|  | PILATES & KARATE Tableview -Parklands - Classes for all interested persons |
| | | Contact Jennifer today to Inquire and enroll into a unique training system that will rejuvenate your body and mind E- Mail Jennifer |
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| | | Frequently I am asked by martial arts students why they should add Pilates to their training schedule, and the answer is always simple: Pilates builds core (body) strength that is essential for martial artists to hone their craft and to prevent injuries. Speaking from personal experience I can say with great confidence that Pilates has changed my life and the way that I practice karate in a positive way. I have been studying karate since 1985 and unfortunately was prone to injuries especially in both hamstrings and in my left shoulder. It wasn't until I started training in bodywork, both in Pilates and Gyrotonic Movement (a system of yoga-like moving exercises performed on a specialized machine), that I started to understand why. I was not holding my body (muscles and bones) in proper alignment and as a result I suffered self-inflicted injuries due to repetitive movements while using improper posture. Improper posture is usually caused by certain muscles being too strong and tight while other muscles are too loose and weak. This is a problem that can be corrected with a regular Pilates practice and is a tried and true method of exercise used by both professional and amateur athletes alike. Runner or golfer, tennis player or new mom, chances are you've heard someone talking about the benefits of Pilates. Many types of people, at many levels of fitness, who have begun doing Pilates exercises say they've seen improvements in range of motion, flexibility, circulation, posture, and abdominal strength -- and decreases in back, neck and joint pain. |
| | | Tell me more about Pilates - Read Below
Classes are conducted by Jennifer Klipfel a National examiner in the Cecchetti system of ballet . With 30 years of experience behind her and having produced students that have gone on to dance in major ballet theatre's in Cape Town .Jennifer originally hails from Zambia formally northern Rhodesia .Her teacher was Jennifer Louw since she was 8 years of age .
Today Jennifer runs two major ballet schools in the Tableview and Parklands area of cape town .Early mornings and in the evenings after ballet Jennifer conducts Pilates classes for all ages . Although the classes are Pilates she also incorporates the vast knowledge from her ballet career when it comes to helping a person with physical problems.
International Travel - Through the years Jennifer has attended International ballet seminars from Europe to America and England as well as in South Africa.
Karate students are well versed with the hardships that come with Pilates . During the tournament season , many students enrol with Jennifer to get the final touches when it comes to posture and fitness
Educate yourself about Pilates |
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| | | Pilates (pronounced: puh-lah-teez) improves your mental and physical well-being, increases flexibility, and strengthens muscles. Pilates uses controlled movements in the form of mat exercises or equipment to tone and strengthen the body. For decades, it's been the exercise of choice for dancers and gymnasts (and now Hollywood actors), but it was originally used to rehabilitate bedridden or immobile patients during World War I.
What Is Pilates?
Pilates is a body conditioning routine that seeks to build flexibility, strength, endurance, and coordination without adding muscle bulk. In addition, pilates increases circulation and helps to sculpt the body and strengthen the body's "core" or "powerhouse" (torso). People who do pilates regularly feel they have better posture, are less prone to injury, and experience better overall health.
Joseph H. Pilates, the founder of the pilates exercise method, was born in Germany. As a child he was frail, living with asthma in addition to other childhood conditions. To build his body and grow stronger, he took up several different sports, eventually becoming an accomplished athlete. As a nurse in Great Britain during World War I, he designed exercise methods and equipment for immobilized patients and soldiers. In addition to his equipment, Pilates developed a series of mat exercises that focus on the torso. He based these on various exercise methods from around the world, among them the mind-body formats of yoga and Chinese martial arts.
Joseph Pilates believed that our physical and mental health are intertwined. He designed his exercise program around principles that support this philosophy, including concentration, precision, control, breathing, and flowing movements.
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| | | When people want 'flat abs,' they are usually looking for weight loss, not abdominal strength and core support, More than touting the benefits of Pilates for flat abs, we should be touting the benefits of Pilates for a stronger, healthy back and body. If along the way, you do the other components of fitness and trim the body down, yes, you're going to have a flatter midsection."
As you develop body awareness, stand straighter, and gain flexibility, "Pilates will shift your shape. But just attending a group mat class may or may not change your body."
It is important that abdominals are flexible, not just hard.
A flexible muscle is a strong muscle,A hard muscle may feel good and give an interesting look, but if you don't have the flexibility and the balance and the functionality that you need to allow your body to function properly, sooner or later, it's going to show up someplace else.
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| | | It`s an education in body awareness, It changes your shape by educating you in daily life. When you're cooking, brushing your teeth the lessons are coming home to pull your stomach in and pull your shoulders down. There is an attention required (in doing the exercises) that changes your awareness" even after class.
It teaches you how to train your mind and build coordination in the body, when you can get control of the little things, that's practicing willpower.
"The biggest benefit in my eyes would be personal awareness of how you sit or how you stand or how you move and being able to relate those habits to the aches and pains and injuries you have or have had in the past.
Pilates can help make you aware of that chronic tweak in the neck you get from sitting at the computer all day with rounded shoulders and a phone cradled between ear and shoulder.
Jennifer says she sees a lot of men and women in the class with injuries or weakness of the postural muscles, as a result of work, lifestyle, or not exercising the right way.
People sit slouched at computers all day, then go to the gym and work their extremities,. "They don't use their core muscles."
Think of a tree, Does it have all its strength in its limbs? No. The tree is only as strong as its trunk and roots. Without a strong trunk, the tree would topple over.
It's the same for human bodies, say Pilates experts. If we don't concentrate on building a good foundation and a strong trunk or core, we'll end up tight in some places and weak in others, injury-prone and susceptible to the pitfalls of our occupation or chosen form of exercise.
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