Classical Pilates Workshop
Last Saturday I was booked into a workshop at The Tranquility Pilates Studio in Blackfriars. It was such a beautiful crisp January day and the walk from London Bridge to Blackfriars was absolutely Glorious!!
Could have happily stopped there but had to tear myself away from the gorgeous views and head down to the basement studio for what turned out to be a very challenging Pilates workshop in 3 sections
- 2 hours Classical Pilates. Joseph Pilates Original 34 matwork exercises.
- 2 hours Reformer. As originally devised by Eve Gentry, a Pilates elder.
- Film showing. Joseph Pilates-A Tribute
It was wonderful to get the opportunity to attempt the original work of Pilates, it is so rare to do anymore than 4 original exercises in a normal Pilates class as the exercises require a solid understanding of the technique and there is not time to explain each of them during one session. Performed altogether is such an intense workout. Must try and fit this into my regime a little more often.
The Universal Reformer.
A Tribute to Joseph Pilates
The film was interesting, here are some new things I learned about Joseph Pilates that adds to the biography I already have on my website...
Joseph Pilates was a showman, a pioneer, a creative genius!!
Joseph was born into a poor Catholic family around the 10th December 1883, he was one of nine children of which 3 died of ill health. He became obsessed with health and took up gymnastics as a child, his early philosophy was to make the best of what you have and to take good care of yourself.
Although there is little evidence about Joe's time it the Interment camp on the Isle of Man, it would seem that this dreadful time for the majority of people became a chance for Joe to be his most creative. 'Time was a gift'.
When he returned to Germany he opened a boxing school, which in turn gave him the opportunity to flee from Germany to America just before the 2nd World War. He left his wife and children behind.
On the boat to America Joseph met Clara his life long love and work partner who apparently was a better and more personable teacher than he.
Once in the USA Pilates created many elaborate publications about his exercise system. He was published in Colliers magazine. He even wrote a letter to JFK stating how he believed Contrology would save the USA.
It was his way or the highway, he was a 'Hands On' (or actually 'feet on' as you can see below) kind of teacher who didn't call anyone by name and knew very little about any of his clients.
At his classes, you would train to strengthen, stretch and control!
It wasn't about being the best or being better than anyone else, you were training to be a bit better than yourself.
Joseph never described his exercise system as a 'core workout' and would probably be horrified to hear Pilates being described this way. It is very much a 'Total Body Workout'.
J P Quotes....
"Bring energy through the whole body to uniformly condition the body"
"Change happens through movement and movement heals"
Joe Pilates