Joseph Pilates was born in 1880. Although he was a sickly child, he developed himself into a strong athlete. He was an accomplished skier, gymnast and boxer. By 1914 he had become a star. When WWI broke out he was put in a camp for enemy aliens in the UK, due to being German. There he taught wrestling and self-defence. It was here that he began refining and teaching his minimal equipment system of mat exercises that later became “Contrology” and what we refer to today as “Pilates”.

He was later transferred to another camp where he helped out in the sick bay. He became something of a nurse and worked with many internees suffering from illness and incarceration. Joseph took the springs from the beds and rigged them up to the bed posts as exercise apparatus for the bedridden. Thus was born the Trapezium table (“Trap Table”) later known as The Cadillac. When the 1918 ‘flu epidemic swept the world (it killed millions), none of Joe’s followers succumbed.

After the war, Joe Pilates returned to Germany and began training the Hamburg Military Police in self-defence and physical training. In 1923 Joe Pilates was invited to train the New German Army but, because he was not happy with the political direction of Germany, he decided to leave. On the urging of boxing expert Nat Fleischer, Joe Pilates moved to the U.S.  Upon arriving in New York City, Joe and his wife Clara took over a boxing gym in the same building as several dance studios and rehearsal spaces.

It was this proximity that made “Controlology” such an intrinsic part of the life, rehab and training of many dancers: They were sent to Joe to be “fixed”.Clara Pilates continued to teach and run the studio until the end of her life in 1977. Initially, Hollywood celebrities discovered Pilates via Ron Fletcher’s studio in Beverly Hills. The Pilates fitness craze blossomed from there. Joseph called his style of fitness “Controlology”, but the public call it simply “Pilates”.