a 501(c)3 non-profit org.
Go The Distance
Step into the ring of your own story with Rocky as your guide. This 16-week online Cinema Therapy course, designed specifically for Rock Steady Boxing participants, coaches, and families, uses the iconic 1976 film to explore resilience, identity, and the power of the fighting spirit. Through guided discussions, writing prompts, and creative exercises, you’ll chart your own Hero’s Journey—just like Rocky did. Whether you’re battling Parkinson’s or standing in someone’s corner, this course builds strength, connection, and purpose. Inspired by the grit of Rock Steady and the heart of Rocky, it’s time to rise, fight, and rock your story. Sponsors welcome!
This course uses Joseph Campbell's Hero’s Journey to explore how Rocky—the ultimate underdog—mirrors our own battles with Parkinson’s. Like Rocky, many of us face long odds battling anxiety, apathy and loss. Discovering and sharing our stories build connections to our community for greater understanding, funding, and continued hope for a cure. Through film, reflection, and community, we’ll uncover the courage, grit, and voice within each of us. Yo - let's do this!
Class begins Monday, Aug. 18 at 12noon pacific.
Sign up today!
Your Instructor -
and PD Care Partner
My name is Robert Cochrane, PhD. My dad, Dan Cochrane, was diagnosed with PD in 2001. In 2004, we made a two-month, 20,000 mile journey across the U.S. and Canada to see a game at each of the 30 MLB stadiums and discover what it meant to have and live with PD. That trip became the award-winning documentary series, Boys of Summer.
Years later, as a part of that ongoing journey, we discovered Rock Steady Boxing. It became a regular, vital part of his well-being and demonstrated the shared fight. We even visited headquarters in Indianapolis as part of the third film in the series (which you can see here, for free).
I developed my nonprofit, Yes, And...eXercise!, in 2022. Our programs were researched and tested in an Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD program to help give voice, confidence, and agency to people in the PD community. This includes people with PD, care partners, and their family members.
The importance of storytelling is simple: our brains are patterning machines. We're neurologically hardwired for story. We're constantly taking in and telling stories to shape the way we see the world. By becoming conscious of our own stories, we can rewrite them so we are the heroes of our own journeys.
This Cinema Therapy course, featuring Rocky, has been designed specifically for the
Rock Steady Boxing community.
You are invited to sign up to participate or donate to sponsor another participants. All donations for this program will be used to sponsor participants tuition.
On the power of storytelling
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou
“The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions.”
― Michael Margolis