(913) 829-8431 [email protected]

About the Instructor

Your instructor, David Alan Mooney, CPI, CGI, CPT, a lifelong Kansas resident, graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School and majored in Business Administration at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.David began his journey into fitness at an early age, studying Judo with Jim Harrison for six years. He continued his extensive sports background playing soccer, winning local and regional championships and earning numerous defensive and most versatile player awards. He played competitive baseball, softball and football, winning multiple championships along the way, as well as playing in the Junior Tennis League for several years. David completed his junior and senior life saving certifications and is a Qualified Scuba Diver with the NAUI, having enjoyed many memorable dive trips. He has trained in gymnastics and boxing and become a weightlifter, power lifter, and body builder.

From 1980 – 1990, David studied many forms of dance, including Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Tap and Ballroom, with many national caliber teachers. He has performed with American Dance Center, American Youth Ballet, TC Dance Club International, and with the Scott Douglas Morrow Men’s Corp.

David worked in the Hotel Industry from 1979 – 1990, as the Assistant Manager of the Mission Inn Motel. He holds multiple certifications through the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association.

In early 1991, David decided to make his passion for fitness his avocation. At that time, he relocated to Manhattan, New York to pursue Pilates certification. He began his Pilates experience training, apprenticeship style, with Romana Kryzanowska, the heir to Joseph H. Pilates’ methodology. David became a second generation certified Pilates instructor in May 1991. He was the first, and still is the only, Pilates instructor in the greater Kansas City area, to earn this distinction. Upon David’s certification, Ms. Kryzanowska personally selected him to train her clients while she went on sabbatical. After her homecoming, David left New York to open Modern Body Contrology™, a Pilates studio, in Johnson County, Kansas. Since then, David has studied with internationally renowned instructors, including Sari Pace, Carola Trier, Mary Bowen, Michelle Larsson, Joan Breibart, Kathleen Stanford-Grant, and GXS with Juliu Horvath and Matt Averson. David has been featured for his excellent work as a Pilates instructor on television and in the Kansas City Star and has been recognized by Shop Etc. Magazine as one of the nation’s “Top 20 Pilates Trainers.” In addition, David has taught as a guest artist at many workshops and conventions. Many of the current locally respected Pilates instructors began their training with David, including Aliesa George, Gwyneth Jones, Cathy Thomas, Stefani Schrimpf, Tina Sprinkle, Suzy Brown, Leslie Kubas and Peggy Welkner.

In 1998, in order to further increase his expertise in all forms of body movement, David began studies in the Gyrotonic Expansion System. He completed his certification in the Juliu Horvath Method of GXS as an Apprentice on 3/7/98, and as a Level I Instructor on 11/13/98. David’s certification as a Personal Trainer in 2001 adds yet another component to his well-rounded knowledge of body mechanics.

In his spare time, David enjoys many diverse hobbies and interests, including photography, reading, landscaping, playing the electric guitar and riding motorcycles.

David’s Passion for Pilates

David’s passion in life is teaching, educating, and helping others through Pilates, Gyrotonic, and traditional exercise. He especially enjoys making a major, positive impact in people’s lives, whether it is helping them achieve fitness goals or increasing their quality of life. David’s effectiveness in this regard emanates not only from his extensive fitness background, but also from a life-changing event that happened a little over a decade ago.

In the summer of 1995, David suffered a near fatal illness. While teaching a Pilates Mat Class to the dancers at the Kansas City Ballet (formerly State Ballet of Missouri), David contracted a rare bacterial infection that led to toxic shock syndrome. After six weeks in ICU on full life support, followed by an additional two months in the hospital and the amputation of his toes, David’s prognosis was grim. His doctors told him to prepare for a lifetime as an invalid. Relying on his extensive fitness training, along with a strong faith and will to survive, David rehabbed himself back into condition. The process was slow and never easy, but much like the fundamental progressions he teaches in Pilates that build upon one another, David steadily moved from wheelchair to walker to crutches to cane, and ultimately to unaided walking again.

The decade plus since has been a medical time for David. He knows the process of injury, recovery, and setback firsthand and understands the patience required to continue to thrive in the face of adversity. Post toxic shock, David’s compromised immune system and multiple surgeries (17+ to date) are a continuing battle, but one he continues to surmount. With this firsthand knowledge of illness and disease, David strives to be a role model to all of his clients. Following the template of Joseph H. Pilates who borrowed from many fitness modalities to develop his method of physical and mental conditioning, David, with his background in sports, dance, personal training, Pilates and the Gyrotonic Expansion System, possesses the skills needed to help his clients reach their own goals.

Mr. Mooney holds the following professional certifications:

  • Certified Pilates Instructor by Romana Kryzanowska 5/1/91.
  • Certified by Pilates Inc. since 1994 in the Professional Practice of Authentic Pilates TM.
  • Member of The Pilates Guild.
  • Registered Instructor with JHP Foundation 5/1/95.
  • Certified by Physicalmind Institute (formerly the Institute for Pilates Method) in Teacher Training for all apparatus for the Pmethod 12/1/95 and in teach The Method 1998. Achieved Level I and Level II All Apparatus Certificates.
  • Charter and Current Member of Physicalmind Institute.
  • Certified in the Juliu Horvath Method of GXS (Gyrotonic Expansion System) as an Apprentice 3/7/98 and as a Level I Instuctor 11/13/98.
  • Certified Personal Trainer by American Fitness Professionals Associates 7/1/2001.
  • Long-time Personal Trainer Member of Idea