About Alun's Pilates
Alun was first introduced to the study of movement when he started learning judo at the age of ten. His teacher Steadman Davies MBE was taught by Japanese and Korean masters just after the second world war. The judo they taught was very much different to the modern day competitive style in that it encouraged the study of correct posture and efficient movement. Not being very competitive Alun enjoyed learning the intricacies of the art and also of the philosophy behind it. Over the years he has practised yoga and meditation also under the guidance of Steadman Davies.
Personal Injury
At the age of twenty two Alun injured his right knee and was out of action for nine months. He also had to take sick leave from his job as an electrician with the British Steel Corporation. During this time he started studying remedial massage with the Northern Institute of Massage in Blackpool and decided to give up his job to concentrate on his studies. He qualified to the basic level in 1988 and to the advanced level in 1992.
Remedial Massage
At first he treated clients’ back pain and sports injuries in their homes until he found a room to rent in a local weight training gym. Eventually, he built his own treatment room behind his parents house and ran a successful practice there for several years.
He kept on attending courses afterwards. Some of these courses had a big influence on his treatment approach, especially those by Dr Leon Chaitow on Neuromuscular Technique and Tom Myers on Anatomy Trains, which is a way of reading distortions in the body’s connective tissue or myofascia and treating it accordingly. He has also been infuenced by Art Rigg’s methods of Deep Tissue Massage and Myofascial Release and the philosophy of Rolfing or Structural Integration.
After a while Alun could see the importance of exercise and movement education if long lasting results were to be achieved. To this end he started searching for an exercise method that would go hand in hand with his myofascial treatments.
Pilates Training
Eventually, he met Suzanne Scott when she gave a Pilates presentation at a South West Practitioners Association meeting in Exeter. Suzanne’s explanation of Pilates made a big impression on Alun as it seemed it would compliment his myofascial therapy perfectly. After weeks of nagging her she agreed to train him to become a teacher at her studio in Castle Carey Somerset.
Pilates Qualification
He achieved his matwork qualification from Stott Pilates after being examined by Moira Merrithew herself. He then went on to gain his studio qualification from the Pilates Foundation U.K. still under Suzanne’s training. The training was challenging an very thorough and took four years to complete.
Pilates Studio Opens
Almost immediately, he opened his studio in Trostre, Llanelli and has been there for the last seven years teaching Pilates and treating back pain and sports injuries using a combination of remedial massage, myofacial therapy and pilates.
He still attends courses in Somerset and elsewhere including, most recently, Performance Matrix and Pilates Matrix courses run by Sarah Mottram and Mark Comerford.
