History of Pilates
Joseph Pilates was born in 1883 in a small village near Dusseldorf, Germany. As a child Mr. Pilates suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. His sickly childhood is what drove his desire to study health and fitness. Not only did he study Eastern and Western forms of exercise, he also studied animals natural movement in nature. His understanding of natural human movement stemmed from his study and observation of animal movement.
Pilates was living and working in England at the outbreak of WWI. He was sent to an internment camp for enemy aliens and it was at the camps that he started devising his exercise program Contrology. He started developing equipment for rehabilitation. He would take bed springs and devise equipment to help bedridden patients regain strength and movement.After the war Joseph moved to New York City and opened a gym on 8th Ave. Joe felt his work was “50 years ahead of (his) time”.
