American Fitness Professionals & Associates

By: Kathy Corey

About 4 years ago I was with Master Teacher Kathy Grant at her studio in New York. Whenever I visit from California, I plan to spend at least one day learning and listening to this teacher of teachers.  As a student of Joe and Clara Pilates, she learned directly from the source.  Her study under the direction of Mr. Pilates was formalized so that Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel are the only two Pilates teachers to receive a certification from Mr. Pilates.  Her wisdom goes far beyond the exercises, and she is, as Joe was, a genius of the Pilates Technique.

When I arrived the first question I was asked was, “do you know what Pilates is for?”  Now, knowing Kathy Grant as well as I do, I knew she had an answer for me.  So I humbly replied, “no, Kathy, please tell me what Pilates is for.”

“It is for the unexpected”, she answered.

She explained that she had been at a concert and was taking the subway home.  It was rather late and as she stood on the subway platform, a group of teenagers rushed by and she fell.

“Let me tell you what did not happen,” Kathy continued.  “I did not break my hip.  I did not break my arm.  I did not hurt my knee.  I did not need to call for help. What I did was, I got up and got on the subway and went home because when I fell my Pilates was there for me.  It was in my body and helped me to fall correctly.  I was sore and bruised but with my Pilates, I was able avoid serious injury.

She was 84 at the time.  And, today at 88, she is still riding on the subway to teach Pilates at NYU’s Tisch School of the Performing Arts.

In Joseph Pilates’ book, Return to Life Through Contrology, he compares our bodies to a good smooth running automobile.  When the proper parts are correctly assembled, the car runs with comparatively little wear.  “So too”, he writes, “is the proper functioning of your own body the direct result of the assembled Contrology exercises.”

His exercise program was designed to create true physical fitness and result in perfect posture when sitting, standing or walking, and when working efficiently it will be utilizing only about 25% of your energy.  The remaining 75% is your surplus energy reserve and is “on-call to meet the needs of any possible emergency”, like falling or the unexpected.  While this was written in 1945, today’s research of muscle testing is confirming that the most efficient muscle work happens at around a 30% contraction.  Given today’s inflation, I think Mr. Pilates was completely on target with his percentage.

Our Pilates exercises are our solid foundation and when performed using the Pilates principles of centering, control and concentration they become a part of ourselves, just like properly learning to swim or to ride a bike.

We never need to worry about the possibility of failing to use the right technique in these skills because we store them away and they are there when we need them.  In the same way, we securely store the Pilates technique in ourselves with the goal being a constant coordinated unity of body, mind and spirit.   Our major supply of energy is in reserve when we need it for the unexpected that life throws our way and in fact we are now living the Pilates way of life.