Clas­si­cal Pilates refers to the Pilates method cer­ti­fied by the Pilates Stu­dio™ of New York and taught under the direct tute­lage of Romana Kryzanowska, Joseph Pilates’ protégé. Certified Clas­si­cal Pilates instruc­tors are mem­bers of the Pilates Guild™.

What does Clas­si­cal Pilates mean to me?

If you are con­sid­er­ing Pilates instruc­tion, and would like to be sure that you will be receiv­ing the best train­ing pos­si­ble, ask the Pilates cen­ter or indi­vid­ual instruc­tor how they were cer­ti­fied, and ask whether they are a mem­ber in good stand­ing of the Pilates Guild™.

Pilates is a very pop­u­lar method of body conditioning. In 2000, “Pilates” lost its trade­mark sta­tus because it had become under­stood as a generic term, like yoga or aerobics. Body con­di­tion­ing stu­dios all over the world are cash­ing in by offer­ing par­tial “Pilates” cer­ti­fi­ca­tions or cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams of a less rig­or­ous nature than Joseph Pilates him­self deemed necessary. As a result, poten­tial Pilates clients must become aware of the dis­tinc­tion between highly trained instruc­tors in the method approved by Joseph Pilates and those who have obtained their “cer­ti­fi­ca­tions” by less rig­or­ous means.

Receiv­ing Pilates train­ing from an Clas­si­cal Pilates instruc­tor guar­an­tees you’re receiv­ing the most qual­i­fied and com­plete Pilates train­ing available.

Teacher Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in Clas­si­cal Pilates

Unlike many exer­cise meth­ods, instruc­tors of Clas­si­cal Pilates are highly trained. Individuals can­not even apply to a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram with­out them­selves first com­plet­ing 75 pri­vate ses­sions with one or more cer­ti­fied instructors. Those accepted into the Clas­si­cal Pilates cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram attend a series of intense train­ing and aca­d­e­mic work­shops and must appren­tice them­selves to a Pilates Guild™ cer­ti­fied Train­ing Stu­dio for a min­i­mum of 600 hours. Each Guild cer­ti­fy­ing cen­ter has a res­i­dent “Teacher of Teach­ers” with many years of teach­ing experience. During these 600 hours of appren­tice­ship, appren­tices are observed and guided by the “Teach­ers of Teach­ers.” A series of 3 writ­ten and 3 prac­ti­cal exams ensures that the appren­tice is ready to teach unobserved. It can take a year or more for some­one to achieve full certification. Joseph Pilates’ pro­tégé, Roman Kryzanowska and her daugh­ter, Sari Mejia-Santo, are directly involved in aspects of both the train­ing and test­ing of Clas­si­cal Pilates apprentices.

If you are inter­ested in becom­ing a cer­ti­fied Clas­si­cal Pilates instruc­tor, call (206) 558‑5566 for more information.

Pilates Guild™

The Pilates Guild™ is an orga­ni­za­tion of Clas­si­cal Pilates Instruc­tors that ensures that its mem­ber­ship obtains annual con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion with Romana Kryzanowska or Sari Mejia-Santo. The Guild is ded­i­cated to the preser­va­tion of Clas­si­cal Pilates, and acts as a National Stan­dards Body for the pro­fes­sional devel­op­ment of its mem­bers. Guild mem­bers not only receive ongo­ing train­ing of the high­est qual­ity but also must meet the fol­low­ing guidelines:

  • Adhere to Guild Stan­dards and Code of Ethics
  • Hire only Clas­si­cal Pilates instructors
  • Com­plete at least one cer­ti­fied con­tin­u­ing edu­ca­tion course approved by the Guild in Clas­si­cal Pilates each year

Who was Joseph Pilates?

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