I LOVE this video! It shows what a wonderful thinker and creative genius Joe was! The fact that he actually made a chair that could convert into a piece of exercise equipment is genius! The woman is his wife Clara.
I wonder how many of his clients had one of these and if they used it more for sitting or for Pilates exercises!
The Pilates Wunda Chair is one of my favorite pieces of equipment. It used to intimidate me because it was so hard, but over time I came to appreciate the challenge of the heavier springs and learned how to use it. The springs on the chair are much heavier than on the Reformer or Cadillac. The chair seems to zero in on your weaknesses and imbalances and bring them to the forefront so that you can work on them. It is also a great piece of equipment because it allows you to use your limbs independently, where the reformer doesn’t do that. You can use one arm or one leg at a time instead of both. People with scoliosis benefit greatly from this piece of equipment because of that fact.
Enjoy this short video, I hope it makes your smile like it did me! 🙂
PS – This is also a rare video because Joe Pilates is fully clothed. We usually see him in his boxer briefs in all the archival footage and not fully clothed!