History of Pilates

Pilates: A Brief History

Pilates has been established and practiced since Joseph and Clara Pilates opened their 'Body Conditioning Gym' in New York City in the 1920s. It is far more than a modern fitness sensation.

I invented all these clinical pilates equipment... it resists your movements in just the right way so those inner muscles really have to work against it. That way you can concentrate on movement. You must always do it slowly and smoothly. Then your whole body is in it." - Joseph Pilates

The Life of Joseph Pilates

In the year 1883, Joseph Pilates was born near Düsseldorf, Germany. His early years are unknown, but he appears to have been a weak child with asthma, rickets, and rheumatic disease. His ambition to overcome these disabilities pushed him to excel as a gymnast, diver, and skier.

Pilates worked as a circus performer, fighter, and self-defence instructor in England in 1912. He was detained with other German nationals during the First World War. During this period, he refined his physical fitness skills by instructing his other interns. During the war, he worked as an orderly at a hospital on the Isle of Man, where he assisted patients who were unable to walk. He added bed springs to hospital beds to help support the patients' limbs, which led to the creation of his famous 'Cadillac' piece of equipment. Many Pilates Studios still utilize much of his equipment, albeit with minor modifications.

Pilates and his wife Clara immigrated to the United States in the early 1920s, where they developed and taught the approach in their 'body-conditioning gym' in New York in 1926.

Much of the Apparatus created to aid in his recovery efforts was on display in the studio. It quickly gained popularity, especially among dancers, since it provided an opportunity to develop technique or recuperate from injuries. The word immediately spread, and several of the day's celebrities paid him a visit. Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine, and Martha Graham were among those honored, as with actor Jose Ferrer and author Christopher Isherwood. Initially, guys made up 60% of the clientele.

Pilates released his first booklet, 'Your Health,' in 1932, and followed it up with 'Return to Life Through Contrology' in 1945. After his death in 1967 at the age of 83, his method was passed on through his writings and students. Contrology was the name given to this type of exercise during his lifetime. It wasn't until after his death that the Pilates Method was coined.

While Joe is the mastermind behind the process, it was his wife Clara who took over as the studio's real teacher and ensured that the system was passed down to apprentices. Clara started the legacy of evolving and adjusting the Pilates method to fit the specific needs of clients, according to the 'Pilates Elders' (the handful of people who trained directly in the original New York Studio). Pilates Foundation Teachers are happy to carry on this heritage.

Because there wasn't much spoken in the first session (English wasn't Joe's first language), Joe and Clara had to rely on hands-on corrections to teach the method. Pilates Elder Mary Bowen recounts being in the studio as "they wouldn't chat, they'd sculpt you." The Pilates Foundation is happy to encourage our teachers to continue the heritage of hands-on teaching.

His students began to teach.

Carola Trier and Bob Seed, two of Joe's students, founded their own studios while he was still living. After fleeing a Nazi detention camp in France, Trier became a performing contortionist and eventually made her way to the United States. When a non-stage accident ended her acting career in 1940, she found Joe Pilates. In the late 1950s, Joe Pilates aided Trier in launching her own studio. Trier remained close friends with Joe and Clara till their deaths.

Bob Seed, on the other hand, was a different story. Seed, a former hockey player who became a Pilates devotee, opened a studio across town from Joe and attempted to steal some of Joe's clientele by opening early in the morning. Joe Steel, Joe and Clara's business manager, said that one day Joe came to Seed with a revolver and told him to leave town. The seed had vanished.

Joe worked as a personal trainer until his death in 1967, at the age of 87. He died without leaving a testament or designating a line of succession for the Pilates work to continue.

Despite this, his work would survive and eventually flourish, thanks in large part to his protégés, known as the "elders."

The Elders

Clara continued to run what was known as the Pilates Studio on New York's Eighth Avenue. Around 1970, Romana Kryzanowska took over as director. Kryzanowska had studied with Joe and Clara in the early 1940s and then returned to continue her studies after a 15-year gap in Peru.

Hollywood lends a hand.

Hollywood celebrities discovered Pilates through Ron Fletcher's Beverly Hills facility in the 1970s.

The media follows the celebs everywhere they go. The media began to cover Pilates intensively in the late 1980s. The Pilates industry grew as a result of the public's interest. Pilates is no longer just for the elite; it has made its way into the fitness mainstream. It is not only found at fitness facilities all over the world, but it has also become an important training tool for elite athletes in the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, and many Olympic sports. Pilates is now practiced by over ten million people in the United States, and the number is growing.

Joe once boasted, "I'm fifty years ahead of my time."

He was absolutely correct.

Pilates Fundamentals

Joe Pilates' work was founded on three principles: breathing, whole-body health, and whole-body dedication, with whole-body encompassing mind, body, and spirit.

The depth of the practice is attained by adherence to the Pilates Principles. The following are the standard citations for these Principles:

• Breath
• Concentration
• Centring
• Control
• Precision
• Flow

"Above all, learn how to breathe correctly." - Joseph Pilates

Pilates has evolved throughout time.

The Pilates Method has evolved through time and now incorporates current biomechanical ideas, as well as the use of modern equipment. However, the technique's origins may be traced back to Joseph Pilates' philosophy and movement patterns, which he created over 90 years ago. The Pilates Foundation's trainers continue to teach his fundamental approach, as well as an expanded version that incorporates modern anatomical and biomechanical concepts.

Since the day when Pilates first opened his class, the Pilates Method has grown in popularity. Due to its efficiency and versatility, Pilates has become a worldwide sensation, with over 12 million people practicing it. Nowadays, pilates for scoliosis is also widely practised. Read more about it at Core Fitness’s website.