By: Nomi Kaltmann as seen in The Herald Sun

23 November 2025

“My dad, Max, is in his early sixties. He was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s more than a decade ago. Since then, the disease has chipped away at things most of us take for granted like his ability to work and his ability to walk without assistance.

However, if you know my dad, you know he doesn’t wallow in self-pity. He may be gentle and soft-spoken, but underneath that there is steely determination. He’s the son of a Holocaust survivor, and maybe because of that he’s always believed that even when life delivers something unbearably hard, you still have a choice. You can lie down and let it flatten you, or you can find a way to fight back.

After his diagnosis, he found out about a program in the United States that uses non-contact boxing to help people with Parkinson’s improve their gait, balance and confidence. “That’s it,” he told me. “I’m going to bring this to Melbourne.”

He had no funding, or experience running a group of this nature but he was determined to help himself and others with a difficult neurological disease. He printed flyers and stuck them in Parkinson doctors’ waiting rooms. He found a coach to teach the group.

And somehow, it all came together.

In 2018, the St Kilda PCYC agreed to host the Parkinsons non-contact boxing program. At the first meeting, twenty people with Parkinson’s turned up. Since then, twice a week, something extraordinary happens at the PCYC.

For those two classes, no one is “sick”. They are boxers. They are fighters. The participants are people taking back ownership of their bodies, despite their difficult neurological illness, just a little bit at a time. There is laughter, and there is movement. There is connection and there is a dramatic improvement in people’s mood.

More than 400 people from across Victoria have joined the free classes. Participants come to the PCYC in St Kilda to punch padded gloves, stretch, balance and talk. Many travel over an hour to get there.

So when I heard the news, that the PCYC was shutting down, I was devastated. This program my dad built out of thin air might lose its home. Without a gym to host this group, hundreds of people living with disability could lose a community that has helped them regain confidence and connection.

So, this is my plea, as a daughter, and as someone who has seen firsthand what this group has done for my dad and so many others living with Parkinson’s.

If anyone reading this knows of a community space or gym that could host the Melbourne Fight Back Against Parkinson’s program, please reach out. Please help keep this important program alive.