LUBBOCK, Texas — When Craig Potts walks into Right Cross Boxing Gym, pulls on his gloves and starts his rhythmic punches, he feels a little stronger.

“It feels good to move, feels good to hit something,” Potts said.

Potts was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2017 but started noticing symptoms as early as 2012. He joined Right Cross Boxing Gym in Lubbock to help strengthen his motor skills, and ever since, he’s practiced hand-to-hand every week with his trainer, Terry Washington.

“I work with their motor skills,” Washington said. “I see improvement in their walking and their movements.”

Washington has trained people with Parkinson’s since 2010 and said seeing trainees like Potts improve is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. 

“There’s no better feeling in the world,” Washington said.

According to the American Physical Therapy Association, boxing can help ease symptoms for people with Parkinson’s. Washington, in particular, helps his trainees focus on hand and footwork to improve balance.

For Potts, boxing is also a means of exercise. He used to be a marathon runner, he even ran the Boston Marathon five times, but running became a lot more difficult as his Parkinson’s progressed, so Potts’ favorite part of boxing class was breaking a sweat.

“It’s a progressive disease, there’s no cure for it. So eventually it’ll get worse. But it’s good, right now. Boxing helps,” Potts said.

Most of all, Potts said the classes make him feel less alone.

“It’s hard to go into a place where you don’t know anyone with Parkinson’s because you think everybody’s looking at you all the time. It’s nice to know you’re going into a place where people understand what you’re going through,” Potts said.

Washington hopes to see more people put gloves on in his gym, as he wants to make the boxing family for people with Parkinson’s even bigger.

“It’s a family. It’s a community. People just come together and when they see other people similar to them, it’s a bond. It’s a family,” Washington said.