Pilates was founded by Joseph Pilates, from Mönchengladbach in Germany. He was born to parents who were a gymnast (father) and a naturopath (mother).

Somewhere in the first six months of the twentieth century, he developed a way to strengthen the human mind and body. Joseph Pilates believed that mental and physical health worked hand in hand creating a well being.

As a young man he had pursued many of the physical training regimes practiced in Germany, it was from this early contact that he developed his very own method. It clearly shares roots with the physical training of the late nineteenth century, such as the use of special apparatus training aids and claims that the exercises could help ill health such as depression and anxiety. It is also aligned with the thinking of "corrective exercise" or "medical gymnastics" as portrayed by Pehr Henrik Ling.

The inspiration for his fitness programmes came to him during WW1, when he was being held in an internment camp Knockaloe on the Isle of Man. He spent four years, developing ideas and working on his fellow prisoners.

Each of the apparatus was developed to help the stretching, strengthening, body alignment and increase core strength. The mat the best-known and most popular piece of apparatus today has it's origins at the beginning of Pilates. Eventually Pilates designed other and more elaborate apparatus, including the Cadillac, Wunda Chair, High "Electric" Chair, Spine Corrector, Ladder Barrel and Pedi-Pole.

Pilates published two books related to his training method:

1) Your Health: A Corrective System of Exercising That Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education in 1934, available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-Health-Corrective-Exercising-Revolutionizes/dp/096149378X

and

2) Return to Life Through Contrology. Available from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PILATES-RETURN-LIFE-THROUGH-CONTROL/dp/1928564909/ref=pd_sbs_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6ZK8T635AFVC8KFPS4V7

His first students eventually moved on to teach and promote his methods,

including: Romana Kryzanowska, Kathy Grant, Jay Grimes, Ron Fletcher, Maja Wollman, Mary Bowen, Carola Treir, Bob Seed, Eve Gentry, Bruce King, Lolita San Miguel, and Mary Pilates, Joseph's niece. Contemporary Pilates includes both the "Modern" Pilates and the "Classical/Traditional" Pilates. Modern Pilates is partly derived from the teaching of some first generation students, while Classical Pilates aims to preserve the original work as Joseph Pilates taught it.

Principles

A number of versions of Pilates are taught today and the majority are based on up to nine principles. These have been widely adopted—and adapted—by the wider community. The original six principles being concentration, control, center, flow, precision, and breathing.

For the full text and the full history visit the link below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates

Relevent Links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-37287262

The Full News Stories Above Are Available at this Link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-37287262

NOTE: Further reading on the History of Pilates please click the following link

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