The Origin of Pilates – Part 1
Why is Pilates such a big hit? After decades of being considered an elite exercise method, Pilates suddenly burst into public consciousness and has since held a prominent place among the most popular forms of movement. What exciting story lies behind the beginnings of Pilates? In our three-part article, we provide a brief overview!
The story of a sickly little boy
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1883. As a child, Joe suffered from asthma and other health problems. His sickly childhood soon prompted him to turn to exercise and start living a healthier life.
How did Pilates begin its journey?
As a teenager, he spent a lot of time studying various exercise programs. He was fascinated by the classical Greek ideal of man, which is based on the balance of the human body, mind, and soul. Joseph soon began to develop his own exercise program, based on the aforementioned Greek philosophy.
As a young adult, Joe was far from as sickly as he had been in his childhood. He fell so much in love with sports that he actively skied, dived, boxed, and even dabbled in gymnastics.
The journey to England
In 1912, Joseph moved to England, where he taught self-defense classes to Scotland Yard detectives. Following the outbreak of World War I, Joe was interned due to his German origin. During his captivity, Joe continued to work on his exercise program and introduced the movement technique to his fellow prisoners. He attached springs to the beds of bedridden patients, which allowed even bedridden patients to engage in physical exercise. The resistance provided by the springs was a rudimentary innovation that later led to the creation of Pilates machines. In 1918, England was hit by a severe Spanish flu epidemic that claimed thousands of lives, but none of the people trained by Joe fell ill. According to the father of Pilates, this proved that his method was indeed effective.
Back in Germany
After his release, Joseph returned to Germany. His developed movement technique gained more and more followers from the dance community. This was particularly thanks to dancer-choreographer Rudolf von Laban, who was the inventor of the dance notation system still used today. Dancer Hanya Holm relied on Pilates' exercises in developing her eponymous Holm Technique. When German officers asked Joe to train soldiers, Pilates decided to leave Germany for good.
In the continuation of our article, you can find out how Pilates made its way to the United States of America.