Joseph Pilates

Who was Joseph Pilates

Joseph Pilates was born on December 9, 1883 in Germany and had a very sick childhood with asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever, dedicating his entire life to the study of movement and health, in order to improve his physical condition. He practiced several sports such as gymnastics, body building, martial arts and yoga. He studied the human body through several anatomy books and by observing some animals in the forest, concluding that: "If a man wants to compete with a horse, then he will keep him in great shape and make the horse move." From this conclusion, he questioned why humans should not also be kept in great shape.

Joseph believed that a lifestyle of poor posture and insufficient breathing are the basis of poor health and limited physical condition.

In 1912, still a young man, Joseph moved to England where he continued to box and teach self-defence at the Police College and Scotland Yard, but when Britain entered the First World War, his German citizenship led to his arrest along with other German citizens. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, it was at this stage of his life that the crucial moment for the development of his Pilates method came.

When he observed animals stretching in his camp, he realized that he could incorporate this into the basis of his ground work, thus teaching his compatriots some of his exercises, and later ended up becoming a kind of nurse-physiotherapist.

At this particular moment in his life, Joseph developed the first concepts for what would become his innovative machines, dismantling camp bunks and using springs as a form of resistance to rehabilitate the wounded and bedridden in the war.

After the war Joseph returned to Germany and continued to train police officers in Hamburg, as well as working with dance and movement experts, but when he was pressured to work for the German army Joseph decided to leave Germany and emigrated to New York where on the boat he met his future wife, Clara, a nurse.

The two married and founded a studio in New York that taught their method, called Contrology . Many people embraced the method, including dancers, athletes and celebrities who regularly came to the studio to recover from injuries while also working on their strength and flexibility.

Many of his 1-hour classes began with deep breathing, which is still the fundamental basis of the Pilates method today.

Breathing, correct posture and recovery from a wide range of physical problems were the focus and essence of Joseph's studio, characteristics that are still reflected today in any Pilates studio around the world.