Pilates

Joseph Pilates is the founder of the concept of Pilates. Although Pilates is popular on the American continent, the one who invented it was born in Germany. As a child he was not in good health and he had all kind of problems. That is why he tried so hard to work on his body being convinced that the modern life style influences negatively a normal physical development.

Later he moved to England and he worked in a circus and he was also a boxer. The beginning of Pilates could be considered the period of time spent by Joseph Pilates in a Lancaster camp. During this time he   trained other German citizens.

After he moved to United States he developed a totally new concept known as contrology. Together with his wife, Clara, he founded the first studio in New York City. The main philosophy in Pilates is the importance of the control of the mind over the muscles. He also emphasizes precisely from the beginning the importance of the support for the spine. Another element that he introduced was the way in which breath teaches the body how to perform correctly. Joseph and Clara were really popular through the dancers’ community because of the efficacy provided by them in treating injured dancers.
Joseph Pilates had some disciples who later became very popular. Through most well known Joseph Pilates’ pupils are: Romana Kryzanowska, Jay Grimes, Eve Gentry, Ron Fletcher, Corola Trier, Mary Bowen, Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel.

He is also the author of some books: Your Health: A Corrective System of Exercising That Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education (1934), written together with Judd Robbins, and Pilates’ Return to Life through Controlology (1945), written together with William J. Millerand Judd Robbins. The last one comprises a set of 34 Pilates mat exercises. It is strongly recommended for the ones who really want to understand main principles of Pilates to read these books.

Following these principles in life Joseph Pilates died at the age of 87 and kept fit till the last moment. The importance of its genuine legacy was actually discovered only few years later. The moment that his disciples started founding more and more Pilates studios people began to understand the complexity of this new concept.  Having a closer look at the status of Pilates today we should underline its great development. It is obviously that the name of Joseph Pilates is on the lips of a huge number of people, even if they do not know who he really was. The fact that more and more individuals express their convicted need to improve their health by practicing Pilates  should made everyone understand Joseph Pilates’ real contribution to human society improving.