Joseph Pilates, a pioneer in physical therapy, developed the Pilates work in the 1920s. The program, which Joe Pilates developed, is a breathing and movement regimen consisting of a series of controlled movements that focuses on improving flexibility and strength for the whole body that can be performed by athlete and non-athlete alike. The Joe Pilates' corrective system of physical conditioning was seen as a way to rehabilitate injuries and strengthen the core muscles needed by dancers.

Joseph Hubertus Pilates (1880 - 1967) was born near Dusseldorf, Germany grew up a sickly child suffering from rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever. At a young age he began to study anatomy and various forms of exercise to improve his health and physique. At aged 14 he had been so successful in his endeavors that he was asked to model for anatomy charts.

An accomplished pugilist, gymnast, skier and diver he traveled to the UK and during World War I was interned in a camp for enemy aliens. During his internment time he used his knowledge to help rehabilitate bedridden patients, using bedsprings as equipment. That idea evolved into a machine which Joe Pilates eventually named the "Cadillac," one of the main components of what was to become Pilates’ method of exercise.  Rumor has it that his efforts were so successful that when the 1918 flu epidemic swept the world, not one of his followers died, even though thousands of others in the UK succumbed!

He returned to Germany after the war but in 1925 he was invited to train the New German Army but decided to head for the US instead. It was on this journey that he met his future wife, Clara.  Upon their arrival in New York City they opened a gym close to a number of Ballet and Dance Schools and in doing so found a captive audience. 

Joe Pilates book; "Return to Life Through Contrology." written in 1945 contains step by step instructions written by the master himself and contains photographs of him performing each of his original 34 exercises.

"A few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy calisthenics or forced contortions."  is from Return to Life Through Contrology by Joseph H. Pilates

Although Pilates first called his exercise "contrology," that name never stuck. Mr. Pilates’ surname did.

By the 1940s Pilates– both the man and his exercises– had begun to achieve notoriety in the dance community. "At some time or other," reported Dance magazine in its February, 1956 issue, "virtually every dancer in New York, and certainly everyone who has studied at Jacobs Pillow between 1939 and 1951, has meekly submitted to the spirited instruction of Joe Pilates."

Joe Pilates died in 1967, at aged 87. His wife Clara, continued to teach and run the studio until her death 10 years later.

By 1980, "Pilates" as a method of exercise had become sufficiently widespread to justify Doubleday & Company’s publication of The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning, a book by Philip Friedman and Gail Eisen.   A federal judge decided in October 2000 that the Pilates name was public domain.
 

The Fletcher Work™

Master teacher, Mr. Ron Fletcher was a dancer with The Martha Graham Company in the 1940s who studied Pilates' directly under Joe Pilates himself, right up until Joes death in 1968.  Shortly afterwards, Clara Pilates, Joseph Pilates widow, wrote to Ron Fletcher . . . "There is far to go with this work, and you are the man to carry it forward. . ."  Ron relocated to Los Angeles and open a studio there.  Fletcher’s studio was located at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, a very prominent location which not only attracted many Hollywood stars, but brought notoriety to Pilates as a method of exercise and fitness. In fact, much of the notoriety earned by the "Pilates Method" in the 1970s and 1980s is directly attributable to Mr. Fletcher and his famous clientele.  The Ron Fletcher Work™ is a development of the Pilates method by one of Pilates' original master teachers.  Mr. Fletcher incorporated his modern dance background in combination with his training with Joe and Clara Pilates to further develop the body, mind, breath, spirit connection. While staying true to Pilates' origins, Master Teacher Ron Fletcher introduced innovative floor work, towel work and breathing techniques, creating an even more comprehensive movement experience.

The Ron Fletcher Program of Study website states: "As the popularity of the Ron Fletcher Work continues to grow, and as more and more progressive Pilates based studios embrace it, the need has arisen for a comprehensive, uniform professional curriculum. To answer that need, and to ensure the consistency and continuity of the Fletcher lineage, Fletcher Master Teacher Pat Guyton, and Senior Teacher Kyria Sabin, have joined forces in an unprecedented collaboration to produce "The Ron Fletcher Program of Study" - the most definitive professional program of its kind. This two-level, multidimensional Program of Study is the only teacher certification program to be fully endorsed by Ron Fletcher himself. The Ron Fletcher Program of Study includes 6-month, Level I and II comprehensive Programs, 10-day Intensives and 3-day Courses of Study."

Today, The Ron Fletcher Program of Study is considered one of the most extensive programs available requiring thousands of hours of study.

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In 2003, Susan Fox officially started her Pilates training and had the opportunity and pleasure of studying directly under Ron Fletcher and his Master Teacher Pat Guyton, and his Senior Teacher Kyria Sabin.  Susan is now fully certified and a Program Facilitator for "the Ron Fletcher work" ^™. (The 1st in the Lehigh Valley!)