Six years after her diagnosis, the Belgian woman who lives in Turkey discovered the benefits of non-contact boxing by chance while researching the disease. 

Ever since, she has been perfecting her punching by going to a gym three times a week.

"It does not stop your Parkinson's. Parkinson's is a degenerative disease. It never stops but you can...slow it down," Van Der Stracten said at a gym in the Mediterranean province of Antalya where she has lived for 15 years.

Non-contact boxing does not involve taking any punches, so there is no risk of head trauma.