RSB Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Rock Steady Boxing is celebrating the TENTH anniversary of when a movement began! YOUR support and generosity has made it possible for us to grow from one location with six participants to more than 280 programs in 44 states, and 12 international locations!

RSB Timeline of Fighting Back

• Oct 14, 2006 the first official Rock Steady class was held in a little borrowed gym on the east side of Indianapolis. There were 6 participants.
• For the first six years, the Indianapolis gym was the one and only Rock Steady. The media found Rock Steady fascinating and after a story would air on TV, we got calls from all over the world wanting to know where the Rock Steady was in their community. No one knew a movement had begun that would eventually be recognized around the world as the most effective way for Parkinson’s patients to delay, reduce and reverse the symptoms of their disease – to “fight back.”
• In fall 2012, we offered our first Training Camp and by the end of the year, there were 6 affiliated locations offering Rock Steady Boxing programs.
• In 2013 we had 18 programs .
• In 2014 we nearly doubled in size to 34 programs
• At this time last year – there were 63 affiliated programs in 24 states, and 3 international locations.
• November 8, 2015 Leslie Stahl reported a story on CBS Sunday Morning profiling Rock Steady Boxing and the improvement she was seeing in her husband, Aaron. In 10 minutes, that story changed the future of Rock Steady…
• These last 11 months have been an adventure to say the least! Our small, but incredible staff has responded to the demand.

Today, we have 280 programs in 44 states, and in Canada, Sweden, Holland, Italy, Australia and New Zealand!

That’s what’s happening in gyms all over the world.  People with Parkinson’s come to Rock Steady scared, depressed and hopeless, and our coaches do small things in great ways!  They teach them to fight back – with their hearts and souls.

Nearly every day we hear about these small, but great things.

Our affiliate in Chattanooga wrote:

“I have a dear friend who, when he learned he had Parkinson’s disease, did not leave his house for almost a year. He hid, he wept, his soul was crushed and soon it was as though he became “a totally different person.”

Then he learned to fight. Rock Steady Boxing gave my friend, who stayed inside his house for a year, his life and his laughter back.”

Dr. Jonathan J. Doll, writes about his father’s experience with Rock Steady Boxing in Naples, Florida: 

“When dad started Rock Steady Boxing, he was slow on his feet and shuffled them with painstaking labor at each step. But he kept at it… Then over a few months, the dramatic took place. His laborious shuffle became a more well-balanced stride. But something even more exciting was at play, which Lesley Stahl’s interview had pointed out. The purpose of the Rock Steady program is to help people with Parkinson’s believe they can do things instead of believing they cannot.”

From Rock Steady Boxing Cleveland:

“At the beginning of the year, Michelle couldn’t put on her own lipstick, there was no way she could sweep the floor of her kitchen, and Parkinson’s disease had robbed her of the ability to make a simple cup of coffee. She spent most of her days in a wheelchair. Six months later, after participating in Rock Steady Boxing Cleveland with Coach Maria, her husband can’t believe her progress.

‘It made the old Michelle come back,’ he said.”

But this really isn’t all about us…  It’s about YOU! Your support has made it possible to offer Training Camp at a low cost in order to attract boxing coaches, personal trainers, and people with Parkinson’s, who want to bring these classes to their communities.  Without your support, we would not be able to offer a cost effective program and we would not be able to grow and replicate Rock Steady.

It’s our mission to have a Rock Steady Boxing program in every community throughout the world, so that when patients hear the words, “You have Parkinson’s disease” it will be followed with, “And there’s a gym down the street where you can fight back.”

To make that happen, we need YOU in our corner. Your generosity is what makes this program grow. Now I ask you to join the fight against Parkinson’s with your generous gifts and then watch as your dollars make small things happen in great ways.