Fit From Within

Classical Pilates

An estimated 12 million people around the world practice pilates. It was developed by Joseph Pilates in the early part of the last century and was originally practiced by the elite- dancers, actors in New York, and then kept to small circles of the rich and famous..

Ron Fletcher was one of Joseph Pilates' original students, and is largely responsible for popularizing what Pilates called 'contrology'. Ron has stated recently that there was 'no such thing as the pilates breathing' and that Joseph just told them to breathe, also that all this focus on strengthening the core muscles....it's ALL the core...and pelvic floor? It was never mentioned!!

There is a place (in my opinion) for the regular pilates taught by most teachers in the UK, and USA, but as a teacher with the amount of passion that i have had for my work over the past 16 years or so, I really do believe with all my heart and soul (very much my soul) that this form of movement is far superior to any other, and that it will produce far more profound results than other types of pilates. As Ron said, 'The trouble with this work is that people mistake it for an exercise regimen, and it's not. It's an art and it's a science and it's a study of movement. Many of the people who are so called 'doing pilates' 10 years from now will still be doing the same thing they're doing now. They'll never get to that point of saying " wheee, WOW!" where you can shout with joy at what you can do!

When I was first introduced to pilates and eventually decided to train, many of my fellow aerobics teacher colleagues laughed it off as a fad... however, I felt differently, and many of them ended up studying pilates several years later, realizing that fad or not, there was a huge shortage of teachers.

After successfully teaching Pilates (both matwork and equipment) for 10 years I was introduced to an American teacher, Linda Zurak, in London, who was also a Gyrotonics teacher and had trained at the pilates place in Colorado, recognized by many as the 'Harvard' of pilates training schools...

started to discover a whole new meaning to the word Pilates, and how much of the time we ( especially those of us with good flexibility) just tend to 'hang out' in our bodies...looking fab and just like the photos in the pilates books' but not really using the correct muscles to achieve 'the look'...Or, I would get the 'rehab' end of the market, who had trained for so long with their teacher, and then come to me because 2 years on and they were doing the same exercises as they were within their first few months! ( I wont name any particular schools here), but there are a good half a dozen or so in the UK...

I started being challenged in a way that I had never been challenged before. And seeing things from a whole new perspective! I then met Karin Locker and Johnathan Lees and with them i studied the classical form, and for the first time, there was a 'connection' ,a realization that Pilates really wasn't another form of exercise, but that it was something far greater, far more profound. Yes, I'd always taught the mind/body connection side, how posture changes the way you feel, how breath connects to movement, blah blah..and I'd also seen good results with my clients, many of whom had stayed with me right from my early Yoga days at the local council run sports centres.

But Classical Pilates was different. Firstly, I felt my body expand in a way it had never done before. My strength improved and i noticed how my Yoga postures became quite profoundly stronger and more balanced...I found that I was teaching teachers from all other Pilates schools who were quite amazed at what I was showing them..and then i started to see the changes in my clients..REAL changes! Pilates has always been popular because it gets results, but classical pilates, in my opinion is far superior to any other form of pilates taught anywhere in the world.

Classical Pilates works with the fascia, or connective tissue , in the body. Some schools of pilates call their style 'classical' because they are teaching the 'classical' exercises....but beware! They are not taught the classical way!!