Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1883 and passed away in 1967. As a child, he had some health challenges. However, through grit and determination, he became an accomplished athlete in body building, gymnastics, diving, and more. During WWI, while in a British encampment, Pilates developed a series of exercises that now bear his name. Prior to WW2, He emigrated from Germany to the US, declining to train the German Army. On the voyage to the United States he met his wife, Clara, and in 1926 they opened A contrology studio in NYC where his method captured the attention of many prominent people in dance and society. Pilates published two books, Your Health, in 1934, and his series of exercises in 1945, in Return to life through contrology.

He also went on to invent the Reformer, the Wunda Chair, the Cadillac and the Spine Corrector, ultimately filing 26 patents. In 1961, a photographer captured Joseph Pilates' exceptionally conditioned physique at the age of 78 in 1961 for an article in "Sports Illustrated." Today, his exercises have evolved through "the Elders" whom he trained and taught. We all now know his legacy as "Pilates" because of key people: 1.) Joan Breibart fought for and won the rights for everyone to know his foundational method by his name in 1995, and 2.) in 2000, Ken Endelman prevailed in his lawsuit, making "Pilates" a "generic" term denoting the thing itself rather than a brand.