Joseph Pilates

Note: There is a lot of material these days in books as well as more comprehnsive biographies on the web, about Joe's life. For more information, check our references in the resources section.

Joe Pilates was born in 1880, in Germany. A small and sickly child determined to overcome his various afflictions. His ill health and the perceptions of his peers along with his strong will, led him to the path of fitness and health. His father was a gymnast and his mother a naturopath who along with his observation and passion for physical fitness must have played their role. He studied anatomy at a young age as well as eastern and western exercise traditions. He was in great shape by his middle teens modeling for anatomy charts.

He went to England in 1912, became a boxer and worked there as a circus performer as well as a self-defense trainer for the police. At the outbreak of World War I he was interned with other Germans. He taught his fellow detainees his series of exercises where he combined breath control and visualization with movement to increase strength and flexibility. It was here that he began devising his system of original exercises that later he named "Contrology". He spent the latter part of the war on the Isle of Man working as hospital orderly. There he helped rehabilitate patients through resistance exercise using equipment fashioned from bedsprings. It is said that during the major influenza epidemic none of Joe's followers succumbed even though the camps were the hardest hit.

He returned to Germany after the war and continued pioneering unique approach to physical fitness. When the government insisted he train the new German army, he immigrated to the United States and established the Pilates studio in New York City with his wife Clara (who he actually met on his way to the U.S.). His studio on Eighth Avenue around many gyms and dance studios became the center for strength and balance as well as rehabilitative work, where many dancers with injuries were sent to be "fixed". His early devotees to his methods included such dance legends as George Ballanchine, Hanya Holm and Martha Graham.

Pilates designed a series of more than 500 exercises with the intention to develop strong, flexible muscles without adding bulk. His revolutionary mind-body approach emphasizes breathing and "powerhouse" strength ensuring improved posture and reduced stress and risk of injury. His method advocates restoring the body to its true balance, efficiency in movement and use of energy flow. Although Joe Pilates was a health guru, he believed in fitness supporting your life's goals. He was renowned for liking cigars, whiskey, and socializing. It is said that he used to be seen running on Manhattan streets, in the dead of winter, in a bikini. In January 1966 there was a fire in their building where Joe was injured. It is assumed that this incident directly led to his death in October 1967, at the age of 87. Clara, regarded by many as the more superb teacher, continued to teach and run the studio until her death 10 years later, in 1977. At that time Romana Kryzanowska took over the business and dedicated her life to teaching Joe's work as he himself devised it.