Musing about a Book: Caged Lion by John Howard Steel No. 3

I gobbled this book up.  Caged Lion is a fascinating account of Joseph Pilates through the eyes of his student and confidant, John Howard Steel. A journey of two seekers.

 The Caged Lion, Joseph Pilates & His Legacy  by John Howard Steel. 

 Both memoir and biography, John Howard Steel tells of his introduction to Joseph Pilates and the founding of what has become the modern Pilates Movement. 

Steel dives deep into the largely unknown history of Pilates’ early life in Germany and England. Like an unraveling mystery, Steel uses his experience as a lawyer to fact find and give the reader a view of Germany between the two world wars.  The post World War I intellectual era in Germany has always fascinated me, it was a time of blossoming literature, philosophy and the arts - holistic therapies and communes. The birth of Modern Dance!!! Yet - I was surprised at how Steel down played these influences and sought out actual accounts of where and what Pilates the innovator was up to. Pilates arrived in NYC in 1926, an immigrant with few known credentials. He brought with him a somewhat mysterious past, an enterprising energy, ahead of his time thinking with his approach to whole body health and physical fitness and intuitive ability to teach.  

 At the end of his life (in 1967), Joseph Pilates left us with a handful of disciples and the ever burdening task of defining what “Pilates” is and what it takes to be a Pilates Instructor.

 Steel, the author,  became a student, friend and confidant of both Joseph and Clara Pilates starting in the early 1960s until the end of both of their lives.  Starting with his first lesson, Steel brings us along into Joe Pilates’ studio at 939 Eighth Avenue, between 55th and 56th Streets.  Steel writes with vivid detail, humor and self deprecation of his first lessons with Joe Pilates.  Steel at the time was a young lawyer just starting out. His parents had been students of Joe and Clara Pilates and wanted him to start.  Steel writes “Mom had been hounding me for at least six months to see him. She thought this man was a wizard with the human body and was certain that he could fix my chronic stiff neck. I was skeptical - just another of my mother’s many enthusiasms. My resistance finally cracked not so much to relieve the pressure on my neck as to end the pressure from my mother.”  

 Steel uses fact and his own in-depth research to uncover and more realistically describe Pilates’ early life in Germany.  If you have read about Pilates elsewhere, you will know that accounts of his life in Germany and England are varied at best.  

 We all know that Pilates was interned during the first world war on the Isle of Man. However in Caged Lion, Steel discovers that most likely Joseph Pilates was in isolation as a prisoner of war during this time period.  It was in this isolated state that Pilates developed not only his exercise routine but a method (a whole body method) that included both physical and mental discipline. Steel compares Pilates' experience to that of psychologist named Dr. Csíkszentmihályi - who - at a later time - was also a prisoner of war - in Italy during World War II. Dr. Csíkszentmihályi took up the game of chess while in prison and in complete isolation  and later developed a theory  based on his experience with his chess playing - the experience of  attaining  a mental state of complete focus and absorption, what he referred to as “Flow”.  

 Don’t we all strive to be in this mindspace sometimes? Think of Olympic athletes who can set their mind to it and accomplish their goal.  This mental ability - is as important as the physical- whether the physical is movement, playing an instrument, painting a picture, or playing a game of chess.  

 A few weeks ago  - I attended the Pilatesology (virtual) Book Club meeting where John Howard Steel was the guest author. One of my favorite comments that he made - was about a Pilates instructor whom he met in the south of France.  This teacher was a Master in the Martial Arts and yet had had only two weeks of Pilates Teacher Training with another studio in Marseille, France. Steel said that he was one of the best Pilates Instructors he had ever had.  Ultimately the mark of a great teacher - it is not the number of certifications or qualifying  hours he or she has ticked off  on his or her resume. 

 To paraphrase Steel, he said: “He had the instinct that Joe had about the human body, he knew how it worked - deep down - instinctively - and knew how to teach movement. He knew how hard to work you, what pace to keep. .  It (his ability to teach) was 99% inside of him.” 

 Steel reflected and said that it is up to the consumer (the student) to seek out and “certify” the teacher. The ultimate test of a (Pilates) teacher’s qualifications is the success he or she has had with the student.  Will that student return for a second lesson?

 “Contrology” which is the name Pilates gave to the method is not simply just a set of exercises. Contrology is a vision that Joe had for whole body health - the development of body, mind and spirit.  

 I think the ultimate goal for any Pilates Instructor is to imbue this more philosophical approach to teaching and introduce the student to developing and maintaining  “a uniformly developed body with sound mind”.  For the instructor to start with the body (the student) in front of  him/her and to help that student to actively engage in the principals, as laid out by Pilates himself: 

 Whole Body Movement

Breathing

Balanced Muscle Development

Concentration

Control

Centering

Precision 

Rhythm

More often than not, the student is only looking for an exercise routine. Heck, John Howard Steel first went to the Eighth Ave studio to appease his mother. Where Joe Pilates succeeded as a Pilates Instructor was that he hooked Steel for life.  He started Steel on a journey, a heightened awareness of self. An improved physical being.  A mastery of this technique and a desire to have and maintain whole body and mind fitness that continues to the day.  If you were to ask me - this is the sign of a good teacher and this is Contrology.