By Annette Pinder

Parkinson’s disease (Parkinson’s) is a degenerative movement disorder that can cause deterioration of a person’s motor skills, balance, speech, and sensory function. More than one million people in the U.S. live with Parkinson’s, and more than 60,000 are diagnosed yearly.  

The nonprofit organization Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) gives hope to people with Parkinson’s by improving their quality of life through a non-contact boxing-based fitness curriculum. RSB was the first gym in the country dedicated to fighting Parkinson’s, using exercises adapted from boxing drills. Each boxer conditions for agility, speed, muscular endurance, accuracy, hand-eye coordination, footwork, and overall strength to defend against and overcome opponents. For RSB, Parkinson’s is the opponent, and its exercises vary in purpose and form, sharing a common goal — extending each participant’s perceived capabilities. 

Research studies in the 1980s and 1990s found that rigorous exercise emphasizing gross motor movement, balance, core strength, and rhythm favorably impacts range of motion, flexibility, posture, gait, and daily activities. Recent Cleveland Clinic studies have focused on the fact that intense forced exercise may actually slow Parkinson’s disease progression. 

Here in Western New York, Parkinson’s patients can participate in RSB at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo (JCC), led by two certified RSB coaches. Both coaches are thrilled with the improvements that their boxers are experiencing, saying, “They are improving physically, mentally, and socially, controlling what they do in class, and getting physically stronger. They are also having fun.”  

RSB was founded in 2006 through the friendship of two men: Scott C. Newman, the former prosecutor of Marion County, Indiana, who lives with Parkinson’s, and Vince Perez, who refused to let his friend go down without a fight. RSB’s logo, the Statue of Liberty embellished with a boxing glove, represents Newman’s vision of the Statue of Liberty as a symbol of hope and his dream of RSB becoming a beacon of light for those suffering from Parkinson’s, empowering them to fight back. 

RSB classes are designed to include between six and eight people to allow for personalized attention. Classes meet the fitness levels at all stages of Parkinson’s – from the newly diagnosed to those living with it for decades. And while a cure may be years away, over the last seven years, there is evidence that progress is being made across all stages of the disease by those participating in the RSB program. 

RSB classes take place at the JCC on Mondays and Wednesdays (levels 3 and 4) and on Tuesdays and Thursdays (levels 2 and 4) from 1:15-2:45 pm. An 8-week session consists of 2 sessions each week. Assessments take from one to two hours, after which participants are assigned to the appropriate class level.  

To see a video about the program, and for information, registration, and to schedule an assessment, call 716-688-4033 and visit https://www.jccbuffalo.org/wellness-programs. Other JCC wellness programs include a national diabetes prevention program, aquatics, massage, yoga, group fitness, personal training, and more.