Boxing class works to limit effect of Parkinson's

By Thomas Huitt-Johnson St. Joseph News-Press
September 13, 2016

Miles Mitchell  left and Terry Karr  who both have Parkinson's follow instructions from Title Boxing Club Trainer and Owner Tara Patterson

Miles Mitchell knew there were more options.After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease more than six years ago, the Indiana native started shaking more, felt dizziness and continued to lose his balance. He knew there were choices for care, but he didn’t know where to turn.

Eventually, he found a Rock Steady Boxing program out of Indianapolis, which used boxing training to help Parkinson’s patients with balance, hand-eye coordination, stamina and the reduction of other symptoms of the disease. Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder of the nervous system, affects movement and afflicts up to 1 million people across the nation.

Now living in Savannah, Missouri, Mitchell approached Tara Patterson, owner of Title Boxing Club, about starting a similar program in St. Joseph. They began in January, and within weeks he saw an improvement in his symptoms. He shook less. His balance was far better, and he wasn’t moving as slowly.

“I’m on a pretty good regime of medications right now, and that helps a lot, but this is working to take care of some of the other issues, and it’s something that people don’t need to be shy about doing this, because you’re going to stay where you’re at if you don’t do anything,” Mitchell says. “We want people to know about (this boxing class), because in some places in the country, it is taking off well, and it’s helping some people out.”

He continues to work out twice weekly with Patterson, who leads several classes throughout the week as a trainer at the club.

Patterson, who has a black belt in martial arts, knows the effects fitness classes have on well-being, but she says she didn’t realize how much it could help people with Parkinson’s.

“Obviously, what we do every day as far as throwing punches and things that we do like leg work do work your balance, and balance is a huge issue with Parkinson’s disease,” Patterson says. “Boxing is hand-eye coordination. The act of throwing a punch fires the neurons. You have to be able to think quick enough when we switch the punch up, like say we throw a jab-cross, jab-cross-hook, you have to be able to think fast enough in order to switch your punch up. And so the science makes complete sense on why this would help a disease like Parkinson’s.”

She did her own research on the subject and continued to learn about the disease. She put her own workout regime into her Parkinson’s classes to use techniques to help balance issues. Patterson says Parkinson’s patients develop a shuffle, so keeping their feet off the ground helps.

Along with a basic boxing workout, she has Parkinson’s patients pick their feet up, throw kicks, walk and hit the mitts at the same time, as well as stretching.

Several months after Mitchell started, the class expanded. King City, Missouri, resident Terry Karr, who has had Parkinson’s disease for 27 years, was researching programs to control the effects and came across the class.

“My doctors saw (boxing programs) on the internet, I started listening about it on TV and my wife told me a little bit about it, and so I wanted to try,” Karr says. “For one, it’s helped my cardiovascular quite a bit. I feel a lot better. And the other thing is it helped my balance. We do some stepping drills, and boxing itself helps.”

The three meet at noon every Tuesday and Thursday. As an employee at Derr Equipment in Savannah, Mitchell goes to class during his lunch break. Although Parkinson’s disease has no cure yet, the patients believe they are better off today than they were before they started boxing.

Patterson says they’ll meet three times a week starting in the winter to make sure the men continue to push through the disease. She says she’s not doing anything special, just taking the knowledge that she has and implementing it into her classes to help beat the evil disease.

“This was sort of a way to give back,” Patterson says. “I can give back with my skill. So this was something I could do to help them with something I already know. So why wouldn’t I?”

Title Boxing is located at 139 N. Belt Highway. To learn more, contact them at 816-671-0418 or visit the Title Boxing Club St. Joseph Facebook page.

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