Boxing for Parkinson’s – Daryl’s Story
When Daryl was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, he felt powerless. Now he’s reclaiming that power at the punching bag.
Surrounded by speed bags, mirrors, and posters of professional athletes in the back of a Melbourne community gym comes the cry:
“What do we do?”
“Fight Parkinson’s!” shouts the crowd three times.
Twenty people, many wearing shirts emblazoned with names like Sparkles, Chris Cross, and The Giant, have just finished an hour-long session. Daryl “Dazza” Kennedy has been hitting the heavy bag and smiles when asked how it feels to land a solid punch.
“It’s always exhilarating to know you’ve done something properly, and you can feel that,” he said.
“You feel like, yeah, I can still do it. I don’t have to accept this disease. I can do something about it.”
The 66-year-old was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2019, a year after he retired. It was a body-blow for the lifelong Telstra technical officer who had always been fit and healthy.
The father of two has run three Melbourne marathons and used to run 5 kilometres a day during his lunch breaks at Telstra.
“It was a bit of a shock,” he said.
“I just had a twitch and when I was at the doctor for something else, I said, ‘By the way…’ and he said, ‘Oh, that’s not good.’”
Parkinson’s affects about 150,000 Australians, with an average of 38 Australians diagnosed every day. There is no cure, and for Mr Kennedy, the symptoms have progressed.
“Sense of smell goes. My wife used to smell burnt toast and I couldn’t smell it—that was an early sign I learnt later,” he said.
“Balance—you’re not as stable on your feet as you used to be. Stiffness in the limbs. Less power in my left arm.
Simple things like fine motor skills—doing buttons on a shirt—those things become a lot harder.
You have to be good at admitting you can’t do some things.”
But boxing is something Mr Kennedy can do. Despite the sport being known as “the sweet science”—requiring balance, timing, rhythm, and coordination, all skills Parkinson’s affects—he continues to fight back.
Lead trainer Brooklynn Baker said that’s exactly why boxing helps. It exercises the very skills Parkinson’s patients need to maintain for as long as possible.
“The boxing gives them empowerment over their bodies,” Ms Baker said.
She added that the impact is obvious in every session:
“They come in slouching, they’re having a tough day or week, and when they leave, they are smiling, they are happy.”
Prepared by:
Brooklynn Baker – Fitness Coordinator
