What do I do now?In this book you will find all the answers. Just follow the directions one-by-one and everything will be easy. Let’s start by the three basic concepts of TANGOLATES.
Concentration
“Close your eyes,” said my tango teacher, “close your eyes because it’s the best way to concentrate onthe music and on your partner’s moves”. PILATES FOR TWO is all about concentration. Tango is perhaps the only dance that requires more concentration than any other skill. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate. That’s what Tango is all about.
“Concentrate,” said Joseph Pilates to a bunch of wounded soldiers at the detention camp in England. It was during WWI, and young Joseph was very far from knowing that this command would be the stepping stone to Contrology, the name he would end up giving his method. “Concentrate because everything is in your mind. It is your brain that gives the orders so the muscles obey,” said Pilates. He died almost fifty years later holding on to his first basic principle. His motto, “Mind and Body,” would later become another namefor the method of this crazy German boxer.
How do you concentrate? Simple. Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Now, instead of daydreaming, think about the core of your body, your essence, your center. Once you learn how to concentrate on the center of your body, you move your body in a coordinated manner without much effort. So, close your eyes, concentrate on your center, straighten up, let all the air out of your lungs until your belly hits your back and…give one step forward. That’s it. You’ve got it.
Control and Coordination
PILATES FOR TWO will put a little order in your life. No jerky moves, no improvisation and no “let yourself go” moves. PILATES FOR TWO will coordinate your moves so that you can work methodically with your body from beginning to end. Once you learn this, you will see how much easier it is to make your body do what you want it to do and be how you want it to be. You will be in total control of your body and of the situation. No quick or spastic moves anymore. Now, it’s control time. Come on, tighten your abs and make your body obey your mind. It will soon begin to respond. That moment is glorious.
Changing Times...
“For the times…they are-a-changing…” sang Bob Dylan in the late sixties. And just about that time, our friend Joe was at the peak of his career having just invented the rest of the accessory machines to add to the fabulous Der Reformer.
The Trapeze, also called the “Cadillac” for its generous dimensions, allowed students to hang head down stretching their spine, vertebrae by vertebrae. The Ladder, a smaller accessory machine, was excellent to work legs and derriere, as the Combo, the Spine Corrector, among others.
In 1967, Joseph died leaving no testament, no trademark, no patent and no heirs. His wife Clara could not really manage the Contrology Studio of Third Avenue in New York on her own and died soon after.
Since Joseph’s death, many things have changed in the world of biomechanics. For one, it was discovered that it is not always advisable or desirable to keep your spine as straight as you can. Now we know that this position can shorten your muscles. And that is not all, we also discovered that our spine has natural curves that should be taken into account and that moves should be as dynamic as possible.
Another thing we now know is that strength -or resistance- is more important than what Joseph Pilates believed in his time. We also know now that we keep on burning calories even during relaxation time because our metabolism keeps working and using energy even while we stay still. So, the old German idea of gymnastics that asserted that only lazy people relax is simply not true.
Three is News...
Enter Strength, Dynamism, and Surprising the Muscle, the three new concepts of TANGOLATES.
Strength because we know now that people who workout with resistance and use their strength live longer. Its as simple as that. Dynamism because we know now that a sedentary lifestyle is the number one cause of illness and death in the United States today. And surprising the muscle because we know now that our muscles, like computers, have a memory, so that they get used to a certain kind of workout, and gradually that exercise doesn’t make the same impact any more.
Just imagine! A brand new start for an old -and excellent- technique! Yes, time are-a-changing, and there is nothing we can do about it. Like our grandmothers used to say, “Life goes on”.
