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I’m a huge nerd that loves research. Cheap flights, clothing, stellar skincare — you name it, I’ll find it. However, nothing chases me down the rabbit hole more than movement study. If you’re in pain, I want to find the cause. If a Pilates client doesn’t understand the biomechanics of an exercise, I’ll search for an answer. If a dance student can’t embody the dance steps, I’ll find a different way of explaining it.
So, when I heard a book had finally been published on Joseph Pilates' life and legacy, you bet your grip socks that I needed to get my hands on it. The Caged Lion by John Howard Steel (Joe's former student), helped me get through the months when studios were closed and I could only dream of the day I’d “return to life” on the reformer.
Anything good must be shared. Here are some insights that you may not have heard about Pilates — the method and the man — as shared in Steel’s historical memoir on Joe’s life.
Contrology was the original name for the Pilates method
Joe never called his movement Pilates. He called it Contrology: the complete coordination of the body, mind, and spirit. Pilates only came into being after his death, a tribute to the mastermind himself.
Joe developed his method on the Isle of Man while in custody
In the five years Joe spent as a POW during WWI, he developed Contrology while leading the camp’s daily exercise routines for more than 24,000 inmates housed there. During this period, his ideas grew and he gained experience as a teacher.
The popularity of Pilates isn’t entirely attributed to just Joe
Joe talked about the importance of his method until his last breath. However, very few knew about Contrology while he was alive. After his death in 1967, his wife Clara and former students ensured Joe’s gym kept running in New York. His students, especially John Steel and Romana Kryzanowska facilitated the growth and expansion of Pilates.
Romana taught in the studio and owned half the shares of the first Pilates Studio Inc. As a talented dancer and ballet teacher, she broke the chain of rigidity that was imposed on Contrology. She modified it and began teaching her own version of Pilates.
Likewise, Ron Fletcher, also a former student, had a profound effect on the survival and future of Pilates. He was a dancer and choreographer who opened a Pilates studio in California with Clara’s blessing. His clientele often included celebrities like Jane Fonda and Barbra Streisand. Fletcher broke through the rigidity of Joe’s definite routine. His ability to improvise while respecting the original principles gave life to modern Pilates.
If exercise could be as much fun as sex, everyone would do it
In the book, Joe reveals this well-kept secret to the author on his inspiration behind many of his exercises. “The world would be a healthier, happier place. I made many exercises like movements in sex. It tricks the body into moving naturally and fluidly, and it strengthens the right muscles, so it improves their sex life.”
Today, Pilates continues to evolve worldwide as instructors add their flair and knowledge of current scientific findings from kinesiology and biomechanics. However, the principles remain and Pilates is still, as eloquently defined by Steel,“ a system of coordinated movement, concentration, and breathing that fully absorbs the actor in their doing; adds grace and efficiency to daily life, relieves stress, increases circulation, augments self-esteem, becomes a habit, and most importantly is fun to do.”
The Caged Lion is available online and in select bookstores.
