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TYLER – According to our news partner, KETK, a UT Tyler School of Nursing professor and a Tyler fitness center have collaborated for more than five years to host weekly rock-steady boxing classes to improve the physical and mental health of people with Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n
In honor of April being Parkinson\u2019s Awareness Month, KETK News visited with UT Tyler Nursing School Professor, Dr. Melinda Hermanns and Owner of Tyler Kung Fu & Fitness, Brandon Jones, who created a rock-steady boxing class for people with Parkinson\u2019s to help them find a community and improve their quality of life.<\/p>\n
The rock-steady boxing class is offered multiple times of week for people to connect with others with Parkinson\u2019s or similar diseases, and complete a wide range of interactive workouts with Coach Jones. Two different levels of classes are offered, and each meets with people where they\u2019re at, regardless of their mental and physical abilities.<\/p>\n
Jones explained that he draws on his many years of boxing and martial arts training to tailor each workout and help each member improve every class.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where they are in the stages of the disease, what they can and cannot do, so I can tailor their improvements, meet them and I push them just a little further to make them realize they can do better, they can get faster, and have better balance,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Melinda Hermanns said that Rock Steady Boxing is an incredible program, and it is nationwide. \u201cThere is research evidence to support the benefits of rock-steady boxing, including improvement of physical health, coordination, and overall a person\u2019s mood.”<\/p>\n
\u201cI started this program in February of 2024, and it\u2019s been fabulous,\u201d dedicated member of the rock steady boxing class said. \u201cI was almost in a wheelchair, falling all the time, and this program has brought me back where I am much more mobile, much more fit, stronger and getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones said he wants each member to understand there are other boxers dealing with what they are dealing with. \u201cThey are not alone…This is a very isolating disease but when they get here into socialization, they realize there are other people fighting what they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Hermanns, Parkinson\u2019s disease is a progressive neuro-degenerative disorder that can cause motor and non-motor symptoms. Early signs of this disease are different for each person, which increases the complexity of the diagnosis. \u201cIt is not uncommon for people to say they lost a sense of smell, they may see a slight tremor, have difficulty walking, experience fatigue, sleep disturbances or act out their dreams at night, \u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hermanns explained that her personal and professional connection with Parkinson\u2019s has pushed her to deepen her research in this disease and create the rock steady boxing program with Jones, saying, \u201cMy mom was diagnosed and lived with Parkinson\u2019s disease for over 20 years. Watching her journey, gave me a first-hand understanding of the challenges that she and others with Parkinson\u2019s disease experience.” <\/p>\n
Hermanns said that after creating the program with Jones, her mom was one of the first boxers to sign up for the class. \u201cIt was just amazing to see, because we were able to see her get stronger, her balance and coordination improved as well as walking,\u201d Hermanns said. She explained that because of her mom, she has dedicated her life to being a professor in nursing and researching to improve the quality of life of Parkinson\u2019s patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I do is in honor of my mom, and it gives me great joy to give back to the Parkinson\u2019s community and connect them with resources in the East Texas area.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TYLER – According to our news partner, KETK, a UT Tyler School of Nursing professor and a Tyler fitness center have collaborated for more than five years to host weekly rock-steady boxing classes to improve the physical and mental health of people with Parkinson\u2019s. In honor of April being Parkinson\u2019s Awareness Month, KETK News visited … Continue reading A workout program to help East Texans with Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1408177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-103704-e1745941072944-200x200.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1408173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news-archive-archives"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-09 15:11:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-29-103704-e1745941072944-200x200.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1408173"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1408178,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408173\/revisions\/1408178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1408177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1408173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1408173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1408173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}