Joseph Pilates
The Background of Pilates as Founded by Joseph Pilates
Body Arts and Science International is the true culmination of
the art and science of human movement as it relates to the pioneering
work of Joseph Pilates. Joseph Pilates began a set of exercises
and even he did not realize how prominent these unique methods were
to become. In 1914, Joseph Pilates was a German national living
in England as a boxer and performer. During the outbreak of the
First World War, he was interned along with many German nationals
in Lancaster, England. While forced to reside there, he began teaching
his self-styled exercises he had been developing for over 20 years.
His study and apprenticeship of yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and
Roman exercise regimens shaped his system. However, there is no
doubt that for teaching this system of exercises, Joseph Pilates
should be credited with complete originality, creativity, adaptation
and a flair of genius.
His exercises had remarkable effects on his fellow inmates. It was during this time that he began using his exercises to rehabilitate injured men and women. Some of his subjects were people who had been ill for years, others, individuals with physical impairments. But one thing was sure, everyone benefited from this surprisingly different and original workout. Joseph Pilates indeed began changing the way people thought of exercise as a way of developing the body. When he was moved to a different camp, he was allowed to use his methods to help patients injured from the war. Here, he began devising equipment to rehabilitate these men, taking springs from the beds and rigging them to create spring resistance and movement for the bedridden. When the war was over, Joseph Pilates began teaching his exercises to anyone interested. His goal was to spread his methods on as wide and far a horizon as he could. His teachings took hold wherever he went. The Joseph Pilates exercises became well known, and has gained acceptance ever since he began instructing others.
In 1965, at the age of 86, he maintained the welfare his methods
offer and success of his teachings:
"I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They'd be happier."
It is in honor of Joseph Pilates that BASI
upholds the highest standards of education. Only the best men and
women are retained to continue the teachings of Joseph Pilates.
A small but very dedicated team of administrators, designers and
information technicians back up the teaching staff. It is this tightly
knit group that helps BASI give each student the highest quality
education while maintaining personal attention to the individual's
needs. At BASI, we take pride in the fact that we honor the legacy
of Joseph Pilates and maintain the purity of his teachings as time
passes. Even as the needs of men and women in today's societies
change, even as the understanding science can yield us about the
human body and its movements becomes more advanced, BASI is committed
to teaching the philosophy of Joseph Pilates. The design of our
instruction is to offer the best of what science has shown us about
human physiological makeup combined with the original teachings
and methods of Joseph Pilates.
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