Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880. Despite being a frail and sickly child, he was determined to develop his own physical fitness to the highest level. He studied yoga, gymnastics, skiing, martial arts, circus performance, weight-training and dance, incorporating what he had learnt into his own method.
In 1914 he was training detectives at Scotland Yard in self-defence but as a consequence of the First World War, he was interned on the Isle of Man, due to his nationality. During this period of internment, Joseph Pilates trained other internees in his method, including veterans with serious injuries. When the Spanish flu epidemic struck, none of the internees trained by Pilates died which Joseph Pilates regarded as evidence of the health benefits of his method.
Joseph and his wife Clara went on to establish a studio in America which became very popular with dancers, actors, gymnasts, boxers and athletes. Joseph and Clara taught clients individually, adapting exercises and using specially designed equipment in a studio setting.
Joseph was a larger-than-life figure who was passionately committed to the method he and Clara developed, believing that one day it would become popular worldwide. He was proved right about this and many of his ideas about health and fitness have since been confirmed by modern research. He was in very many ways ahead of his time.
Be certain that you have your entire body under complete mental control.
– Joseph Pilates, ‘Return to Life’