the first machines that initially had a rehabilitation purpose and would later become the Reformer and the other equipment.
Returning to Germany after the war, he collaborated with the famous dancer Rudolf Laban and other physical exercise experts.
But the turning point came when, in 1923, Pilates moved to NY. On the ship he met Clara, a nurse, who will become his wife and with whom he will open his Studio, not far from the headquarters of the New York City Ballet. Starting from that moment, an intense collaboration with the NY community of dancers and art-performers began, with choreographers of the caliber of George Balanchine and Martha Graham who would send to Joseph and Clara their students to train and rehabilitate following injuries. It is from this moment that Pilates´ Studio becomes popular in NY, welcoming numerous clients and numerous students that Pilates will personally train according to the principles of Contrology - and who will then open their respective studios thus starting the spread of the Method on a wider scale.
Pilates ran his own studio and continued to personally follow his clients and students until the late 1960s.
He died in 1967, aged 83, due to advanced pulmonary emphysema, in New York.