HIstory of Pilates

Pilates was created in the early part of the 20th century by Joseph Pilates. He was a sickly child and suffered from a variety of ailments including rickets. It was the threat of developing tuberculosis that spurred him on to improve his physical fitness.

This probably accounts for his tenacity and focus with exercise as a healing and strength creating discipline from an early age.

One of the defining moments in Joseph Pilates’ life was when he was placed inside a prisoner of war camp during the First World War. It was there that he began using his unique exercise system with the other internees, helping them rehabilitate and using whatever equipment was available, including parts of beds and springs. There was a great flu epidemic that passed by without a single internee succumbing and this is ascribed to his exercise system.

It was in the 1920’s that he moved to America and set up his first studio with his wife Clara. This was when he first came to public attention through his work with dancers, actors and performers. Many came to his studio and were deeply influenced by his work, its mixture of core strength exercises, the integration of mind and body and the eastern influence combined with western aesthetic.