The Cabbagetown Boxing Club is in a community centre handily located in a laneway behind The Beer Store. I’ve lived in the neighbourhood for more than 20 years and never investigated it, until a friend told me about the gym on the second floor where they offer a program called Rock Steady Boxing, tailored to people with Parkinson’s disease. Created in a small gym in Indianapolis in 2006, the program is now available in many cities around the world, including Toronto. I imagine this was the same sort of workout Anne Carson described in her essay about living with Parkinson’s.
The weird thing about Parkinson’s is the fact that focused, intentional movement – like boxing, playing tennis or dancing – can temporarily vanquish the tremors and shakiness. My fork might tremble on the way to my mouth, but my arm is steady whenever I punch.
Not something I would have expected. Steve may be intrigued.
Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological disease in the world.
I didn’t know that.