Sports/Fitness :: Exercises |
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The Classical Method Of Pilates |
| To help protect the public interest and uphold the highest standards of practice, it is beneficial to distinguish elements of traditional Pilates, which sustains Mr. Pilates’ historical practice and vision, from other derivative or contemporary body conditioning techniques claiming to teach Pilates. |
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What is the traditional style of Pilates?
As we learned from Romana Kryzanowska, Mr. Pilates’ preeminent student and 1st generation master teacher, the method is first and foremost exercise. Romana said there should be a sign over every studio saying “Pilates is a workout!” Although our workouts may incorporate principles of rehabilitation, breath control, and stretching, these do not represent the method’s fundamental purpose. The historical Pilates Method is based upon an ordered sequence of exercises, which are characterized by flowing movement, technical clarity, rhythm and dynamics. Within the historical syllabus there exists a vast range of appropriate modifications designed to meet any physical issue or limitation. Oversimplifications or insertion of foreign methodologies are therefore unnecessary and undesirable.
The Art of Teaching
As Joseph Pilates taught, Contrology is an intrinsically communicative and cooperative activity, requiring hands-on physical contact. Students cannot, for example, adequately learn the Pilates method through Internet communication, which some organizations currently attempt. Apprentices and teachers cannot adequately learn to teach Pilates through online course instruction. One can safely say: You can’t learn to cook over the Internet, you can’t learn gymnastics over the Internet, and you can't learn to dance over the Internet. Following the historical model, duets and trios should be based on similar or identical levels of technique, and personal affinity. The Method comprises great complexity. Formulaic programs which reduce the overall movement vocabulary do not represent the full and complete Method.
Full Certification
As Joseph Pilates taught his method of Contrology, we know it to be a unique system of body conditioning, which is an indivisible, unified technique. Permission to teach, or certification to teach, required extensive training on all apparatus, and took years of apprenticeship. Mr. Pilates’ never certified instructors to teach exercises on an individual apparatus. You were certified in the full method with every piece of piece of equipment designed by the master himself. In Mr. Pilates’ day, Mat (floor work exercise/workout) certifications did not exist. There was no Spine Corrector certification, no Wunda Chair certification and no Reformer certification.
Regrettably, in today’s world, large corporations are highly motivated by profit to increase enrollment and ‘certify’ as many students as possible to gain market share expand their particular brand of Pilates. Preserving Mr. Pilates’ original vision and practice is a lower priority compared to global expansion. To increase efficiency, and to make Mr. Pilates’ complex, sophisticated technique more digestible to mass market interests, large Pilates corporations segment the certification process by apparatus, simplify technique and truncate training methods by reducing required hours. These same companies also create their own versions of traditional exercises and remove exercises because they assume it’s possible to improve Mr. Pilates’ brilliant method. For more information about authentic teacher training organizations please see the “Resources” page of www.ClassicalPilates.net .
The Right Equipment
As Joe Pilates refined his exercises, he also designed the equipment on which to practice them. During the 1960s, Mr. Pilates began collaborating with Gratz Industries (www.pilates-gratz.com) to help him continue creating unique studio equipment, which assisted students in &#
103aining optimal health. Gratz Industries continues the tradition by manufacturing Mr. Pilates’ original studio equipment designs. This equipment is indispensable to correctly practice his exercises and entire method.
Adherence to Technique
With regard to the debate about practicing “neutral” pelvis versus a flat back in many exercises, The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning (Friedman & Eisen, Viking Penguin Publishers, 1980, 2005) became the first and only standard manual describing the Pilates method after Joseph Pilates’ own books. Friedman and Eisen studied with Romana Kryzanowska while writing this book in the 1970s, long before the Pilates method became commercialized. Regarding Joseph Pilates’ belief that the spine should be flat and lengthened while lying down, Friedman and Eisen write “…press your back as flat as you can. Try to get all the air out from under it. Check by seeing if you can get your fingers under the small of your back. If you can, leave them there, and try to squash them between your back and the mat. Feel the muscles work. Take your hand away without relaxing the muscles which are pressing your back toward the mat. Press harder.” The photos of a woman demonstrating correct Pilates placement on pages 24-25 clearly show the entire lower back lengthened against the floor.
In his book, Your Health, Joseph Pilates writes “…the normal spine should be straight to successfully function according to the laws of nature in general and the law of gravity in particular...In addition, the [abnormally pronounced, improper] curve itself is especially dangerous to the vital organs and the body...” He goes on to say “Abnormal obesity and the dangerous effects of corpulence have their origin in the improper [abnormally pronounced] curvature of the spine. Proper carriage of spine is the only natural way to prevent against abdominal obesity, shortness of breath, asthma, high and low blood pressure and various forms of heart disease. It is safe to say that none of these ailments can be effectively treated until the [abnormally pronounced, improper] curvatures of the spine have been corrected.”
With regard to workouts using the Universal Reformer apparatus or Mat apparatus, there are definite exercise orders to follow, distinct levels and historically accurate technical forms to practice. These exercise orders and forms must be followed as Mr. Pilates described to ensure one gets the optimal benefits of the authentic method.
Peter is from Southern California and began the Pilates method during 1988 in New York City. He continued training with 1st generation master Pilates instructor Romana Kryzanowska and was certified by Romana in 1998. Over the years, Peter has continued to study with 1st generation master Pilates teachers Jay Grimes and Kathy Grant, as well as other notable instructors in the field. During the 1980s & 1990s Peter earned two masters degrees as well as a Ph.D. degree in psychology, and worked at well respected health centers in New York City and the Philadelphia area until 2001. Since then Peter has devoted his full attention to helping preserve Mr. Pilates' original method of body conditioning.
Article Source: www.activehowto.com
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Posted 2007-05-01 03:32:55 By Peter Fiasca
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