by Sunni Almond
I’ve been on this Pilates journey for many years now, and it’s only in the last few that I think I’ve finally got the idea. WHY has it taken me SO long to figure it out? It’s really simple and yet so complicated all at the same time. This is not an argument for or against contemporary or classical, but I must say that not until I recognized that there is an ORDER that should be followed (leaving out what isn’t appropriate for a given individual), did things really start to make sense.
I thought it was simply a lot of exercises and choices I could pick from and pick apart to make classes and lessons more interesting both for the clients and for me.
I now get just how wrong I was…
Did I hurt anyone? No.
Was it fun? Yes.
Was it Pilates? No.
That’s just honest, true fessing up.
I didn’t know that I didn’t get it. I was hip, cool, fun, and had full classes, but I sensed that there was more to it. Otherwise why would there be so many books, educational workshops and conferences? I just have this drive to figure things out, and so I read, study, take classes, watch videos, and try to master what I can.
The discovery zone!
Just because you have a mat or a reformer or a trap table etc does not mean that what you are doing on it is Pilates. I GET IT!!!
I’ve read the book Return To Life many times, but for some reason never put together that it details The Method, (pun intended) to the madness.
My friend Benjamin Degenhardt plays what I call the game of What’s Old, What’s New. He looks at the exercises starting with the components of the Hundred all the way through to Push Ups on the mat and teaches them in such a way that it makes complete sense.
We have learned to lift our head, neck and chest, breathing fully as we move our outstretched arms as we lift the legs (held together as one), lengthened them away from our center to a place we can control, kept the abs from popping as the spine settles into the mat arms reaching past the hips.
Next exercise brings “what’s old”? Breathing, lying on our back, legs lengthened away, head, neck and chest get to lift, and arms reach. What’s new? We continue the lift of the head neck and chest, curling the upper body up off the mat and rolling through our spine, arms reaching behind us to start, then follow the path of the body until they reach towards the feet, as the legs are held firmly together as one … and so it goes all the way through the complete 34 mat exercises.
Each new exercise brings both new and old skills to the table. You have to EARN the RIGHT to move on, to advance. It isn’t fair to ask a deconditioned or unready body to do things it hasn’t prepared for.
Another friend, Kathi Ross-Nash, has what she calls her Red Thread theory. I will use Spine Stretch as an example. Where else in the studio do you see that shape? Saw, Rocker With Open Legs, Horseback, The Push Through, or Elephant, for instance. ( I know, not all mat… But it IS a system!)
Take the Teaser….it’s the Hundred, Roll Up & Rollover, Boomerang, Control Balance..turn it on it’s side and it’s the Side Kick Series, for just a few examples. She also had another way to describe Pilates:
‘Exercises in the method are not individual exercises yet one continuous exercise that changes shape as the spine continuously moves through stability, and all planes of action increasing in difficulty and complexity and dynamics.”
~ Kathi Ross-Nash
Freaking Brilliant!!
Anyway, it’s been said that we only have one exercise, and that exercise is the Double Leg Pull, (or stretch) depending on which camp you’re in. I’m in Camp Pilates, and the smallest part of it is choreography in my humble opinion anyway. You gotta know the when (to move), where (to move or stabilize), and why (the goal).
So what’s new?
Sunni Almond is a true believer in the power of Classical Pilates, the one that came from Joe and Clara Pilates. She teaches Classical Pilates on classical apparatus in her studio Studio S Pilates in Temecula, CA. Check out Sunny’s studio or contact her to schedule a session – click here.
so well written
Love Kathi Ross-Nash’s quote because it is so true and have heard that from Patricia Medros, who trained with Romana. I have learned a lot from Patricia as to the where, when and why.
Thanks for your article.
Molly, Thank you so much for your feedback, totally appreciate the thumbs up ;))
Sunni
Hello Sunni, Thanks for introducing this perspective! I think I am missing important details about what you mean with the sequencing of the exercises. Could you suggest 5 exercises as an example of how this progression is used, what beneficial similarities for muscles workouts there are and maybe what the differences in the plane of motion are?
🙂
Sarah
Sarah, Hi….Not sure I quite understand your question, but I’ll give it a go.
In the book Return To Life, the 34 mat exercises are given in the order they are to be executed when a person is able to complete the whole series. It is viewed as 1 long exercise that takes many shapes as it evolves from Hundreds all the way through to Push ups. Because very few people can do the whole series at the start of their Pilates journey, they are broken down into beginning, intermediate and advanced just like the rest of the repertoire.
So The hundred flows into the rollup which in a basic class would then be followed by 1 leg circle, rolling back (roll like a ball), single leg pull, double leg pull etc…each exercise builds a foundation and a transitionary move is done to sew the moves to each other, so there is a flow. Each exercise done with the correct stabilization and alignment works every part of the body. There are breath patterns muscle activation throughout the body, so what seems like it might be a leg move is actually felt with the arms, lats, abs etc…because of body position and intention. I hope I came close to answering your question,
Sunni
Excellent article, well said Sunni!
Thanks Marie ;))
Such a great article! I love that there is no end to what can be learned about this method. I love how you explain it! I am in the contemporary category but always use the transitory flow with precision and control through the mind body connection. Again, I am loving your wisdom and knowledge!
Hi Tamara, I appreciate YOU!!!
Sunni,
I can relate to your experience of Pilates from contemporary to classical. I started out being introduced to the Pilates exercises – but keenly sensed I was missing the juiciness and power of the Method. I am now infinitely more inspired to practice and teach Pilates from the context of its roots – As I am in the final phase of my classical training program, I am elated to finally see “how you have to EARN the RIGHT to move on, to advance.” Thanks for sharing your perspective!
Laurie
Laurie, apparently I don’t check back here often enough as I’m just now seeing your note.
YAY you!! And yes, EARNING The RIGHT, advancements then are not a conversation or argument. It is fact whether or not someone has what it takes to advance safely ;))
My original certification in 2003 is contemporary by Polestar Pilates and let me just state that man was it a rigorous course that taught me so much. Similar but different principals, still all makes perfect sense. Major emphasis on breath, body alignment and learning proper modifications for specific injuries and weaknesses. I am so beyond glad that I had the opportunity to start at Polestar by a far a first class establishment. Brent Anderson (OWNER OF POLESTAR PILATES) kills it! I promise!! Next I moved on to my comprehensive and had a co worker who had recently been certified through Power Pilates. I thought she was a great pilates instructor but she was missing breathing cues and this was very confusing to me. I asked her why she didn’t cue breathing on every exercise and she explained to me why. Those of you who know Power Pilates know that there are specific breathing exercise… Kudos to her for being so open minded. Power Pilates is also another first class establishment in my book. I signed up for this rigorous certification rathe than going back to Polestar purely because it was close to my kids school and my co worker knew some really cool stuff. Ahhhh, The Classical world of Pilates. It was harder for me who had already been teaching one way and really helping people with so many different issues to now have to learn the specific order and reasoning behind it. I had an incredible teacher who was so supportive and I practiced over and over and over. I was lucky because I was already what I considered an excellent teacher. (not bragging, just knowing how many people I had already helped throughout the years) I love all of your explanations Suni and really just wanted to make it a point to say that as Pilates instructors we should all know, practice and understand the classical orders. I so agree 100%. Do I always teach classically, NO. I see some clients 4-5 days a week and have to change things up. Additionally, I love the jump board, not in the classical repertoire, My clients need the cardio especially the ones that only see me and depend on me for it. I use my classical orders on pvts when they first start off for safety reasons and when I work with my groups of dancers etc. I am one of those teachers that could never really fully convert but I am so glad I have learned it and will always keep learning from both. I love Classical and Contemporary. Thank you for this wonderful article. XOS
Stacy, thank you SO MUCH for your comment! I think a lot of teachers can relate to it! I received my training through a contemporary school (Balanced Body) and my mentor was absolutely amazing. Even though it was not part of the curriculum, she encouraged all of us to learn and memorize the classical Pilates order. I think that once you are familiar and comfortable with the classical order then the rest of the work will fall in place. these days I personally do at least one classical Pilates mat workout a week myself but I mix it up a bit on other days (I will use props, self myofascial release techniques, Reformer exercises that I take to the mat etc.)
Knowing the Classical order helps me track my progress and monitor my body more closely. I feel the same goes for my students who get these A-ha moments when they are finally able to complete exercises that were very hard for them at first.
Thanks again for sharing your experience!
Stacy, I have Polestar in my bag of contemporary style toolkit, as well as Basi and Stott. I learned valuable things from all of them, and occasionally my past ends up in my present. For me to discredit them in any way does a disservice to the clients I worked with at that time and myself, insinuating a time & money waste. I only consider myself more educated because I have those in my background and therefore more to draw from when necessary. But like an advanced degree, I consider my newfound knowledge and practice puts the pieces together for me. Plus, classical apparatus is so different from others I’ve worked on, lots of things make more sense to me. My point is simply to never stop learning ;))
What a wonderful personal journey Sunni. Just love how passionate you are about it, and I can relate to it.
Being Polestar myself, especially if you ‘dig’ deeper with them, it is an awesome learning experience as you get so many rehab tools. Having said that, I want to learn the method the way Joseph Pilates created it, and you Sunni Almond (!) are part of that reason.
I doubt that I will ever fully convert, as I love the Polestar work (I also work for them, and the reason I work for them is I really do love the training, further education, their critical thinking, and the people I work for), but I think every Pilates teacher would benefit from knowing and doing the original work the way it was intended to be.
Anastasiya, I like the point you made about knowing the Classical order helps you track your progress and monitor your body more closely. I have started doing the beginner/intermediate order on the reformer. Love the flow which is nice sometimes that you don’t have to think what to do next.
Love your article Sunni ! Thankyou.
Brilliant!! I get it. I got it. I own two versions of JP’s books, return to life… The word that always came to mind is “synergy”…. The interaction of elements that when combined, produce a total effect that is greater than the some of its individual parts……. .OUR bodies. JP, got it, he knew it and he created a synergistic method. A brilliant method, an external internal magnificent journey to wholeness. The mind, the body, the intention. The flow, the balance, the movement, the breath, the control and the precion. Moving in seqential order, marrying the principal elements. That’s my take, btw. It’s just brilliant.
Thank you, Sunni! The 34 moments are coming together for a common goal. Pulling and recruiting muscles in and through movement “planes and complexity” to change the way our bodies move, look, feel and reacts. The creation, the results, the feeling and understanding is amazing.
I love the classical method. I’m a bit like you, Sunni, I sometimes teach in the ‘various’ ways and movements, but more for understanding. But I try to ensure that it flows in the order in which it was created. But that also comes with time and the different bodies that we are presented with. I never strive to be popular. I strive to understand, intern to give understanding. The body is incredible in what it can do and HOW it can move. I’m love this post because, even after 12 years teaching , I’m still learning..:
Thanks for sharing that. I always enjoy your post…. I probably babbled a bit much. I just love when someone post yummy Pilates stuff. ?
Amanda, sorry it’s been just over a year since your response, but I don’t get a notification of response so please excuse the lapse. I didn’t have the FB page Going More Joe yet, if you aren’t on there, please join. You’ll like it 😉