The launch of the first ever APPI Pilates courses in Southeast Asia
I recently had the privilege of travelling to Indonesia to teach the first ever APPI Pilates courses in Southeast Asia. My hosts were the lovely team from POP Pilates, a studio in West Jakarta. It's always fascinating to experience teaching in a different country and experience a new culture - I have been fortunate enough to represent APPI in several different countries over the last 10 years, and this most recent experience is one that has certainly challenged and inspired me as a teacher.
Unite Health - the Australasian licence holders of APPI Pilates education was approached by the team at POP Pilates to provide training to their team of instructors. Although APPI teaches predominantly health professionals, the equipment series is open to Pilates teachers who don't have a health background. There is in fact, no Physiotherapy degree offered in Indonesia. The team at POP Pilates were, however; extremely experienced Pilates teachers, and well versed in a huge repertoire of movements. From the research I had done prior to my trip I gathered that the instructors at POP taught quite a lot of classical Pilates and looking at their impressive social media pages I could see that they had several high level, very flexible clients! Obviously as APPI Pilates is designed to be utilised in the clinical environment, we don't teach the traditional version of Pilates as it is generally not suitable for those recovering from an injury, nor, in my opinion, for the vast majority of the general public who don't have the control and range of movement of a ballet dancer!
As soon as I started teaching the course in Jakarta, it was evident to me that the course participants were already very familiar with the exercises in our training manuals, so I knew I had to offer a lot more than just teaching the exercises. This is where APPI training excels. I have always believed in the efficacy of APPI Pilates. No matter the physical abilities of the client, the APPI method is safe and effective - It's all about adapting what and how you teach based on the person you see in front of you. This is the key, and it's even clearer to me now. I was thrilled to see how the POP Pilates team adapted to the APPI style. These Pilates instructors are not clinicians, nor are they trying to work beyond their scope, but by taking on board the APPI concept of an individualised, reasoned approach to exercise prescription, their already great teaching was enhanced. Because these course participants already had a vast knowledge of the repertoire, I was able to spend time on really breaking down the intricacies of the movements and why the details of starting position and technique are so important. Why would you choose to do the "basic" reformer footwork series on heels rather than toes? When would you choose to train someone on the split pedal chair rather than the cadilac? Why is an open chain movement considered a progression from a closed chain movement? How can you modify each exercise to adapt for a particular posture/body type? Concepts of a graduated exposure to load, activation of slings and force closure around the pelvis and always asking the question "why am I chooosing to teach this particular exercise in this way to my client?" were all relatively new ideas that were introduced over the 8 days.
Of course as Physios, we are also highly trained in anatomy and I do think we take this knowledge for granted. A good grounding in anatomy makes our job as Pilates teachers so much more effective and interesting as we can understand which muscles are being activated and how. I was so happy to be able to share with my group anatomical knowledge and its relevance to movement. Surface anatomy and understanding of bony landmarks was also something quite new for the POP team, but it was great to see them starting to observe the body differently as a result of these tutorials. We also had the luxury of a very well equiped studio from which to run group reformer and tower classes - I was then able to demonstrate the APPI class teaching style, the importance of cueing, class structure, flow and always providing options to increase or decrease the challenge.
So yes, APPI Pilates is a programme designed specifically by Physiotherapists for Physiotherapists and other rehab professionals, the exercises are suitable and safe for the clinical population - no doubt. But, in addition, the APPI Pilates method is highly effective for everyone, regardless of physical ability or previous experience, becasue the APPI Pilates method is not just about the exercises, it's all about the way the exercises are taught to give the best possible experience of movement to the individual. The method therefore is highly applicable in the general Pilates arena as well as the clinical environment. It was an absolute pleasure to present the APPI Equipment Pilates series to the POP Pilates team - they were already great Pilates teachers, but their open minds and hard working attitudes allowed them to experience and benefit from the APPI approach, despite the fact they are not clinicians.
