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Joseph
Pilates was born in
Germany in 1880 and with his wife Clara immigrated to New York in
1926. He was a
gymnast and a boxer who had a keen interest in methods of conditioning
the body
for sport as well as ways of rehabilitating the athlete’s body after
injury.
His
innovative ideas for helping the recovery of patients
in hospital came to
the fore during World War 1 whilst he was interned in a British Camp.
Here he
attached pulleys and springs to ordinary hospital beds. This is still
the
basis for one of the pieces of equipment used in Pilates classes all
over the
world today - the Cadillac.
He
introduced his fitness regime
to New York where he opened a studio.
By
the 1940’s he was well known
particularly amongst the dance fraternity as most New York dancers
adopted his
routines. Indeed by the 1960’s his fame had spread even further with
many
ballet classes throughout the United States adopting his methods for
training
the body.
By
the 1970’s, after Joseph
Pilates’ death, several of his keenest
students and most devout practitioners opened studios of their own and
continued to teach the Pilates method but at the same time several
additions
and modifications to the technique were added.
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all your body needs.......... 
