|
|
Frequently Asked Questions about
Pilates:
Where did Pilates come from?
Joseph Pilates and the History
of Pilates
What's all the fuss about?
Pilates seems to have burst on
the scene out of nowhere in the
last 10 years. After decades as
the workout of the elite,
Pilates has entered the fitness
mainstream. What's the
fascinating store behind how
Pilates began, and why the
recent “overnight success”?
Here's a brief look at its
history.
How Pilates Began
Joe went to England in 1912,
where he worked as a
self-defense instructor for
detectives at Scotland Yard. At
the outbreak of World War I, Joe
was interned as an "enemy alien"
with other German nationals.
During his internment, Joe
refined his ideas and trained
other internees in his system of
exercise. He rigged springs to
hospital beds, enabling
bedridden patients to exercise
against resistance, an
innovation that led to his later
equipment designs. 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. |
