On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Alex Sheets leads Rock Steady Boxing at Bethany Village.
All of his boxers have Parkinson’s disease. They don’t spar or hit each other, but that doesn’t mean Sheets takes it easy on them. If anything, it’s the opposite.
“Today, we'll do some heavy bag work,” Sheets says. “We’ll do some focus mitts—that's where I have the gloves up and they hit different combinations. And we also have a real life-like dummy. His name is Rocky, and they're going to hit him.”
Sheets stumbled upon boxing lessons when he learned a lot of the people he serves have Parkinson’s. He did a little research, and wound up traveling to the headquarters of Rock Steady Boxing in Indianapolis.
“I went there, and I think the light bulb went off like, ‘Wow, these classes are intense!,’” he says. “A lot of people think class for Parkinson's is slow and kind of in a chair and you don't want them to fall. But they are very, very intense. A lot of times you wouldn't be able to tell that these people have had Parkinson's.”
Sheets came home and started classes here in Bethany Village. It's a senior living community, but Rock Steady Boxing is open to anyone with Parkinson's.
One thing that surprised Sheets—and that surprises a lot of people—is that tremors aren’t the only symptom of Parkinson’s.
For Don Coty, one of the boxers in this session, trouble writing and walking were the first signs.
“When you write, the letters get smaller and smaller and smaller,” Coty says. “The other thing is when you walk, you don't swing your arms.”
Fred Brooks says his voice lost some of its power. “I had friends—because I didn't have bad tremors—question me: ‘Well, do you really have Parkinson's?’ Yeah, I do! It started taking my voice down, lack of smell, and things like that.”
Tremors often start off small too, as boxer Susan Myers notes.
“I was reading the newspaper,” she says, “and noticed my little finger was shaking, but it wasn't noticeable too much. For a while they were observing me, and eventually, I noticed a decrease in my coordination, balance, and things like that.”
Symptoms can grow and multiply too. Gary Kunze has had Parkinson’s for 19 years. His symptoms can be severe, which led to brain surgery.
“I had deep brain stimulation,” Kunze says. “They put wires in your brain.” He points to the wire that runs under his skin, from deep in his brain to a little power pack by his heart. He says he would probably be in a nursing home right now if not for the surgery, and with a sly smile, he says the most important thing is making sure you charge your battery.
“If the battery goes dead, I’m in trouble. I can’t move. It’s funny, my brain battery,” Kunze says. “I run on batteries.”
Kunze makes the importance of programs like Rock Steady clear.
“It’s good for you to exercise,” he says, “but it’s essential if you have Parkinson’s.”
And there’s something about boxing lessons that really works. The instructors say that the hitting requires focus and explosive movement that uses the whole body, and the boxers say this kind of intense exercise can slow the onslaught of symptoms that come with disease.
There’s even a little voice therapy when Kunze and the others count out punches together on the heavy bags. Their voices become loud and clear, and the group gets creative when Sheets tells them to make noises or sing or do whatever they please—to really work their voices.
One of them shouts “Oh!” while hitting a heavy bag. On the next bag, someone turns that into “Ohio!” And the next person builds on it, singing “Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light…”
The room rings with noise as the heavy bags swing back and forth.
Toni Moore says when she does Rock Steady a few times a week, she has more energy and it pays off psychologically as well as physically.
“It helps build your confidence because you're able to do things you wouldn't think you could do otherwise,” she says. “You know, when people say, ‘What do you do?,’ you say, ‘I take boxing!’ They’re like, ‘Really?!’ So, it’s fun.”
And another Gary—Gary Moyer—says it’s more than mental and physical exercise. It's a community.
“We share information,” he says. “We share stories, and I really get energized when I come to participate because I know I'm going to see people that are fighting the same battle and they're fighting the same battle with a great attitude. And that attitude shifts over to me and gives me hope that I’m in this not just by myself, but with a lot of other really great people who come from all different walks of life.”
Rocky Steady Boxing takes place at Bethany Village on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are lessons available at other locations in Ohio and around the globe. For more information, visit Rock Steady Boxing.