Who Was Joseph Pilates?
Left to Right: Joseph H. Pilates, Fred Pilates (brother) Mary Pilates (niece ) & Clara Pilates (Joe’s wife)
Necessity is the “father” of invention and knows no law except to overcome.
Joseph H. Pilates…………The Early Days
Joseph Hubertus Pilates (1880 – 1967) was born in Mönchengladbach, a small town near Dusseldorf, Germany. His name had been spelled “Pilatu” and was of Greek derivation but was changed to Pilates (pronounced Puh-lah-tes). He was a small and sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He watched wistfully as other children played outside, running and laughing and yearned for a healthy, strong, physically attractive body like his father's.
His father was a prize-winning gymnast and his mother a Naturopath. There had to be a way to overcome his weaknesses, thought Pilates. The more he thought, the more determined he grew. Necessity is the “father” of invention and knows no law except to overcome. After surviving diseases fatal to thousands each year he began his life long quest to find a way to overcome his frailness and get strong and healthy so he could be like his dad.
A family physician gave him a discarded anatomy book and as he put it “I learned every page, every part of the body; “I would move each part as I memorized it”. “As a child, I would lie in the woods for hours, hiding and watching the animals move, how the mother taught the young.” he said. He studied both Eastern and Western forms of exercise including yoga.
Not yet a teen, Pilates began researching many types of exercise to aid in his strength-training program. He sent for books and haunted the university libraries in Düsseldorf. By the time he was 14 he had worked so hard he had developed his body to the point that he was modeling for anatomy charts.
At home, Pilates tried each exercise he read about. He kept records of the effect of each movement to chart his progress. He studied yoga, Zen meditation and several ancient Greek and Roman Olympic exercise regimens. He studied anatomy, hoping to find a way to combine these disciplines to improve his health. He took copious notes.
He believed fervently in the Roman motto “Mens sana in corpore sano,” or, “A sound mind in a sound body.” a philosophy that is the keystone of the Pilates Method.
His used this knowledge to overcome his body’s physical limitations and in his late teens evolved into an accomplished skin diver, gymnast, skier and all around great athlete. Reveling in his strength and overcoming his frailness, he sought a career that was in-line with his passion.
“We should recognize the mental functions of the mind and the physical limitations of the body so that complete coordination between them may be achieved.” — Joseph Pilates
That determination to overcome spurred Pilates (1880-1967) to devise a movement therapy that has helped millions of people achieve better heath and happiness. Known as the Pilates Method, the series of more than 500 revolutionary and evolutionary exercises is the fusion of ancient Greek, Roman and Eastern disciplines with the Wests scientific understanding of anatomy and physiology.
This hybrid approach to fitness pioneered by sickly child merged the best teachings of both worlds into a method that is at the for fount of a Mind Body Movement that, today, is turning the fitness world in-side-out and re volutionizing the way fitness is taught.
~PILATES BLOG
Why Authentic Pilates Exercises?
The Pilates system works. There are over 600 exercises to choose from ensuring that you’ll have fun exercising for a lifetime. In addition, Pilates decompresses your joints, which results in improved circulation. This improved circulation, combined with increased strength, improved range of motion, and a more balanced musculature, allows you to move with ease, grace, efficiency, and fluidity throughout daily life.
Joseph Pilates served as a nurse in World War I, he designed exercise apparatus by attaching springs to hospital beds for nonambulatory patients. This system formed the foundation for his style of body conditioning and specialized exercise apparatus, which he brought to New York City with the help of Max Schmelling, a heavy weight phenomenon, who sought out Joe's talents.Joseph H. Pilates believed that correct body alignment and neuromuscular re-training begins with education and total body conditioning. As your mind is directed through your body's precise movements, a new awareness of muscle function and contol is experienced. More than 600 specifically designed movements using five major pieces of unique exercise apparatus were conceived by Jospeh H. Pilates to develop the body uniformly.
Is The Pilates At Your Gym Real?
While researching the school that certified your prospective teacher, read about the school’s certification program. I would be wary of any certification program that requires less than 600 hours of study. Pilates is easy to learn but difficult to master. If the studio’s Website does not contain teachers' bios and credentials, request them by email or arrange to read them on location. Do not book a session with any studio that refuses to provide this crucial information. There are no official certification requirements to teach Pilates, so anyone can say that they are a teacher. Don't risk injury by working with someone who is not fully trained in the method.
Philosophies Of Pilates Certifications
If some of you are unfamiliar with the philosophies of the most renowned Pilates certification schools (such as Romana, Power Pilates, and Stott) it may be helpful to read more about them online. Romana's school prides itself on having preserved Joseph Pilates' exact method of Pilates, which is often referred to as classical Pilates. Romana Kryzanowska, the school’s director, trained with Joseph Pilates and took over the studio after his death. If you would like to learn the original method without any modifications, a teacher certified in this program would be your best option.
Power Pilates, is a very well known school of Pilates and has branches throughout the United States. The directors of Power Pilates studied classical Pilates under Romana, and the instructors teach the classical method, but in a different and innovative way. Teachers from this school are more open to using props and apparatus to facilitate some of the exercises.
Stott Pilates was cofounded by Moira and Lindsay G. Merrithew. According to the Stott Pilates official Website, the Stott method is a version of classical Pilates refined by a group of physical therapists, sports medicine, and fitness professionals.
