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Who was Joseph Pilates?
Joseph was born in Germany in 1880. He was a small and sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. His father was a prize-winning gymnast and his mother a naturopath. A family doctor gave him a discarded anatomy book and he learned every page. He achieved some success as a boxer and a gymnast in addition to being a skilled skier. In 1912, at the age of 32, Joe went to England for further training as a boxer and was interned there in a camp for enemy aliens after WWI broke out. He taught self defense and here he began devising his system of original exercises. He was transferred to a camp on The Isle of Man and worked with Internees who were ill. He then began devising equipment to rehabilitate patients, taking springs from beds and rigging exercise apparatus. After WWI, Joe returned to Germany and began training the Hamburg Military Police. Because he was not happy with the political direction of Germany, he left at the urging of boxing expert Nat Fleischer and came to the USA. On the boat he met Clara, who became is second wife. He opened up a gym in New York City in 1926 on 8th Avenue, in the same building as several dance studios. It was the proximity to these studios that make his Pilates Method such an intrinsic part of dancers' training and rehabilitation.Although Joseph was a Health guru, he strongly believed in fitness supporting life's riches. He was renowned for liking cigars, beer, and was seen jogging on t he streets of Manhattan in the dead of winter in his Speedy type suit!
His studio caught fire and Joseph fell through the floor as he attempted to save some of his equipment. He died soon thereafter in 1967 at the age of 87 due to complications. His wife Clara continued his work and later Romana Kryzanowska, one of Joseph's protegees, returned from Peru to direct the New York City Studio and carry on the legacy of teaching the authentic Pilates Method of Body Conditioning.
