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CONTENTS

PROLOGUE

DEFINITION OF CONTROLOGY

WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT CONTROLOGY

HOW TO IDENTIFY A TRUE CONTROLOGY TEACHER

TEACHERS OF THE PILATES METHOD

Romana Kryzanowska

Sari Mejía Santo

THE TRAINING EQUIPMENT (APPARATI)

UNIVERSAL REFORMER

CADILLAC

HIGH CHAIR

WUNDA CHAIR

LARGE BARREL

SPINE CORRECTOR AND SMALL BARREL

PEDI-POLE

MAGIC CIRCLE

A foreword

PRECAUTIONS BEFORE GETTING STARTED - WARNINGS TO THE READER

NOSE BREATHING

Training in special conditions

Weak or sensitive neck

Shoulders, elbows, wrists

Back

Hips

Knees

Ankles

Pregnancy

To Bear in Mind

HYPER-EXTENSION OF THE JOINTS

POSITIONS OF THE FEET

QUALITY/QUANTITY

POSITIVE ATTITUDE / PERSEVERANCE

The Six Basic Principles

CENTRE

CONCENTRATION

CONTROL

PRECISION

BREATHING

FLOW OF MOVEMENT

Key Concepts

“V” FEET POSITION

CENTRAL LINE AND “BOX”

NAVEL TO SPINE: “INWARDS AND UPWARDS”

CHIN TO CHEST

SPINE ARTICULATION VERTEBRA BY VERTEBRA

“C”-CURVE

EXERCISES ONTHE UNIVERSAL REFORMER

INTRODUCTION

THE “UNIVERSAL REFORMER”

COMPONENTS OF THE “UNIVERSAL REFORMER”

EXERCISE LEVELS FOR THE UNIVERSAL REFORMER

BASIC SYSTEM

INTERMEDIATE SYSTEM

ADVANCED SYSTEM

THE UNIVERSAL REFORMERBASIC SYSTEM EXERCISES

I – FOOTWORK SERIES

TOES

ARCHES

HEELS

TENDON STRETCH

II - THE HUNDRED

III – LEG CIRCLES

IV – FROG

V – STOMACH MASSAGE SERIES

ROUND

HANDS BACK

REACH UP

VI – SHORT BOX SERIES

THE HUG

FLAT

SIDE TO SIDE

TWIST

TREE

VII – LONG STRETCH SERIES

ELEPHANT

VIII – KNEE STRETCH SERIES

ROUND

ARCHED

KNEES OFF

IX - RUNNING

X – PELVIC LIFT

THE UNIVERSAL REFORMERINTERMEDIATE SYSTEM EXERCISES

I – SHORT SPINE MASSAGE

II - COORDINATION

III- SWAN ON THE BARREL

IV - HORSEBACK

V – LONG BOX SERIES

PULLING STRAPS

T-SHAPE

BACKSTROKE SWIMMING

TEASER

VI – SHORT BOX SERIES

TWIST AND REACH

VII – LONG STRETCH SERIES

LONG STRETCH

DOWN STRETCH

UP STRETCH

VIII – STOMACH MASSAGE SERIES

TWIST

IX - SEMICIRCLE

X – SIDE SPLITS

XI – FRONT SPLITS

THE UNIVERSAL REFORMERADVANCED SYSTEM EXERCISES

I - OVERHEAD

II – ROWING SERIES

INTO THE STERNUM

90º DEGREES

FROM THE CHEST

FROM THE HIPS

SHAVE THE HEAD

III – LONG BOX SERIES

HORSEBACK

IV – LONG STRETCH SERIES

LONG BACK STRETCH

V – TENDON STRETCH

VI – CHEST EXPANSION

VII – THIGH STRETCH

VIII – ARM CIRCLES

IX - SNAKE

X - TWIST

XI - CORKSCREW

XII – LONG SPINE MASSAGE

XIII – BALANCE CONTROL

PUSH UP FRONT

PUSH UP BACK

XIV – RUSSIAN SPLITS

About the Authors

PROLOGUE

This book, together with the rest of the series, is aimed at anyone who wishes to check, develop or improve his or her Contrology technique on all the main apparati (equipment) designed by its creator.

Thanks to Romana Kryzanowska, our teacher, and to her daughter Sari Mejía Santo, we can enjoy today their legacy, a technique as close as possible to Joe Pilates’ original creation.

Therefore, this volume on the Universal Reformer is dedicated to Romana, that historical master of Contrology who used beautifully, as can be seen in so many films, this major and central apparatus of the method. The whole Contrology system is based upon the Universal Reformer and couldn’t do without it. It wouldn’t make sense. The Universal Reformer was invented by Pilates, this genius of physical culture, back in Germany, at the very beginning of his task, and before his American adventure started to last forty-one years.

Again, neither the present volume nor all the rest presume to be a way to learn the method. They are only intended as support tools for pupils of any studio who wish to improve their teacher-guided sessions, for practitioners who decide to buy some piece of equipment to go on practicing at home, for students in teacher-training who wish to be better organized and to have a more structured grasp on the method, for teachers who need a review…

During more than a decade we have seen a vertiginous increase in the number of Pilates schools, titles, teachers, studios and even books. It seems to us the time is ripe to present this series of ebooks. Our current purpose is now wider, and could be summarized as a wish to express our unwavering position, in the present context of chaos, to pass on to the general public the original method designed by Mr. Pilates as it has been transmitted by our teachers.

For this reason we wish to thank Romana Kryzanowska and her daughter Sari Mejía Santo for accepting us as collaborators in such a valuable tradition. Thanks to their untiring task and to the thousands of hours spent observing their sessions we have been able to better understand the human being and to try to help people through Pilates’ legacy. Apart from their technical lessons, they have also taught us to be respectful, humble, devoted and hard-working professionals.

As Joe Pilates himself said, learning to control, exercise and understand human mechanics cannot be done through a book. This is completely true, but beyond this great truth, we expect this series may work as a “crutch” to go deeper into this great method of body conditioning.

We hope these guides are of help to the many who may need them. This is our sole purpose.

Javier Pérez Pont
Summer 2012

DEFINITION OF CONTROLOGY

“A good physical condition is the first requirement for happiness”. This quote by H. J. Pilates could well summarize the philosophy of his method. A good physical condition is achieved not only through the body, but also with the intervention of mind and spirit, with the final aim of “carrying out our daily tasks with love and energy”.

Contrology is a program of physical and mental training that conceives mind and body as a single thing, and explores the potential for change the human body has. This change, the main purpose of which is to improve body functioning, is founded on a strong “powerhouse”, an expression that refers to the circumference around the lower body, in so much as it is the structure that supports and reinforces the rest of the body. The method’s other pillar are the six Main Principles: Concentration, Control, Centre, Flow of Movement, Breathing and Precision.

Contrology means full coordination of body, mind and spirit. It is a unique system of stretching and strengthening exercises developed by Hubertus Joseph Pilates, when he was almost ninety years old. Contrology is based on sequences of controlled and precise movements, done upon a number of special apparati (equipment) designed by Hubertus Joseph Pilates himself, which pose a number of variable resistances to muscle work, acting like the muscles, and combining this work with exercises on the floor or on a mat. Theses exercises must be done in various positions (lying down, sitting, kneeling, leaning or standing), always avoiding impact or pressure on muscles, joints and tissues. Sessions are supervised at length by fully qualified and trained teachers.

People who practice this method on a regular basis develop a harmonic body, strengthen their mind, heighten their spirit, move more easily, sleep better and obtain a stronger, suppler body, and a slender silhouette. Contrology favors harmony and muscle balance. It is a method effective in itself, it isn’t tiring or boring and it should be practiced in its purer form, without mixing it with other disciplines or therapies.

This method is something like an “inner shower”: your heart will work at a stronger, more regular rhythm, without acceleration and excessive effort, blood will flow with new vigor and regularity, thus being oxygenated, and lymphatic drain, along with inner organs, will be stimulated.

“Ideally, our muscles should obey our will, or in other words, our will shouldn’t submit to the reflective actions of our muscles”. “It is the mind that rules the body”. Joseph Pilates believed in the power of the mind to control the body. The wonder of many new users at the well being and energy they feel after their first sessions is not surprising. Pilates proved his beliefs once and again during his long years of research and training.

The goal of Contrology is physical and mental harmony: realizing fully the physical capacities of each person and correcting unbalance and weakness. This is why we recommend this method to all kinds of people, regardless of their age and profession.

Pilates himself was adamant about the purity of his method, which he defined as a combination of art and science, and he transmitted this conviction to his immediate followers. This notwithstanding, in the last years, after a USA jury sentenced that the term “Pilates” is generic, thousands of people are using this name as a bait for purely economical purposes. This unscrupulous use of the method can only lead to its deterioration. And the deterioration of the original method implies a drastic reduction of its effectiveness.

We would like to stress the importance of vocabulary and of a proper translation from the original language, that is, English, both for teachers and learners of the method. H. J. Pilates defended the use of a precise, clear and natural language when delivering his method. He gradually erased a number of expressions and substituted them for others which made up a unique and specific corpus. If you attend a proper Contrology studio, you will be surprised by the way teachers have of instructing pupils. A special vocabulary is used, made up by hundreds of turns used both by Pilates and by his wife Clara. To write the Spanish version of this book, we have had to find a translation as precise as possible for many of the Pilates terms. We have been lucky enough to have Romana and Sari’s help, both of whom also speak Spanish. If you attend a true Contrology studio, no matter what part of the world you are in, you will hear teachers use, in their own languages, the same “technical” vocabulary, along with numerous sentences by the method’s creator.

WHAT IS AND WHAT IS NOT CONTROLOGY

The work done by H. J. Pilates with his method lasted in its original form while its creator lived. His wife Clara, and the master Romana Kryzanowska later, kept the method alive to our days, helping thousands of people with their deep comprehension of the work of this genius and by applying his “original method”, which was after all the fruit of a lifetime of research, observation of the normal functioning of the human body, and result-proving. His revolutionary work is still alive today because it is perfect. As any masterpiece, it lacks nothing, and nothing is in excess, each detail is necessary because it has its own place; like Pilates used to say “why not aim higher instead of accepting mediocrity”. Whereas expressed in these terms the system might seem close, orthodox and hermetic, there is nothing further from the truth.

Contrology is nothing like this. As any other science or art, understanding and studying it require great doses of humility, ongoing and deep study and lots of sensible practice. As any other method, technique or science, it has its own sets of laws, formulae, principles, concepts, etc.

Today, discussions on what should be considered a genuine Pilates method are uncountable. All these arguments have one thing in common: they dazzle the public for obvious economic reasons and take advantage of the good reputation enjoyed by the name Pilates. No debate can be sustained if we look at the method’s genuine tradition and history.

The method is named after its creator, Hubertus Joseph Pilates. As any other art, it gets its name from its creator to honor his work. Contrology should refer to those methods, exercises, principles, concepts, etc., invented and practiced by its creator. Any modification, and there are thousands (no exaggeration), addition, mix, variation or order alteration, of the exercises and, most importantly, of their objective, is simply no longer Contrology.