Joseph H. Pilates was born in Germany in 1880 and grew up a sickly child.
Through determination and his own training, he developed his strength and
became an accomplished athlete including gymnastics, boxing, and skiing.

Pilates was living in England when WW1 broke out, and was interned in a
war camp. During that time, he did physical rehabilitation and training with
injured men while they were lying in their hospital beds. It was noticed that
the rates of recovery were much faster than average. It was also at this time
that a major breakout of influenza killed millions in Europe, yet miraculously
affected no one in Pilates’ camp due to their strength from his training!

He returned to Germany for a while, but immigrated to the United States before
WW2. It was on the ship over that he met his wife to be, Clara. Upon reaching
New York, he opened his first ‘Contrology’ studio, which was frequented by
many dancers and athletes.

Joseph Pilates died in 1967 at the age of 87. His work has been continued and
developed over the years by his many followers and has become accessible
not only to athletes and dancers, but to anyone wanting to enhance their
posture, strength, flexibility, and well-being.