Here is an excerpt from thearticle by our own Dr Bertoni published in Toscana Medica.
"In 1719 an English boxer named James Figg opened the first boxing gym in London in the modern sense. He called the activity of boxing the Noble Art. In 1817, the English physician James Parkinson published the essay on the disease that was named after him. Today, these two fields, Medicine and the Noble Art, meet to try to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from this debilitating disease.
Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by tremors, postural rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability. These motor signs can have detrimental consequences on balance, mobility and quality of life in patients with the disease.
There is scientific evidence that traditional forms of exercise, such as stretching, aerobics and resistance exercises, are beneficial for the health and quality of life of patients. Alternatively, non-traditional exercises have also shown promising results. Examples of such activities are tango, tai chi, taiji and qigong. These programmes have been shown to improve balance, mobility, gait endurance and also have a positive psychological and emotional effect.
A non-traditional form of exercise recently activated for Parkinson's patients is boxing training. Traditional boxing training is designed so that boxers have sufficient stamina for the duration of all rounds, with enough explosive strength to carry the blows and move quickly inside the ring.
In combination with fitness, boxing training involves whole-body movements, with quick gestures to carry blows with the arms and footwork in several directions.
The gesture of carrying the blows combines high-speed arm movements with trunk rotation and anticipatory postural adjustments."
English (UK) 
Italiano