Joseph Pilates - Your Health

Originally Published in 1934 by Joseph H. Pilates

Prof. Pilates Health Studios

Where flat feet, curvature of the spine, protruding stomach,
stooped-shoulders, hollow chest, hollow back, bow legs, and
knocked-kneed conditions are cured through corrective exercises.

Edited, Reformatted and Reprinted
in a New and Easy-to-Read Edition
by Presentation Dynamics
949-666-5030
ISBN13: 978-0-9614937-8-3

Updated with a new introduction by
Judd Robbins and Lin Van Heuit-Robbins
Copyright 1998-2008 Presentation Dynamics Inc.
First Published in 1934 by Joseph H. Pilates

All new ideas are revolutionary and when the theory responsible for them is proved, through practical application, it requires only time for them to develop and to flourish. Such revolutionary ideas simply cannot be ignored. They cannot be kept in the background.

Time and progress are synonymous terms-nothing can stop either.

Truth will prevail and that is why I know that my teachings will reach the masses and finally be adopted as universal.

PERFECT Balance of Body and Mind, is that quality in civilized man, which not only gives him superiority over the savage and animal kingdom, but furnishes him with all the physical and mental powers that are indispensable for attaining the goal of Mankind -HEALTH and HAPPINESS.

The purpose of this booklet is to transmit in a simple form, the causes of present day ill-health and immoral conditions, and the resultant effects which prevent the average human being from attaining this physical perfection - man's inherited birthright.

The author in this booklet tries to teach the reader in simple words the way to correct our present deplorable system of physical and moral education, and to enable each, through a proper understanding of his body, to become fit for the daily tasks ahead of him.

JOSEPH HUBERTUS PILATES

by Judd Robbins and Lin Van Heuit-Robbins

Joseph Pilates preached the benefits of a perfect balance of body and mind. He also followed his own teachings. He coupled his own gymnastics and martial arts background with a keen analytical approach to body mechanics, posture, and correct breathing. All of these background fundamentals appealed to us intellectually. When we began to experience his recommendations for exercises, postural modifications, and breathing mechanisms, we truly began to feel like converts.

Our own background in fitness and athletics began years ago with competitive high school and college athletics. Lin was a gymnast and Judd was a tennis and squash player. After college, Lin went on to design and teach a variety of programs in aerobics, stretching and flexibility, and weight training. She studied advanced methodologies in exercise physiology while obtaining a Masters Degree at the University of California at Berkeley, and also holds certifications in group fitness training and personal training from the American Council on Exercise (ACE). She has been for many years a reviewer for the ACE correspondence accreditation committee.

Judd combined a degree in physics with advanced degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley to develop his own very analytical approach to exercise. He was a racquetball pro in the late 70s and has since earned a 3rd degree black belt in jujitsu plus a group fitness certification from the American Council on Exercise. Both Lin and Judd are certified by the PhysicalMind Institute in New York City in the matwork originally developed by Joseph and Clara Pilates.

There are many excellent books in the field of health, exercise, and fitness. Weve read and use the principles offered in many of them, from yoga to stretching to strength training. We strongly believe that Joseph Pilates created a truly effective combination of strengthening and stretching that can work well for virtually every body. With the right instruction and guidance, some or all of Pilates recommendations can demonstrably improve anybodys health and fitness levels.

TO:
The Next Generation of Physicians
and
The Association of Medico-Physical Research

by Joseph Hubertus Pilates

I take this means to thank my dear friend, Nat Fleischer, a leading American authority of sports and physical education, for his kind help and suggestions. He has given me added impetus to carry on my work for the betterment of mankind in the construction of corrective apparatus for proper body development. Also my sincere thanks to William J. Miller.

Joseph Hubertus Pilates:This photograph was taken on his 54th birthday. He has devoted over thirty years to the scientific study, experimentation and research of disturbing troubles which upset Balance of Body and Mind

DAILY, from sunrise to sunset, the radio, newspapers and magazines broadcast to the world how to maintain health, how to regain health - what to eat, what to drink, and even about what to think.

The conflicting information, expressive of the different opinions of these various health authorities, has proved to be nothing less than "confusion worse confounded" to the millions of radio listeners, readers of newspapers and magazines, who are so unfortunate as to hear or read the diametrically opposed viewpoints of our so-called guardians of our health, since it is rather the exception than the rule, that these instructions are in agreement in their ideas and methods.

To one who has devoted the major portion of his life to the scientific study of the body and practical application of nature's laws of life as pertaining to the natural development of coordinated physical and mental (normal) health and the prevention, rather than the cure of disease, the misinformation he has so often listened to on the air or read, borders closely on the criminal. Why? Because the acceptance of the theories so advanced, not only results in the squandering of untold millions of dollars, but, what is more serious, results in actually shortening, instead of lengthening, the lives of uncounted millions who fall for this bunk.

How many hundreds of thousands die prematurely between the age range of 35 and 59 years, who should rightfully live from 20 to 40 years longer if they but understood and applied the natural laws of life to normal living? Daily we hear the cry for more hospitals, more sanitariums, more homes for the crippled, more lunatic asylums, more reformatories and more prisons!

Who is responsible for this sad, abominable condition?

Our so-called health authorities, whose remarks are accepted as law; our so-called scientists, whose statements are religiously accepted - they primarily are to blame because they fail in their mission to civilization!

In the practical universal world, ignorance of the little-understood and much less practiced natural laws of life as applied to normal living, lies the cause for the condition referred to, and I blame those in control of our health systems, for not correcting the evil.

Figures may or may not lie, but the statistics compiled by the United States Army, Navy and Marine Service in the World War, point the way to truth and warn us what health paths to choose and what by-paths to ill-health we should avoid. The record speaks for itself!