Joseph Hubertus Pilates, the creator of the Contrology System of Exercise, was born near Düsseldorf, Germany in 1883. He was a sickly child who suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. Living in ill-health and wanting to be out and about active with other children, Joe became obsessed with physical health and wellness. He is said to have studied the physical education strategies of the ancient Grecian Olympians, the martial-artists of Asia, gymnastics, body-building, and boxing, and by the time he was a teenager, he had rehabilitated himself so well he became an anatomical model for medical books published in Germany.

His obsession led him to develop his own methods of exercise over the years, and in 1912 while living in England he was a self-defense instructor, a boxer, as well as a circus performer. When WWI broke out, German nationals living in England were sent to various internment camps. He was imprisoned on the Isle of Man, and it was there he further developed his knowledge of the body, and created his method of exercise by training his fellow internees. Nearing the end of the war, he served as an orderly where he assisted wounded soldiers who had trouble walking. He began fixing springs to hospital beds (the basis for the modern-day Cadillac apparatus) to help rehabilitate these men. He did so successfully.

After the war ended, Joseph continued developing and teaching his method. In 1925, he immigrated to the United States of America. On his voyage to America, he met the woman who would become his second wife, and would help him further develop his system, Clara. Together they built and ran The Body Conditioning Gym in New York City. Their business took off due to their successful method, and their proximity to The American School of Ballet. George Balanchine and his ballet students found relief from sport-related injuries, as well as improvements to their ballet technique overall by using Joseph’s Method. Word spread, and soon, his gym was booming, attracting famous athletes and celebrities of the day. Joseph was so effective with his clients, that even NASA contacted him to assist in the training of astronauts that were to endure zero-gravity conditions in space. This is actually how the Jump-Board was developed for the Universal Reformer, and is the only reason the Universal Reformer’s dimensions were ever elongated. (It was was never changed to accommodate the tall. Exceptionally tall people are still well accommodated on the traditional 80″ Universal Reformer.)

Joseph saw great success, but still he hungered for more. His was a system he felt should be practiced by everyone in the world– the young and old; the feeble and the athletic; everyone. Having touched the lives of many, and having taught certain devotees to teach others, by the end of his life his work was beginning to spread outside his studio. His most valued student and protegé was Romana Kryzanowska. In his Last Living Will and Testament he named her as the one he wanted to carry on his life’s work once his wife Clara had passed, because he felt, “she [understood] it best.”

When Joseph died on October 9, 1967, he left behind a complete exercise system he developed himself from his own research, experience, and genius. His Original System of Exercise consists of over 500 exercises, implemented using 12 major pieces of apparatus, several ancillary pieces of equipment, all that he invented, built, and patented himself. He had authored two books, Return to Life Through Contrology, and Your Health. He was a true genius of the human body; he could even be considered the world’s first physical therapist considering the totality of what he accomplished. His work is so profound, that even today, his Original System of Exercise attracts the attention and devotion of Doctors, Physical Therapists, and the like because the results are so astounding. His original work as he invented and taught it, stands up to the test of time. His method is not only safe, but also highly effective, which is why millions across the world flock to this healing and challenging modality, and always will.