Pilates classes in Bangkok

Pilates was discovered and introduced almost 100 years ago. In Thailand, it only has about 10 years of history and I started travelling between Korea and Thailand to teach instructors in 2006. It was quite surprising that Thailand did not pick it up as fast as the other countries ; especially given the varied nationalities within Bangkok and the many expats coming from countries that have studios on every corner. I think Pilates was overlooked by the locals and there was a lack of English speaking local instructors. Despite 10 years of history, it is now starting to be recognised by locals and expats in Thailand.

Recently, there was a television commercial which showcased a Thai actress performing an advanced Pilates exercise on a Cadillac (Pilates equipment, not the car) and then diving into the water. After this commercial was released, our studio received the most numbers of phone inquiries for”Pi-la-te”; they were asking if they needed a swimming suit! This is what the industry is facing today in Thailand.

Is it improving? Yes, more so than at any time in the past ten years. The popularity of Pilates is definitely on the rise but the industry needs more experts in order to direct the market for future growth.

One of the changes that can lead to positive effect is the increasing numbers of mini-gyms opening after the collapse of one of the biggest fitness chains in Thailand. Hundreds of employees lost their jobs and many of them started their own venture Since Pilates requires less space, many of these brand new mini-gyms are offering it as an option.

Not all of them are well staffed and some may well close down but during this process.

clients will get more opportunities to experience a variety of of instructors and sessions (some better than others ) and they will become smarter. Clients will be left with studios
which offer up-to-date education to their staff and excellent customer service.

At The our studio, we train 6/700 hours of private Pilates per month in Thai, Korean, Japanese and English by seventeen full and part time instructor s. In the studio, I see the rapid changes and improvements of our clients. Pilates used to be seen like general fitness to locals before but today we get more detailed questions from our clients and they are

coming to us with more specific needs.

I now offer weekly training sessions for both Essential and Intermediate level of instructors at our academy alongside the Stott pilates international instructor courses and continuous education Programmes to keep the instructors bang up to date.

My number one tip for people interested in trying pilates is to search out and find properly trained instructors. Ask for the instructor’s background and qualifications and always look for studios that offer ongoing education courses. There are few well recognised Pilates certification course besides Stott Pilates. An experienced instructor will never offer the same sessions, even to the same client and continuous ongoing education will ensure that instructors have a bigger repertoire.

I encourage starting with private sessions because it is the most effective way to learn and practice the art. Pilates teaches you all about your body in detail and since we all have individual requirements, private sessions will be the most beneficial for you.

If you want to take group class, search out and find a small group. I think that if the group is bigger than eight to ten people, the quality of the instruction and the safety of the session cannot be guaranteed. The instructor will have to hold back on a lot of the information to keep the group moving and captivated.

This is why we encourage private sessions and ideally four people to each group on equipment at our studio.

For those that are already enjoying Pilates, I have a tip for you to fall in love even more than you area already, Communicate with your instructor! It is the key to improving your session.

Sessions can be pricy so make sure that you get the best out of them. Tell your instructor how and what you feel. Don’t worry if you can’t do it or it does not feel your instructors are sure you are doing the exercise correctly and safely and they know many modifications to ensure that you can do the movements and feel successful at the end of every session.

Like a whisper it started, as most things do in this city of rumors and beautiful women, “Did you hear? They’re closing Huating Lu.” Impossible, Huating Road, a.k.a. The Black Market, is a Shanghainese institution for Chinese and foreigners alike. Sometimes referred to as a cultural landmark, it is Shanghai in all it’s glory; after all, it must do pretty good business.

Huating Road, a narrow lane which goes for about two blocks off Huahai at the Changshu Lu subway stop, has been supplying anyone who dares to brave its stalls with flashy fake goods for well on 20 years. Emerging with the rest of Shanghai under the slogan of economic reform, it has become a staple of many expert shoppers. For the fashion conscious Shanghainese, it is an opportunity to dress in Gucci, Prada and Fendi. For the occasional tourist, it is a place to stock up on North Face jackets. It’s where you go for J. Crew and Hello Kitty, cool shoes, hip party clothes and T-shirts emblazoned with things like “Strange that South country.” It’s where foreigners learn to bargain like locals and come away looking like them too.

On a good day, Huating Road is fun. It’s colorful and loud. You can get good deals and feel Chinese. On bad days, it’s hot and crowded and you get cheated. In effect, it sums up life in China. One of the motherland’s beautiful idiosyncrasies, Huating is a legal black market, regulated by the government and being relocated, rather than shut down. It is a playful slap in the face to all the bad-boy multinationals, with their products selling for a tenth (or less) of retail.

When the ugly rumors started this summer, no one believed it could be true. The proverbial “they” said there were too many people and too much noise, or maybe the city just decided it would simply make more money if the vendors moved to a location on Huaihai Lu between Shanxi Lu and Xiangyang Lu, where rent would be higher. In any case, a move was foreseeable. But several months passed and on a Sunday in early September, business was still bustling.

According to most vendors, the move must be completed by October 31st. But some saw this date as flexible. They seemed hopeful that it could be pushed back indefinitely. When I told a woman selling dinner sets, I would be back before they moved, she told me not to worry. They would be there for a while yet. But another was using the move as a bargaining technique. “We have to move,” she shouted, “Come get cheap watches!” Her family had sold clothes in the market for years, she explained, and now they had to milk this last bit of time for all it’s worth. With the date set in two months, the sale seemed a little premature but whatever sells does the trick and her stall was full.

When I asked if they had to move, the vendors answered invariably with a sigh. Mei banfa, most of them shrugged. A young woman selling nonsensical Japanese shirts explained, “Our rent will go up, which will make the prices go up. When the prices go up, there will be fewer customers.” People were a little less skeptical after they found out I was a reporter. A woman making beaded bracelets noted they would have a little more space, but it seemed small recompense.

No one cared that they would benefit from modern amenities such as air-conditioning, and that’s saying a lot considering the current heat. A man selling Tibetan jewelry commented, “I’m dying of heat, but business is good.” A little discomfort apparently can be handled, if it means more gold in the bank.

A regular Huating shopper, Helen Hu, likes the market for its “atmosphere of casualness.” She agrees that it’s “another scene in Shanghai with wide choices and lots of people around you.” Not only the vendors are disappointed with the move, but also the market’s many fans. Like one of my friends, who claims she goes three times a week.

The final word came from a woman selling bath scrubbies. With a sweep of her hand and a Shanghainese sigh, she said, “Look at all this, of course we don’t want to move.” Following her gaze, I saw all the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen, the American dollars and the Deutsche marks milling through the alley. In Shanghai, what more could you ask for?