Who the heck was Joseph Pilates?

Born in 1883 in Germany, Joseph appears to have been a sickly child suffering from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He developed a drive and determination to overcome these ailments and became a competent gymnast, diver and skier and boxer.

In 1912 Pilates lived in England working as a circus performer, boxer and self-defence instructor. During the First World War, he was interned with other German nationals. During this time he developed his technique of physical fitness further, by teaching his fellow internees. During the latter part of the War, he served as an orderly in a hospital on the Isle of Man where he worked with patients unable to walk. He attached bed springs to the hospital beds to help support the patients' limbs, leading to the development of his famous piece of equipment known as the 'Cadillac' (see the picture above). Much of his equipment, although slightly adapted, is still in use today in many Pilates studios. An influenza epidemic struck England in 1918, killing thousands of people, but not a single one of Joe’s trainees died. This, he claimed, testified to the effectiveness of his system.

In 1926 Joseph emigrated to the USA. It is told that he met his third wife, Clara, on the ship travelling to New York. Joe and Clara opened a fitness studio in New York, sharing an address with the New York City Ballet.

While Joseph Pilates was the creator and inventor of the Pilates Method, his wife Clara was instrumental in teaching and refining the exercises. Clara took the time to help students understand the finer points of how to do the exercises more correctly.  Together they ran a busy and successful exercise studio.

In January 1966, there was a fire at the studio building.  While attempting to save everything he could, Joseph fell through the burnt out floorboards.  By some accounts, he held onto a beam for over two hours and waited for rescue by firefighters.  It is believed that this incident directly led to his death in October 1967, at the age of 87.  Clara, continued to teach and run the studio until her death ten years later in 1977.

Joseph may or may not have been 82 here but nonetheless he was a great walking advert for his exercise method!

Joseph Pilates’ ideas on achieving total health are preserved in his writings, which include the books Return to Life Through Contrology (worth a read if you’re interested). In addition to his teaching and writing, he was also a prolific inventor, filing more than 26 patent applications for his apparatuses as well as his own designs for futuristic furniture that promised a healthier lifestyle.

Pilates' work and teaching lives on through a group of his earliest students, now collectively known as the Pilates "Elders." These teachers worked closely with and, in some cases, for Joseph Pilates before going out on their own and, in turn, passing on the direct connection to the man and his method to their own students and apprentice teachers.