The History of Pilates - Pt 2

Let's continue to learn more about Joseph Pilates, the creator of the Pilates method.

Continued from Part 1. It's now 1912 and Joseph has moved to Blackpool, England. A couple of years later World War 1 started, and he was interned as an enemy alien and spent a total of 5 years in prison. The majority of his time was spent at Knockaloe Camp on the Isle of Man.

"Javier Perez Pont and EsperanzaAparicio Romero’s 2013 biography provides a fascinating insight into Pilates’ pre internment adult life, initially as a brewer in Germany with his first wife and their family, until tragedy strikes. By early 1914, widowed Pilates had arrived in Britain, initially settling in London and seeking work in a London sanatorium. When this failed, he sought other ways to make a living, including putting his boxing skills to work both in the ring and teaching. London was a centre for the sport, and he taught “body building” to the London police and “the art of self-defence” to detectives.

However, as “Germanophobia” grew in the build-up to WW1, it became difficult for Germans to find more conventional work. Pilates tells of how he managed to find work as a performer in a circus. Robert Wernick notes from his interview with Pilates that it was

 “…when he was making a living as a boxer and a circus tumbler he began developing a series of exercises to relax him after an exhausting day”.

By the outbreak of WW1 he was with a circus in Blackpool, and Pont/Romero note that it was observation of the Chinese performers which provided the inspiration for his “Chair”. His last address before internment was 22 Milbourne Street, Blackpool, a small guest house owned by a widow called Eliza Tipper, herself a former resident for a while in Crosby, Isle of Man. (Pont/Romero 2013). " Reference www.knockaloe.com

Let's look at the impact of the War on his life.

"On 4 August 1914, everything changed for the young German living in England. By 5th August, he was considered an “enemy alien” and had to register at his local police station. Days later, 30-year-old Pilates was amongst the very early arrests, possibly hampered by being so new to Britain and his lack of English, the fact he was based on the coast, and the fact he was with a travelling circus, all possibly giving rise to suspicion that he might be a spy. On 12 September 1915, Joseph Pilates arrived on the Isle of Man with fellow internees from Lancaster.

There are many stories emanating from this internment, originating from various comments Pilates made, such as the interview in 1962 above, and there is much debate over what of his methodology was specifically derived from his internment.  But it appears clear that his internment provided the opportunity to develop, both theoretically and practically, so much of the basis of what we now know as the Pilates methodology.

He had three and a half years with the opportunity to read the thousands of books in the Camp 4 library including those on sport and medicine/anatomy, the opportunity to further study the movements and anatomy of humans and animals, the opportunity to help the many who were so desperate for relief from the problems of body and mind induced by internment, but mainly he had the opportunity of time to think.

Joseph Pilates made a number of references to his work with invalids at the camp. In his biography, Pont/Romero quotes Joseph in later life talking of his work at Knockaloe and in the hospital:

“……there I met people who were invalids because of wartime illnesses and due to their imprisonment”.

Also, regarding disabled internees, Joseph states that he

“…..began to devise machines to help them in their rehabilitation”.

And another where Joseph states

 “I had plenty of time to invent chairs, beds and exercise equipment while I was held for four years on the Isle of Man in the World War”. 

The general “story” is that Pilates worked in the Hospital and was asked to assist those confined to their beds with some form of exercise that they could do while in bed, and so he took the springs from the beds and attached them to the top and bottom of the beds to provide resistance to assist in their exercise.

This is where things get a bit muddy, as some beds were made out of metal, but many were made of wood. Some are not sure if this is where his idea for the "reformer" originated from, but based on his time to experiment and learn, one could speculate that it was an ideal situation for him to invent it.

In part 3, I will share more about his time after the war when he moved to the States.

If you would like to read more about his time at Knockaloe, please visit the link. I am grateful for their research into Joseph Pilates and being able to share it here to help educate fellow pilates lovers on the history of Joseph.