Who was Joe Pilates?
Joseph H. Pilates, born in 1880 in Germany, was a sickly child who devoted himself to overcome his physical limitations. After studying Yoga, meditation, and the exercise regimens of the ancient Greeks and Romans, by age 14 he had mastered gymnastics, skiing, and skin diving. At the age of 32 he traveled to England where he became a boxer, a circus performer, and trainer of detectives in self defense. At the outbreak of the First World War, he was interned with other German nationals. During this period of confinement he taught fellow prisoners his growing system of mind/body development. During the latter part of the war he worked as a hospital orderly on the Island of Man, where he fashioned his first exercise equipment out of bedsprings and other available parts. Using this make-shift apparatus, the prototype of what was to become the Cadillac, he helped rehabilitate patients from injuries and illnesses. Following the war, Joe returned to Germany where he continued to develop his fi
