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WRITTEN BY Lorraine Sutton

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Mr. Joseph Hubertus Pilates was an exceptional man born in a small town near Dusseldorf, Germany, on December 9th 1880. At five years of age, he lost the sight in his left eye. This is thought to be due to a stone thrown by bullies. He was a skinny, ill child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. The older bullies taunted him with "Pontius Pilate, killer of Christ". It was this event that started him on his life journey to fitness and health.

He studied both Eastern and Western forms of exercise including Yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman regimens. By the time he was 14 he had developed his body so much that he was able to model for anatomy charts. He was also proficient at boxing, gymnastics,skiing and diving.

In 1912 he moved to England for further boxing training. He found employment there as a circus performer. By 1914 he had become a star and was on tour - he and his brother Frederick performed as Roman Gladiators!

After World War 1 broke out, he was interned in a camp in Lancaster because of his nationality. He taught wrestling
and self-defense, and began refining and teaching his system of floor work exercises. He was transferred to another
camp on The Isle of Man where he began to help the patients in the infirmary with exercise. Bed rest was a normal
prescription back then, so Joseph took the springs from the beds and rigged them up to the bed posts to make exercise
apparatus. The origins of the modern day Pilates Reformer with its spring resistance and sliding carriage, the wunda
  chair, and the pilates ring are to be found in the equipment that Joseph developed
  during this period. The patients were able to stay in bed as prescribed, but could still
  work on their strength and flexibility working against the resistance of the springs. When the 1918 'flu epidemic
  swept the world, none of Joe's patients were ill. He had become a "Nurse-Physiotherapist", with a revolutionary
  approach to theraputic exercise.
  When the war ended, Joe returned to Germany and began training the Hamburg Military Police in self-defense, he
  also had personal clients. In 1923 when he was 40, he was invited to train the New German Army but as he did not
  agree with German politics, he decided to leave and move to the U.S. While he was en-route to America Joe met his
  wife Clara. She was a kindergarten teacher who was suffering from arthritic pain, Joe worked to heal her during their boat Journey and they later married. When they arrived in New York City they took over a boxing gym at 939 Eighth Ave. This gym was in the same building as several dance studios and rehearsal rooms, and this is how Pilates exercises became associated with dancers
and actors. Joseph and Clara were both friend and teacher to many renowned dancers and choreographers,
many dancers who needed help with injuries were sent to Jo and Clara's studio.

Even though Pilates was a health guru, he liked cigars,
whiskey and women. The 87 year old Joseph Pilates died
in 1967 of advanced emphysema from smoking cigars for
too many years.

MODERN DAY PILATES

After he died, his wife Clara continued with the Studio until the end of her life 10 years later, in 1977. The Pilates name lived on through a man called Ron Fletcher. He was a dancer who was sent to Joseph for help with a knee injury. They spent a lot of time together working on the reformer and other pieces of equipment invented by Joseph. During a period of recovery from alcoholism Ron worked closely with Clara Pilates, and went on to open his own studio in Beverly Hills which attracted many famous actors and dancers. Clara was impressed, and gave him permission to carry on the Pilates name.

Ron's studio was the first to set up a certificated course in Body Contrology in the early 80's which was issued to Patrice Whiteside who worked in the sports rehabilitation department of St. Francis Hospital in San Fransisco.The word had spread about how beneficial and therapeutic the exercises were, and she was sent from the hospital to study with Ron and devise the certification course. As the method became more and more popular the original works of Joseph Pilates were adapted by Ron from the machines to mat work so that he could travel around and demonstrate in studios where there was no equipment.

Romana Kryzanowska also trained with Joseph and Clara. Romana was chosen by Clara to become the director of The Pilates Studio in the early 1970s. Moira Stott who was the principle ballerina with the City Ballet of Toronto studied Pilates with Romana. She developed her own approach to Pilates which is known worldwide as Stott Pilates. Among other subtle differences, she introduced working with the natural curves of the spine in a neutral or imprint position. In 1987, she opened the Stott Pilates studio which later expanded into the International Certification Center in Toronto, and now has a network of affiliated studios around the world.

Another of Josephs students was Robert Fitzgerald who in turn taught Alan Herdman in the 60's. Alan Herdman took the technique from America to the UK. The technique was passed from Herdman to Alan Menzies who devised Body Control Pilates which is now extremely popular through the worldwide teaching of Lynn Robinson. Alan Herdman also taught Michael King who opened his first studio in 1982 in conjunction with Pineapple dance studio in London. He now runs the Pilates Institute in London where I did my training.