Pilates Contrology Studio

In 1912, Pilates moved to England where he worked as a boxer and circus performer. When WW I broke out he was interned with other Germans Nationalists at a camp near Lancaster and later moved to de Isle of Man. It was on the Isle of Man, trying to stay in the best physical and mental shape he could, that he began devising his system of exercises. He started with the mat, which is the core of his system. To help perfect the mat exercises he incorporated the use of the equipment at hand: beds, bed springs and chairs. This "equipment" was the predecessors of the apparatus we use today. He taught his Method to the other interns and guards and was so successful that it soon became a mandatory daily activity. When the influenza epidemic spread across the globe and claimed millions of lives, not one internee in Pilates's camp died from the disease. Pilates claimed that this was because of his Method of Body Conditioning.

After WW I, Pilates moved back to Germany where he continued to develop his Method and Machines. He soon attracted a wide range of clients which included the Hamburg Police Force (he was a personal trainer for the Force), Rudolf von Laban (originator of "Labanotation", the most widely used form of dance notation) and heavyweight boxing phenomenon of the time Max Schmelling and Nat Fleischer, publisher and editor of "Ring" magazine, Pilates opened his studio at 939 8th Avenue in New York City. At this time he called his Method "Contrology".

The studio attracted an influential following of boxers, actors, dancers, musicians, writers and social figures, including Katharine Hepburn, Sir Laurence Olivier, Jose Ferrer, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Roberta Peters, Maria Tallchief, Martha Graham and Hanya Holm. Some of his clients even incorporated his work into theirs. Balanchine used the mat exercises for his choreography in "Seven Deadly Sins".

Martha Graham and Hanya Holm included many of his exercises in their warm ups. To this day are still a part of the Graham and Holm techniques.