IN THE WORLD of Pilates, Rael Isacowitz is at the top. Having learnt from a handful of first generation instructors he is one of only a few teachers in the world today who regularly performs the entire fitness system at master level. After 25 years of practice, the lithe South African-born dancer's reputation preceeds him as teacher to the teachers, which is why he is in Asia.
Hong Kong is the first stop in a tour promoting the new collaboration between his company, Body Arts and Science International (BASI), and the Asian Academy of Sports and Fitness Professionals (AASFP) to offer teacher training and certification in Hong Kong and through Asia. 'I was approached by the AASFP to create a partnership in the education of Pilates and to train people to become teachers. This is an historic milestone in Pilates. It will be the first Pilates course taught in mainland China and I'm honoured to be teaching that course.'
At the Streamline Pilates Studio, in Central, to carry out teacher training assessments, Isacowitz's energy and enthusiasm, almost straight after a long haul flight, is testament to the power of the system. 'I feel in many ways that I move better today at 48. I can do things I couldn't do when I was younger. Pilates was a man ahead of his time,' he says, 'it's a cliche but he really was.'
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was indeed an extraordinary man. In fact he was already extraordinary as a boy, inventing a fitness regime to overcome debilitating ills such as asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever so successfully he became a model for anatomical drawings at the age of 14. With this kind of self-motivation at such an early age, it's little wonder that he went on to invent what is today one of the fastest-growing fitness trends in the world.
Despite his and his wife Clara's hard work, however, this was not to happen in his lifetime. Pilates died at the age of 87 in 1967 as agile as a teenager but sadly disillusioned that his fitness regime was not embraced by the masses. 'People won't understand the brilliance of my work for 50 years,' he was said to have predicted, well, about 50 years ago.
The people who recognised the value of his fitness system back then were mostly dancers or athletes and Isacowitz is no exception. An athlete at an early age, he went on to become a professional dancer and choreographer, which is how he discovered the Pilates system. 'I didn't have an injury - I've been blessed,' he smiles.