Chinese Baoding Balls: A Complete Guide

Health & Your Life in The Soko - Your world as it should be

Chinese tradition says rotating two or more small conduits of the energy that flows through each
balls in the palm of your hand is beneficial to your person. The meridians connect all the systems of the
health. Sounds strange, but it has been done for body, so a seemingly unrelated action could affect
hundreds of years, so there might be something to it. something else in the body. Acupuncture and
reflexology both take meridians into consideration.
You’ve probably seen Baoding balls in gift shops and Chinese medicine is mainly concerned with
tourist-traps in china-towns the world over. Branch unblocking the meridians and keeping the flow of
out and try this ancient practice. Pumping iron isn’t energy strong. If your flow is strong then you are
the only way to get strong arms and shoulders! healthy—blocked or stagnant meridians cause health
problems.
Believed to have originated sometime in the Ming
dynasty (1368-1644), Baoding balls are named after Because certain meridians end on your palms and
the town of Baoding, where it is said that they fingers, and because these meridians are connected
originated. Intricate acupuncture and alternative to vital areas of the body, including the heart and
theories are involved in explaining why using Baoding lungs, stimulating your hands can revitalize or
balls can be beneficial. Here’s a primer: unblock specific meridians in the body, increasing
your well-being.
Different Medicinal Theories
The first Baoding balls were made of solid iron. Said How to Use Them
to improve health, the balls were used for hundreds To begin, choose a pair of balls you can handle
of years by all social classes of Chinese citizens, easily. Place them in your hand and use your palm
including emperors. It may be hard to believe that a and fingers to rotate the balls in the direction that
couple of spheres rotating in your palm would do seems most natural. You can also tilt your palm at
anything for your health, but the Chinese understand different angles in order to let gravity help you along.
the body differently than westerners. Once you are comfortable with rotating in one
direction, experiment with the opposite direction.
According to Dr. Chou of the Chi Kung Clinic of Your goal should be to eventually be able to rotate
Canada, western medicine sees each organ and part the balls comfortably in either direction.
of the body as separate and controllable entities,
while Chinese medicine sees all bodily systems as There are different ways to use Baoding balls. You
interconnected. For example, if a person walked into can rotate them smoothly so they don’t hit each other
a doctor’s office complaining about a headache, the hard, or for challenge you can rotate them so they
doctor might prescribe him painkillers to ease the don’t touch at all. Remember to keep switching your
pain. The problem is that the headache isn’t the real hands so you maintain a healthy balance. As your
issue, it is only the effect of a cause—it is a symptom. hands strengthen, you can increase the size of the
balls. If you practice for 10-15 minutes, you will notice
Chinese medicine says treating symptoms is not the that your forearm, shoulder, and hands are receiving
best way to cure an ailment; one should instead look a substantial workout.
for the root of the cause. A Chinese doctor might
suggest to that same person that their Qi (internal Tips
energy) is stagnant. He might even prescribe the • From personal experience, the best time to practice
Baoding balls. is in a car or on public transit (as long as you’re not
driving!) or while watching TV.
How They Work
Regular use of Baoding balls is believed to calm the • Dr. Yang of the YMAA association has personally
mind and body and also prevent, alleviate and even advised me to never use metal balls because they
cure some ailments. The mild effort required to use drain your energy. Use balls that are coated with
them can relax muscles and joints in the arm and plastic or ceramic so the metal never touches your
shoulder and improve blood circulation. But the effect skin. According to Dr. Yang, the best balls are made
of Baoding balls goes a little deeper than that of solid stone or wood.
according to Chinese medicine.
The whole world in your hand
Chinese medical theory maintains that there are Other cultures and traditions can teach us valuable
specific paths that run throughout our bodies. These lessons and expand our horizons. Give Baoding balls
paths are known as meridians, and they are the a try and open yourself to a new way of thinking.