Joseph Hubertus Pilates (1880 – 1967)
Joseph Pilates was born in Germany, a small and sickly child. He learnt everything he could about movement and anatomy and dedicated himself to learning how to cure himself and create a strong and healthy body. He became an accomplished boxer, skier, gymnast and diver and moved to England. When war broke out he was interned in a camp and here he used his exercise knowledge to help others, including returned soldiers. After the war, he returned to moved to America and met his wife Clara, together they set up a studio in New York City. In the 1920s he developed his method further, created the Pilates equipment and became an important figure in the dancing world.
Joseph’s work was ahead of his time.
Joseph believed in natural movements, where ease and economy of movement were emphasised alongside restoring true balance and a channeled flow of energy. He died in his eighties and the popularity of his Method has been growing ever since. Joseph’s work was kept alive over the years by a small group of his devoted students until the late 1990’s when exercise science caught up to the principles that Pilates had been teaching all along, and now we enjoy the rich evolution of the Pilates work that we have today.
Our approach is to teach true Pilates.
At The Pilates Centre Mosman we honour Joseph’s body maintenance system, his principles and fundamentals, and combine it with our knowledge of other movement philosophies and modern-day western clinical research findings.