Early Life

Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in 1883 in Germany. He was often ill as a child, suffering from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. He overcame these with a routine filled with gymnastics, body building martial arts jiu-jitsu and boxing. Pilates experience in these disciplines were a driving factor of his creation of his exercise style which he called Contrology.

Pilates moved to England in 1912 where he worked as a professional boxer, circus performer and as a self defence trainer at police schools and at Scotland Yard.

At the outbreak of World War I, Pilates was interned in Lancaster Castle with other German citizens. He was later transferred to a camp on the Isle of Man. It was during this time that Pilates trained the other internees in wrestling, boxing and other exercises, taking inspiration from the natural movement of cats and other animals. This method of exercise using only gravity as resistance, he named CONTROLOGY.

During the later part of the war, Pilates served in a hospital on The Isle of Man, assisting patients in rehabilitation. Pilates attached springs and pulleys to the beds to help support the patient's limbs, leading to the development of the large pieces of equipment known as the Cadiliac and the Reformer.

Fig 1. Joseph remained exceptionally fit as he aged, using his method.

Fig 2. Teaching his Contrology method to a group. Contrary to popular belief, Pilates rarely taught to groups and preferred a one-on-one ratio.

Fig 3. Pilates on his invention, the Reformer.