KINGSTON, N.Y. \u2014 Steve Samuels of Saugerties is one of a number of local residents afflicted with Parkinson\u2019s who has discovered that working out in the Rock Steady Boxing program at Signature Fitness in Kingston has helped him deal with the dreaded disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also do other exercises for Parkinson\u2019s at other places, but this group is a group where people like to see each other,\u201d said Samuels, a former professor at UC Davis in California. \u201cAnd we have fun. All the trainers care for us and they do their best to make sure people are not only having a good time, but they\u2019re doing things correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuels showed off his boxing form after an interview by vigorously punching into padded mitts held by trainer Michelle De Dominicis before a class at the 33 North Front St. gym began one morning.<\/p>\n
Samuels said he has been coming once a week to Signature Fitness since the classes began eight years ago. He said many in his group come before the regularly scheduled session to work out on some of the gym\u2019s other machines as a way to stay fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work out at other places, but I\u2019d say the training here is the most rugged,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cIt really helps me.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Saugerties](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_1581-rotated.jpg\")
Saugerties resident Steve Samuels punches into padded mitts held by trainer Michelle De Dominicis as part of the Rock Steady Boxing program for those with Parkinson’s at Signature Fitness at 33 North Front St. in Kingston, New York.
\nRick Remsnyder\/Daily Freeman<\/p>\n
Rock Steady Boxing was founded in 2006 by Scott C. Newman after he was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s Disease at the age of 40.<\/p>\n
Determined to fight back, Newman started to train with his friend and former Golden Gloves boxer Vince Perez. Newman found this training was helping his symptoms to the point where his tremor was controlled and he felt \u201cRock Steady.\u201d<\/p>\n
An original group of six boxers started the first Rock Steady Boxing classes in an exercise room in the back of a finance company in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n
Today, Rock Steady Boxing is a thriving international nonprofit organization that has evolved into a network of health professionals and fitness professionals offering a non-contact, boxing-based fitness curriculum. There are currently over 800 programs in affiliate locations in every state and 14 countries.<\/p>\n
Kenneth K. Beesmer, a senior vice president at Merrill Lynch and a former Kingston High football star, said his father was diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s about 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
His father, Ken Beesmer, was spending winters in Naples, Florida and started going to a Rock Steady Boxing affiliate there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just loved it,\u201d the younger Beesmer said. \u201cHe went to class and felt great after doing it. He met a lot of other people who had Parkinson\u2019s and enjoyed the camaraderie, the training and everything else. He came back up here and obviously there was no class in Kingston.\u201d<\/p>\n
After contacting Rock Steady Boxing officials to discuss the procedures of starting an affiliate in Kingston, Beesmer contacted Signature Fitness owner John Perry who agreed to start the program for those with Parkinson\u2019s at his gym.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started out slowly with four or five in a class and now it\u2019s up to 16 to 18,\u201d Beesmer said.<\/p>\n
Beesmer said the Kingston community has responded to two fundraisers to fund the program, which includes boxing gloves, punching mitts and T-shirts for participants.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to keep the price for it at rock bottom to make it accessible for just about anybody,\u201d Beesmer said. \u201cWe\u2019re really proud of the program and it continues to grow. The disease unfortunately is really accelerating. I see this program getting bigger and bigger sadly, but I\u2019m glad it\u2019s here because I think we really do make an impact on these people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Dominicis said each participant adjusts their exercises to deal with their specific issues from Parkinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s specific patterns we do on each of those bags,\u201d she said. \u201cWe adjust their hand\/eye coordination and balance. We use the machines to work on strength. We give them the right challenge for each person. Some folks have a lot more movement than others, so we just bring everybody along the best we can. Everyone who has tried it, tells me they\u2019ve made improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBalance is such a big part of this disease,\u201d the younger Beesmer said. \u201cSo many people with Parkinson\u2019s fatally fall. The balance piece is so incredibly important. Walking and all the things we take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
All the trainers that are involved in Rock Steady Boxing must complete in-person training in Indianapolis and then are recertified online on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody who trains or is hands-on with members has to have that training in place,\u201d Beesmer said. \u201cIt\u2019s very thorough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The elder Beesmer said Rock Steady Boxing has been very important to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it helps with different things on different days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Originally Published: October 26, 2025 at 11:27 AM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KINGSTON, N.Y. \u2014 Steve Samuels of Saugerties is one of a number of local residents afflicted with Parkinson\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,4245,884,3430,44,82,113704],"class_list":["post-241631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-ulster-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}