Joseph Pilates was born in Germany, where he later developed his exercise system in the early 1900’s, after he had suffered from asthma in childhood. Pilates started to use his mind to control his muscular action while doing exercises, which is why he originally called his system “The Art of Contrology.” Pilates first developed the matwork, which was followed by an exercise system on machines, when he was working with hospitalized people. In the 1920’s Pilates immigrated to New York and opened the first official Pilates Studio.