A History of Pilates
彼拉提斯的一段歷史
Joseph Pilates was a fitness guru and inventor born in 1883 near the northern German city of Dusseldorf. His father was a prizewinning gymnast of Greek ancestry. His mother was a naturopath, who believed in stimulating the body to heal itself without drugs or surgery. His mother's healing philosophy and father's physical achievements were to greatly influence Pilates' ideas on therapeutic exercise.
喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯是1883年於德國北部城市杜塞道夫出生的健身專家和發明家。他的父親是希臘血統的得獎體操運動員。他的母親是一名自然療法師，她深信不用藥物或手術就能刺激身體修復自己。他母親的治療哲學以及父親在體能的成就，將會深深影響彼拉提斯在運動療法上的想法。
Pilates was a sickly child, suffering from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. To make matters worse, the bigger children at school taunted him by making fun of his name. He became determined to overcome his physical disadvantages, and dedicated his life to improving his health and strength.
彼拉提斯是個體弱多病的孩子，飽受氣喘、痀僂症、和風濕熱之苦。讓情況更糟糕的是，學校裡較魁梧的孩子藉由開他名字的玩笑來嘲弄他。他下並決心要克服生理上的不利條件，並將他的人生投入在改善他的健康及力量上。
He focused on breathing techniques to assist with his asthma, and by exercising outside in his shorts, was able to cure his rickets which is caused by a vitamin D deficiency. By the age of 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. He loved skiing and being outdoors. He studied bodybuilding, yoga, martial arts, and gymnastics.
他專注於呼吸技巧以幫助改善他的氣喘，藉由穿著短褲在戶外運動，他能夠治療因為缺乏維他命 D 所引起的痀僂症。在十四歲時，他已經夠健壯到能當人體結構圖的模特兒。他喜歡滑雪和待在戶外。他研讀健身、瑜伽、武術、和體操。
You can recognize the influence of these activities in the Pilates technique. For example, the long stretch and up stretch on the Reformer are drawn from "downward-facing dog" and "plank" in yoga. He uses punching and sidekick movement similar to martial arts. And some exercises on the chair are similar to gymnastic ring work. The natural movements of animals also inspired him and this can be seen in exercises such as the cat stretch on the Cadillac.
你可以在彼拉提斯的技巧中辨識出這些運動的影響。舉例來說，器械床上的延長伸展和向上伸展是取自於瑜伽中「面朝下的狗式」和「棒式」。他使用類似武術的出拳和側踢動作。有些在椅子上的練習類似於體操吊環運動。動物的自然動作同樣也給他靈感，這可以在練習動作中看到，像是在凱迪拉克床上的貓式伸展。
In 1912, Joseph Pilates moved to England and earned a living as a professional boxer, circus performer, and self-defense trainer at Scotland Yard. During World War I, however, the British authorities interned him, along with other German citizens, in a British Enemy Citizens' Camp on the Isle of Man.
在1912年，喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯搬到英國，並以職業拳擊手、馬戲團演員、和倫敦警察廳的自衛訓練師謀生。然而，第一次世界大戰期間，英國當局將他和其他德國公民一起拘留在曼島上的英國敵國國民拘留營。
The health conditions in these camps were poor, but Pilates insisted that everyone in his cellblock participate in daily exercise routines, which he had devised to help maintain their physical and mental well-being.
這些拘留營中的健康狀態很差，但彼拉提斯堅持在他獄區裡的所有人都要參加每日的運動行程，那是他設計出來幫助維持他們身理及心理健康的運動。
Some of the injured German soldiers were too weak to get out of bed. Not content to leave his comrades lying idle, Pilates took springs from the beds and attached them to the headboards and footboards of the iron bed frames, turning them into equipment that provided a type of resistance exercise for his bedridden patients. These mechanized beds were the forerunners of the spring-based exercise machines, such as the Cadillac and the Reformer, for which the Pilates method is known today.
有些受傷的德國士兵太過虛弱而無法離床。不甘願於丟下他的夥伴們閒躺著，彼拉提斯從床上取出彈簧並將它們接到鐵床架的床頭板及床尾板上，將它們變成為久病患者提供一種耐力運動的器材。這些機械化的病床是那些以彈簧為基礎的運動機械的先驅，像是凱迪拉克床和器械床，那些都是彼拉提斯法今日為人所知的器材。
Pilates legend has it that during the great flu epidemic of 1918, not a single soldier under his care died. Remarkable! Considering the terrible living conditions of the internment camps.
彼拉提斯傳說這樣流傳著，在1918年的大流感期間，沒有一個在他照護之下的士兵喪命。非常驚人!考慮到那拘留營中糟糕的生活環境。
After the war, Joseph returned to Germany and collaborated with experts in dance and physical exercise, such as Rudolf Laban. In Hamburg, he trained police officers. He was also pressured to train members of the German army, but left his native Germany, disappointed with its political and social conditions, and immigrated to the United States. En route, he met his future wife, a young nurse named Clara. The couple founded a studio in New York City and taught and supervised their students well into the 1960s.
戰後，喬瑟夫回到德國，並與舞蹈及體能運動專家合作，像是Rudolf Laban(舞蹈家)。在德國漢堡，他訓練警察。他同樣也被迫使去訓練德國軍隊，但他離開了土生土長的德國，對於其政治和社會條件感到失望，並移民到美國。在路上，他結識了他未來的妻子，一位名叫 Clara 的年輕護士。這對情侶在紐約成立一間工作室，並教導且監督他們的學生一直到六零年代。
His method, which he and Clara originally called Contrology, encouraged the mind to control muscles. It focused attention on core postural muscles that help keep the body balanced and provide support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and of alignment of the spine, and strengthen the deep torso and abdominal muscles. Pilates came to believe that modern lifestyle, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lay at the roots of poor health.
他的方法，他和 Clara 原先稱作「控制哲學」，刺激心志去控制肌肉。那能集中注意力在幫助維持人體平衡及提供脊椎支撐力的核心姿勢肌上。最特別地，彼拉提斯運動訓練對呼吸以及脊椎矯正的認識，並強化軀幹深處與腹部的肌肉。彼拉提斯開始相信現代的生活型態、不正確的姿勢、以及無效率的呼吸為不良的健康狀態紮根。
Joseph Pilates' New York gym put him in close proximity to a number of dance studios, which led to his discovery by prominent members of the dance community, including George Balanchine and Martha Graham. The Pilates repertoire itself has many references to classical ballet and also the Graham technique. For example, the ballet stretches on the Cadillac and Ladder Barrel, the round back and straight back in the stomach massage series on the Reformer. Many dancers, actors, and famous people in New York depended on Pilates for the strength and grace it developed, as well as for its rehabilitative effects.
喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯在紐約的運動中心將他帶到幾間舞蹈工作室的鄰近區域，這使得他被舞蹈界的知名人物發現，包括 George Balanchine 和 Martha Graham。彼拉提斯的動作本身就有許多古典芭蕾、也有葛萊姆技巧(現代舞技巧)的參考依據。舉例來說，像是凱迪拉克床及梯桶上的芭蕾伸展、還有器械床上胃部按摩系列的拱背及直背。許多舞者、演員、和紐約名人都為了它所帶來的力量及魅力而仰賴彼拉提斯，還有為了它那復健的效果。
Joseph Pilates wrote two books, Your Health and Return to Life through Contrology, and was also a prolific inventor. He passed away in 1967 at the age of 83 in New York. He had maintained a fit physique throughout his life, and photographs show that he was in remarkable physical condition in his older years.
喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯寫過兩本書：「你的健康」以及「透過控制哲學重返人生」，他同樣也是作品豐富的發明家。他在1967年83歲時在紐約逝世。他在他的人生中都保持強健的體魄，也有照片顯示他在晚年仍處於絕佳的生理狀態。
He is also said to have had a flamboyant personality. He smoked cigars, liked to party, and wore his exercise briefs wherever he wanted—even on the streets of New York. It's said that he was an intimidating, though deeply committed, instructor. Although Joseph and Clara had no children, his legacy and exercise techniques were preserved and developed through the work of his disciples. These disciples who started out as their apprentices are now called the Elders.
據說他同樣也有高調的個性。他抽雪茄、喜歡參加派對、無論他想在哪穿都穿著他的運動小內褲－－甚至在紐約大街上。據說他是名雖然深深投入、卻也很令人敬畏的導師。即使喬瑟夫和 Clara 沒有孩子，他的遺產及運動技巧都透過他追隨者的努力，被保留下來並成長發展。這些一開始是他見習生的追隨者們現在叫做「長老」。
Until exercise science caught up with the Pilates method in the 1980s, it was chiefly dancers and elite athletes who utilized the Pilates technique. Now, Pilates has made it to the mainstream, with its health benefits and mental discipline widely recognized as being of great benefit to the health and well-being of all types of people, no matter their shape, size, gender or age.
直到運動科學在八零年代跟上彼拉提斯的方法前，主要是舞者和菁英運動員利用彼拉提斯的技巧。現在，彼拉提斯已成為主流，其對健康的益處以及其心志訓練，被廣泛認為對所有類型的人們的健康及幸福有極大益處，不論他們的身形、大小、性別或是年齡。
Today, Joseph Pilates teachings are carried on by the Pilates Elders, their progeny, and by a large group of contemporary teachers all over the world.
今天，喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯的教學由彼拉提斯長老們、他們的後代、以及世界各地一大群現代的老師們接著傳承下去。
- 「開...的玩笑、取笑」- Make Fun Of
To make matters worse, the bigger children at school taunted him by making fun of his name.
讓情況更糟糕的是，學校裡較魁梧的孩子藉由開他名字的玩笑來嘲弄他。 - 「謀生」- Earn A Living
In 1912, Joseph Pilates moved to England and earned a living as a professional boxer, circus performer, and self-defense trainer at Scotland Yard.
在1912年，喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯搬到英國，並以職業拳擊手、馬戲團演員、和倫敦警察廳的自衛訓練師謀生。 - 「一起、連同」- Along With
...the British authorities interned him, along with other German citizens, in a British Enemy Citizens' Camp on the Isle of Man.
...英國當局將他和其他德國公民，一起拘留在曼島上的英國敵國國民拘留營。 - 「在路上、途中」- En Route
En route, he met his future wife, a young nurse named Clara.
在路上，他結識了他未來的妻子，一位名叫 Clara 的年輕護士。 - 「仰賴、依賴」- Depend On
Many dancers, actors, and famous people in New York depended on Pilates for the strength and grace it developed...
許多舞者、演員、和紐約名人都為了它所帶來的力量及魅力而仰賴彼拉提斯... - 「過世」- Pass Away
He passed away in 1967 at the age of 83 in New York.
他在1967年83歲時在紐約逝世。 - 「趕上、追上」- Catch Up With
Until exercise science caught up with the Pilates method in the 1980s, it was chiefly dancers and elite athletes who utilized the Pilates technique.
直到運動科學在八零年代跟上彼拉提斯的方法前，主要是舞者和菁英運動員利用彼拉提斯的技巧。 - 「繼續、接下去進行」- Carry On
Today, Joseph Pilates teachings are carried on by the Pilates Elders, their progeny, and by a large group of contemporary teachers all over the world.
今天，喬瑟夫‧彼拉提斯的教學由彼拉提斯長老們、他們的後代、以及世界各地一大群現代的老師們接著傳承下去。
