Earlier this year there was a lot of controversy regarding the selling of our proprietary materials to the public at large. As I heard the different sides of the argument, I was hit by the question: “are we guards or guardians of our knowledge?”
As I sit writing this article, I went to my Apple dictionary and looked up the definition of the word ‘guard’:
guard: to watch over in order to control entry and exit; watch over to prevent escaping…
I am not sure what it is that we have that we want to guard, is there something that we want to prevent from escaping? Are we trying to hoard our knowledge? Aren’t we as Peak Pilates Teacher Trainers, trying to share our knowledge and preserve the classical method? Joseph Pilates himself wrote books about the classical method and wanted his knowledge to be shared widely with the public.
Why are our materials so much more important than his? Yes, the Peak Pilates manual is rich in detail and information. What we have that is unique is the way that we approach learning and teaching; but this can not be learned by reading a manual or watching DVDs, but rather can be learned from you, the teacher trainers.
Now, let’s take a look at the word ‘guardian’ from the same source:
guardian: a protector or keeper
We are protectors, trying to preserve the technique and keep the classical method alive. That does not mean that we should not share it with others. The Elders have created a colorful backdrop on which Pilates history is laid; and while they do not always agree, they know the power of the Pilates work. During one of our lessons, Mary Bowen shared with me that the practice of Pilates might have died out if Romana had not kept it alive during the many years that preceded the recent Pilates boom. We are all keepers of knowledge, but in order to preserve the classical method, we must be willing to share that knowledge with others.
I believe that we are all here as Peak Pilates Teacher Trainers because we have a love of the classical work. We have all experienced firsthand its power to change and we are passionate about sharing our knowledge with others through our gift of teaching. This is prevalent in the growth and direction of the industry. At many tradeshows in the past year, I experienced the thirst for our knowledge and the power of our teaching. The Peak Pilates conventions sessions are packed, often times by those who are trained in other forms of the method. We have the opportunity to open our doors to everyone who wants to learn our approach. If we guard our information too closely, we might contribute to allowing the method to die out, how much better to choose to keep the information alive and follow in the footsteps of The Elders.
- Zoey Trap, Peak Pilates Master Trainer