About Joseph H. Pilates

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Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in 1880 near Dusseldorf, Germany. He was a sick kid-- asthma, rickets, rheumatic fever. He really wanted to be able to go outside and play with the other kids, so he started reading books about body conditioning. He studied and combined Eastern and Western forms of exercise: including yoga, zen, Greek and Roman wrestling. By the time he was 14, Joe was posing for anatomical charts. He also became proficient in body building, diving, skiing, and gymnastics.
The top picture is of Joseph Pilates in 1937, at the age of 57. The bottom picture is of Joe & Clara sitting on a Reformer converted into a chaise lounge.
World War I broke out, and Joe was still in England. He was interned with other Germans ("enemy aliens") at a camp in Lancaster...or possibly the Isle of Man, depending on who you are talking to. While interned, Joe might have worked as a nurse, or simply trained the other internees in his developing physical fitness routines. One thing that everyone agrees on, is that Joe hooked springs up to hospital beds, so the patients could work out even if they had to stay lying down. This idea was expanded into a piece of Pilates equipment called The Cadillac.
Joe went to England in 1912. He trained to be a boxer, and also worked as a self defense trainer for Scotland Yard Detectives (I have also heard it was for The Pinkerton Detective Agency, but more people say Scotland Yard). Several different people say that Joe worked as a circus performer. Some say in England, some say when he was younger and still in Germany. One person claimed that while Joe was with a circus, he would warm up every day with a Chinese acrobatic troupe, and that was where he got the idea for developing a workout system that focused on the abdominal muscles. I don't know if it's true, but I like the sound of it.
Joe returned to Germany after the war. He continued his fitness programs, training the Hamburg city police. His notoriety as a fitness trainer grew, and eventually he was asked by the German government to train the German Army. Instead, he emigrated to the United States. In 1926 Joe moved to the U. S. He met his future wife Clara on the boat trip to America. Together they set up an exercise studio at 939 Eighth Avenue, in NYC. He initially marketed himself to boxers and other athletes, but dancers soon found him, and they kept him in business. He worked with many famous dancers and their companies, including George Balanchine, Martha Graham, Jerome Robbins, and Hanya Holm. Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn were so enamored with his training that they brought him out to Jacob's Pillow (a dance festival and retreat started by Ted Shawn in Massachusetts) to work with all the dancers. He was teaching at the Pillow between 1939 and 1951.
ABOUT HIS BOOK Joseph H. Pilates and William J. Miller published a book in 1945 called Return to Life Through Contrology. This book details many of the exercises and instructions fundamental to the matwork developed by Joseph Pilates. Even more importantly, it outlines his philosophy and over-all approach to his fitness program. He writes about the balance between body, mind and spirit. He talks about moving like an animal--especially a cat, and doesn't want anyone to do lots of repititions of any exercise, and lots of other interesting things. And some slightly nutty things, as well. It's very fun to read.