The Origin of Pilates

An Innovative System of Mind-Body Movement Joseph Hubertus Pilates developed the Pilates method of exercise. Born in 1880 in Monchengladbach, Germany, he was a sickly, frail child who became interested in physical fitness to improve his strength. He became an athlete, participating in gymnastics, body building, diving, boxing and snow skiing. He also studied yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman regimens.

He moved to England to further his training as a boxer in his thirties, where he also became a circus performer. In 1914, after WWI broke out, he was forced into internment with fellow Germans, termed “enemy aliens”. It was during this time he became a nurse and began devising a series of original exercises he later termed “Contrology”, the complete coordination of body, mind and spirit, for his fellow internees. During this time period he also began rigging springs to hospital beds, creating his first apparatus to rehabilitate the bedridden by enabling the patients to exercise against resistance. This led to his later equipment designs, which don’t look much different today. Pilates claimed his exercises saved the patients from the influenza epidemic of 1918. Not one of his trainees died. This, he claimed, testified to the effectiveness of his system.

Returning to Germany after the war, Pilates began training the Hamburg Military Police, as well as private clients. It was at this time he also made contact with Rudolf von Laban (movement notator and analysis pioneer), Irmgard Bartenieff (movement therapy pioneer) and Hanya Holm (modern dance pioneer). In 1925, Pilates was invited to train the German army. Being unhappy with the political direction, he refused the offer and set out for America, meeting Clara, his second wife, during the voyage. He helped to heal her from arthritic pain and give her a new lease on life.

Pilates set up his first studio in New York City at 939 Eighth Avenue in the same building as several dance studios. He attracted the elite and dancers from the New York Ballet. His work grew in popularity and continues to do so attracting those in search of a beautiful, balanced body with strong yet lean muscles. Pilates claimed, according to the ancient Greek’s philosophy that “the nearer one’s physique approached a state of physical perfection, the nearer one’s mind approached the state of mental perfection.”