Michael Miller Pilates

My view of pilates

I was asked recenty by a student if I considered my view of pilates a philosophy.

I had to say no. I conceded that at one point I believed my view of pilates would be universally acknowledged. Now, I see that there will always be different brands.

My brand is not a philosophy; my brand is a statement. My brands states that pilates is an idea, clearly explained in the original work of the man himself--Joseph Pilates.

Everyone that wants to keep pilates as an arbitrarily intrepreted form either can't understand or accept the truth once it is explained to them, or they choose to ignore the truth for self-serving reasons.

My view of pilates gives the creator his due. My view of pilates acknowledges the truth embedded in the original work. Make anything else out of it you want, it will always be essentially what it is.

So, given everybody has their point of view, and everybody is selling their brand of pilates, I'm selling my brand of pilates.  What does that mean to you?

That means if you really want to know the "why" of pilates you're going to have to know the idea.

My point of view

People are so naive to my point of view. They think they know what they know, and that that will always be enough. In their fantasy world of "it's all about me", they look past the new paradigm because it doesn't fit in to the world the way they are used to looking at it. (Did you really think the reference to Einstein was facetious?)

What do Copernicus, Bruce Lee, Einstein, and Michael Miller have in common?

Copernicus changed the way people thought about astronomy.

Bruce Lee changed the way people thought about martial arts.

Einstein changed the way people thought about physics.

Michael Miller changed the way people thought about pilates.

Evidently: "changed the way people thought"

You miss the point if you dont' see the point

"No hay pero que valga!"
("There's no "but's" about it!")

the idea is great, but...?

the idea, is the idea.

The work of joseph pilates is the idea.

It's not what he wanted it to be,
it is what it is that he revealed.

when you take the bulk of what he directly left,
you easily get to the idea. It's his idea.
I'm just pointing it out.
If you want to ignore it--that's up to you.

Michael Miller Pilates Licensed Affiliates exist around the world.

Because they can

Everyone calls what they do "pilates" because they can. Absent the idea, which came after Joe, there is no standard. Even if you try to set one, based upon "principals" and "elders" you are doomed to failure.

Look at his work to reach for the essence of the man. (Take it from me, take it from my work, the essence of me is in my work; I'm sure it's the same for you too.)

What Joe actually wanted the work to be...

that's a good question on a lot of levels.

Does it matter what he wanted it to be?

not if it isn't something in and of itself.

If it is that, something in and of its self,
then it's not about what Joe wanted it to be;
it's about what Joe wanted to do--survive.

And survival isn't about what you want;
its about what it takes to do so.

And that is an external determinate
in  invarianent circumstances.

so the circumstances of the situation
determine the quality of conditioning

Joe's work illuminates fundamental embodiment.

What is said of Gandhi can be said of Joe...

"No man's life can ever be compressed into a telling.  There is no way to give each year its alloted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime.  What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and try to find one's way to the heart of the man..."  From the opening quote in the movie Gandhi

Enough

I don't think it matters what Joe wanted the work to be. (Even for him.) What matters is that Joe's work reveals what matters.

You can go off and make pilates anything you want.

Remember, it' s survival training. The definition, the promise, the sequence.

I know where I stand. The rest doesn't matter. Others will say, "Yes, but, look over here, pay attention to this." And I say, no thank you. No need. I know where I'm coming from and where I want to get to and that's enough for me.

MMP Position Statement on PMA Position Statement: On Pilates / Part Twelve

PURIST VS. MODIFIED PILATES:

This is currently being expressed as a tormenting conflict between "Contemporary" pilates and "Classical" pilates.

What the PMA believes Pilates "should" do, has little to do with Pilates and everything to do with securing their aristocratic control over something that needs none. Only a fool needs an expert to explain the obvious. (or surrender their power through fear and intimidation) don't you get tired of hearing that this phone conversation is being recorded for your benefit? I mean come on, how gullible can you be?

When you understand the idea of pilates everything becomes clear. What you do or don't do with a client isn't a battle between classicists clinging to ridged tradition, or contemporists assuming they can change things at will for reasons that have more to do with what they know about than understanding what the method is about.

The conflict between classic and contemporary fade away when you understand the underlying idea of pilates.

MMP Position Statement on PMA Position Statement: On Pilates / Part Eleven

PILATES IS NOT FUSION:

I agree completely! But you cannot say that it is or is not pilates based upon which apparatus you happen to be using. The PMA wants it both ways, they want to be able to say what is or isn't pilates, loosely defining it with principles, and then saying when you apply the principles outside of the classical equipment it is not longer pilates. The logic does not stand, the position cannot hold weight.