Pilates is a physical discipline developed by Joseph H. Pilates, who created the method to overcome his own health challenges, including rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever. Born in Germany in the 1880s, he dedicated his life to physical training and eventually became a skilled bodybuilder, diver, skier, and gymnast. After moving to the UK at age 32, he taught self-defense to police officers and continued refining his techniques during World War I while interned in a camp, where he helped rehabilitate other inmates. His observations led him to believe that bodily misalignment caused by overcompensation could be corrected through targeted re-education of the muscles, and that true wellness required a positive and focused mind. In the 1920s, Pilates moved to the U.S., opened a studio in New York shared with the New York City Ballet, named his method Contrology, and published his first book, Return to Life Through Contrology, in 1945.