It's quite possible that sitting on your desk or locked away in some drawer is a pair of iron balls in a box. Perhaps they are labeled health balls, stress balls or Chinese exercise balls, but their true name is Baoding balls because they came from Baoding, China. Boading balls can actually be made of wood or stone, but the metal variety is most common today. These balls are used for hand exercises meant to stimulate acupressure points and increase chi (energy) flow to the hands.
Basic Exercise
The most basic exercise involving iron Baoding balls is just to roll them around in one hand at a time. Rolling the balls first in one direction and then the other is said to stimulate chi by massaging or putting pressure on the acupressure points on the ends of each fingertip. These points correspond to meridians, which are chi pathways in the body. The meridians of the fingers correlate to the heart, gallbladder, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, stomach, large intestine and the small intestine, as well as the cranial nerve, according to “Qi Journal.” As you will likely drop one or both balls, do not hold them over your head, foot or an item you wouldn't want to see broken when doing this exercise.
Palm Up Exercise
Once you master the basic exercise, there are two exercises that you should do regularly. One exercise has your palm facing up and the other has your palm facing down. To do the palm up exercise, hold both iron balls in your palm and slowly roll them around in your hand without letting them touch. Experiment with the angle that you hold your palm to find the alignment so that gravity helps roll the balls smoothly down your palms. If you find this to be too difficult, you may need to use smaller iron balls. Remember, do not position your arm above something that you don't want a ball dropped on.
Palms Down Exercise
The palms down exercise also stimulates chi in your hands and body, but it is done with the palm of the hand rolling the balls positioned toward the floor. This requires more strength in your fingers and forearms to hold onto the balls as gravity wants them to fall. Hold the balls in your palm and then turn it over. Roll the balls first in one direction and then the other, without letting them clang together. One benefit of the iron Baoding ball is you can definitely hear it when they hit each other.
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