The History of Pilates – Vintage Style Training
Pilates is the second most popular form of mat exercise after yoga. Pilates matwork is practiced in groups at movement studios, dance schools, and fitness clubs, but also privately in specialized studios or at home. The history of Pilates is just as fascinating as its effects. How and where did it begin? The method was invented by Joseph Pilates, a German with a lifelong commitment to physical activity who emigrated to the United States in the 1920s.
Joseph Pilates — youth
Little Joe Pilates was reportedly a sickly and frail child, suffering from rickets and asthma. This made him even more determined to get his body back into top shape. He trained in gymnastics and boxing (which is how he supposedly lost an eye), and eventually joined a German circus troupe. In his signature act, he impersonated a Greek statue, boasting a muscular physique that was rare at the time. In his youth, he also posed for anatomical drawings.
First Pilates training
When World War I broke out, Joseph was performing with his troupe in England. Suspected of espionage, he was arrested and interned in a camp there. As an inmate, he observed the movements of animals, the agility of cats, and the lightness of birds. In the camp, he began creating nature-inspired exercises to help himself and other inmates improve their physical fitness. To accommodate internees unable to walk unaided, Joseph installed springs above their hospital beds, and thus the first prototypes of Pilates equipment were created, which are still used today.
It is said that after years of isolation, those interned in this camp were in better physical condition than before the war. In 1919, Pilates left the camp and in the 1920s moved to Manhattan. On the ship to America, he met the future Mrs. Pilates and his faithful assistant, Clara. He dedicated his first book, "Return to Life Through Contrology," to her. Clara and Joseph Pilates established their studio on Eighth Avenue in New York City.
Pilates Method — History
In addition to Joseph and Clara, ballet dancer Romana Kryzanowska also taught at the Pilates studio. She took over the studio after their deaths and traveled the world for 60 years, introducing others to the "Contrology" method, which later became known as "Pilates." Romana's daughter, Sari Mejia Santo (who trained with Joseph and then with her mother for 30 years), and her granddaughter, Daria Pace (who trained with her grandmother Romana from the time she could walk), then took over the training.
Over time, other Pilates students developed their own studios and practices across the United States, adapting the method to the needs of their own clients and modifying it according to their own beliefs. This evolving method was passed on to subsequent generations of instructors, undergoing further transformations along the way—partly due to modern knowledge of the human body and increasingly precise measurements and research.
Who first went to Pilates?
The New York studio was located near the ballet training rooms. Joseph began working with ballet choreographers, who sent their dancers to him for rehabilitation after injuries or to prevent injuries and overuse injuries. Over time, Hollywood icons Katharine Hepburn and Sir Laurence Olivier joined Pilates' clientele. This allowed the method to reach a wider audience, including on the West Coast of the United States and overseas.
Joseph Pilates' Mission
However, it's not just because of its important names that Pilates has stood the test of time. The creator of the method was one of the first to promote home exercise for health. The principles he instilled in his students are reflected in many other training programs today, as those related to breathing and proper movement patterns are timeless. Pilates has inspired the Body & Mind movement movement, core training, and many other exercises under various names. Classical Pilates, as conceived by Joseph and Romana, is also still practiced.
Joseph Pilates desperately wanted to heal the nation and designed his equipment so that it could be placed in any home (the Wunda Chair could be folded to serve as a regular chair). This didn't happen, and only a small group of enthusiasts today have an original Wunda, electric chair, or reformer for their own use.
Full equipment is typically reserved for professional studios, of which there are only a dozen or so in Poland. Pilates matwork is much more readily available, requiring only a piece of floor space, a comfortable mat , fitted yoga shorts or Pilates leggings , and a good instructor.
Iga Majewska / @warsawpilates - founder of Warsaw Pilates . A communications specialist in the startup industry, she works as a Pilates instructor after hours, organizes Pilates events, and initiates Pilates charity events.
Joseph Pilates in his studio at 939 Eighth Avenue NYC, February 12, 1951.
Photos: Life Magazine Archives .
Photographer: Michael Rougier