Therapy balls, also called Chinese baoding balls, Chinese meditation balls, Chinese medicine balls, and Healthy Balls, are thought to have been created in Baoding, China, during the Ming dynasty. Baoding balls are a tool for injury recovery or as an exercise tool to improve manual dexterity and strength. They consist of two or more balls which are rotated to orbit in the hand. The iron-ball system is the greatest of Baoding prefecture's "three treasures." Long throughout history, renowned within China and other countries, this is Baoding prefecture's traditional product. This item of Buddhist martial arts was first produced in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The basic exercise for learning how to use therapy balls consists of rotating a pair in the palm of the hand, ensuring even and constant contact is made between the balls - the idea being to maintain permanent contact between them. Once this has been learned, the rotation speed can be gradually increased until the balls separate in the hand. Eventually, one can learn to rotate them completely without the balls making contact with each other. Exercises have been developed involving two, three, four, or even more balls. It is believed that therapy balls can interact with pressure points on the hands helping the release of energy and to relieve soreness. The moving motion of therapy balls in the hand are also said to be relaxing and theraputic.
