The Origins of Pilates
It’s always useful to know a bit of the history of Pilates, so you can understand the purpose and goals of the exercise and more deeply appreciate its benefits. I’ll be going over the story of the inventor of Pilates, Joseph Pilates, why he developed Pilates exercise and how Pilates has changed over time.
Joseph Pilates
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Germany in the 1880s - he was quite a weak, ill child and took up body-building, gymnastics, boxing and martial-arts to become fitter and healthier. He came to resent the unhealthy habits of the ‘modern’ lifestyle - bad posture, low exercise and inefficient breathing. Pilates valued the classical Greek ideals of a balanced and strong mind, body and spirit - so he started developing exercises and techniques that would achieve that.
Creating Pilates
In 1912, Joseph moved to England to work as a self-defence instructor - but at the outbreak of World War One, he was interned at Lancaster Castle and on the Isle of Man because of his German nationality. While there, Joseph Pilates further developed his exercise system, taking inspiration from all of his fitness history. He called it, at first, Contrology. He taught it to injured veterans as a means for rehabilitation - and it worked. After being released, he moved back to Germany and his exercises gained popularity in the dance world.
He then emigrated to the United States and founded a Pilates studio in New York City with his wife, Clara, whom he actually met on the Atlantic Crossing. Like in Germany, Pilates exercise became a hit with the dance industry, with famous dancers like George Balanchine becoming avid ambassadors for the exercise.
How Pilates Developed
As Joseph Pilates aged, his students opened their own studios and, with his and Clara’s blessing, continued the legacy of the discipline. Students such as Ron Fletcher, Eve Gentry and Carola Trier did particularly well and added variations and developments to the exercise, inspired by their own dance backgrounds - and have since become known as the Elders of Pilates.
In the 1970s, Pilates was picked up by Hollywood and entered the fitness mainstream; it was favoured by stars to keep trim, develop and strengthen core support and improve grace and flexibility. During this time, it also returned to England, brought back from America by Alan Herdman.
Present-day Pilates and Beyond
Today, Pilates is used by tens of millions of people worldwide, from casual learners, to fitness fanatics, to professional dancers and top-level athletes. It’s no surprise that Pilates has been and still is so popular in the dance community when you consider its origins - many ex-dancers (such as myself!) transition to Pilates as a career because the disciplines share so many characteristics – grace, strength and precision.
That being said, Pilates is also used a lot in other athletic disciplines such as professional football, tennis and Olympic swimming because of its many benefits – which too, is unsurprising now we know that Joseph Pilates took inspiration from his wide range of physical and athletic disciplines.
With its proven benefits in all these contexts, I have no doubt that Pilates will stay in the fitness mainstream for years and years to come.