• Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon
No Result
View All Result
Home Columns

Baoding Iron Balls Good Exercise for All

Bony A. Bengwayan by Bony A. Bengwayan
July 12, 2023
in Columns
Reading Time: 6 mins read
3 0
0
CAR Experts Triangulate Highlands Growth Snags
2
SHARES
17
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Still recall the two small iron balls that you casually spun in your palm when as a kid or youth? 

If you have forgotten the name of the balls, well, they are called the Baoding iron balls, an ancient tool of China that has made it into the international scene. In the Philippines, Baoding iron balls became a fad during the 80’s, then abruptly disappeared from sight.

In April 1984, When the United States President and Mrs. Reagan visited China, they were gifted with two pairs of iron balls by Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang. The presidential gifts were “health balls” commonly used by China’s elderly for therapeutic exercise.

RelatedPosts

Mathematics of Forgiveness

Plain Meaning

Pagbabalik tanaw sa kasaysayan ng SSS

Made of metal, the shiny round balls, somewhat smaller compared to eggs, and as big as golf balls, have soundboards and small balls inside that emit tinkling sounds. The trick is to spin the two balls repetitively in clockwise or counterclockwise manner in the palm using the five fingers, or even three.

Those more skilled can spin two pairs of Baoding balls simultaneously with both hands, or, they can spin these by not allowing one ball to touch the other. 

Medical experts acknowledge that the Baoding balls, sometimes called “meditation balls,” if regularly used as physical therapy, improves joints, stimulates blood circulation, relaxes the muscles and joints and improves manual dexterity and strength.

The journal, American Courier, once carried an article accompanied by photos describing how Baoding balls had helped American convalescents. 

In China, physicians often recommend Baoding balls to patients suffering from fatigue since the balls activate pressure points located in the palm of the hand.

Baoding balls are used to prevent and cure numbness and trembling of the hands, arthritis in the fingers and wrists and even hypertension, ills that often afflict the elderly.

To understand the benefits behind the meditation balls is to gain some understanding of the Chinese Yin and Yang philosophy, according to Dr. Frank Lieu, a national of Taiwan who recently came over to the Philippines as a tourist. Lieu explains in the Chinese doctrine, there are two forces that balance the internal energy of humans. These are the Yin and Yang.

Yin represents the unassertive, inky, unfriendly and cynical characters in the energy (called Qi or Chi) of humans while Yang constitutes the productive, summery, glowing and spirited characters of human energy.

When a person is healthy and balanced, Yin and Yang interact in agreement. In Chinese medicine, when one is unhealthy, his/her internal energy is unbalanced and requires specific treatment, Lieu explains. 

Chinese medicine practitioners believe “chi” flows through pathways or twelve meridians in the body and is related to a particular organ. Hence, for thousands of years, Chinese medical practitioners inserted needles in a person’s meridian to correct the flow of internal energy.  That science, today, is called acupuncture and accepted by the medical world.

By the same theory, using pressure or acupressure – utilizing health balls –  also stimulates the meridians of the body through massage. In the human palm exists several meridians and acupressure points connected to the human organs, Dr. Lieu says.

“By using   Baoding balls, these points are stimulated, affecting the energy flow of organs. To increase Yang energy, the balls should be rotated clockwise and counter-clockwise to increase Yin energy,” Dr. Lieu states, further adding regular use of the health balls stimulates circulation of the fingers.

Pleasant sounds emanating from the Baoding balls serve to adjust nerve centers, improve memory and induce relaxation. Additionally, the balls are a kind of simple and portable device for exercises.

During the 80’s, the health balls became popular particularly among Filipino youth and the elderly. Why it suddenly lost its popularity is an unanswered question. However, there are still remnants, although far and between, who hold on to their health balls when they head off for exercise.

Baoding balls have been exported to the US, Japan, Hong Kong and 14 other countries and regions, worldwide. Between 1981 and 1984, Alfred R. Pierce, then president of the US-China Trade Company, ordered 12,000 pairs of the health balls for sale in the US. 

Pierce was an avid user of the balls, spending thirty minutes or so with these and said that medical effects aside, the balls are a cheap exercise appliance that you can just pocket these.

On the other hand, Cordillerans who have been using the health balls profess experiencing significant benefits for them as a certain form of physical therapy particularly on its calming effect.

Narciso Sumedya, a Benguet farmer and in   his mid-50’s, relates whenever tired from hoeing on his farm lot and his arms trembling from tiredness and fatigue, he would sit down, get hold on to his Baoding balls, and alternately spin them in his palms. As a result, he gets a calming effect.   

Another, Simon Gabijo, also from Benguet, tells that whenever he is tired lugging his vegetable produce from his planting fields to waiting cargo trucks, he would sit by the wayside and palm Baoding balls. His use of the health balls improved relaxation of his joints and muscles, enhanced his sleep, improved his memory and relieved him from stress and anxiety.

Still, another, Amira Halipan, a store owner at La Trinidad, reveals years ago she bought a pair of Baoding balls which her husband uses until today to strengthen his grip and relax him after work.

Both Sumedya and Gabijo say that whenever they use the health balls, their degree of concentration increases, an observation voiced, too, by other users of the Baoding balls.  

Alternative medicine holds the view that health balls improve hand muscles, improve brain function and reduce stress and are even recommended by scientific medicine for treating traumatic stress in children, adolescents and the elderly.

In short, Baoding balls or “meditation balls, are in fact, considered anti-stress balls. A study published in the British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research titled, “An Evaluation on Use of Stress Ball Exercise On Stress Management Among Student Population – A Cross Section Study,” came up with a conclusion on positive use of health balls. The study was conducted in India.

The conclusion stated: “The study concluded an innovative finding that the majority of the student population were stressed due to   academic reasons and respondents feel that stress ball users showed a satisfactory recovery from their stress.”

Another pilot study, conducted in the US and titled “Using Stress Balls to Focus the Attention of Sixth Grade Learners,” also came out with a conclusion stating, “Stress balls calmed them (the sixth graders) down and helped them concentrate better and pay attention.”

Manufacture of Baoding balls can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty (1386-1644) in Baoding City, Hebei Province, North China. When it first came out, the balls were solid and used to build up physical strength and limber up the joints, as well as tools for defense.

 It was traced that during that time, Emperor Jia Jing ordered his court to study iron balls for their effects. A method was then developed to create hollow balls made from iron and easier to grasp.

During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a royal craftsman was able to produce hollow balls with acoustic functions and the gadget immediately became a recreational gadget of the royal family. 

After retirement, the royal craftsman settled down in Baoding, started mass producing his product awash with acoustics and   where the iron balls started to spread among the common people. 

During the following reign of Emperor Qianlong (1796-1799), his doctors prescribed that he exercises his hands using the invented hollow iron balls. Use by Qianlong of the iron balls pushed this into cultural popularity. 

Qianlong was China’s longest living emperor in its history – which further propelled the use of Baoding balls to attain good health. His longevity was linked, by many Chinese folks, to his hobby of using the health balls.  

As early as the 1930s, Baoding balls were already being shipped to Japan and Southeast Asia. But in the following 50 years or more, their production declined.

ADVERTISEMENT

To revive the traditional handicraft, three factories in Baoding have, in the last few years, started manufacturing the balls. Production has improved, with steel now being used instead of iron. Products are shinier and smooth, rust-proof and stand a lot of wear and tear.

In the Philippines, Baoding balls can be ordered online.

Right now, the three factories offer three types of balls – large, medium and small. In addition, they offer balls with various designs like the dragon and phoenix (for good luck), red-crowned crane and peach (for longevity) and multi-colored balls. But the original shiny balls are still preferred by exercisers.

Share1Tweet1Send
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

10-M worth of DA-funded farmers’ project inked

Next Post

DENR-CAR honors Apayao with Gawad Kalikasan Award

Bony A. Bengwayan

Bony A. Bengwayan

Related Posts

6 pm daily prayer in city revived

Mathematics of Forgiveness

by Roderick Pacuyan
September 22, 2023
0

7x7! This is the memo or instruction of Jesus how we must forgive. Seven (7) is a very symbolic number...

The Flag

Plain Meaning

by Atty. Erik Donn Ignacio
September 21, 2023
0

Laws can be very difficult to understand since the language used to promulgate it is susceptible to multiple interpretations. Those...

SSS clarifies contribution hike

Pagbabalik tanaw sa kasaysayan ng SSS

by Christian Andrew Rillorta
September 21, 2023
0

Sa pagpapatuloy ng ating special column ngayong buwan bilang bahagi ng SSS’ 66th Anniversary ngayong September, magbalik tanaw tayo sa...

Next Post
Cordillera forest cover rises to 50 percent

DENR-CAR honors Apayao with Gawad Kalikasan Award

Tabuk mayor commits more patrol vehicles for PNP

Autonomy to boost reg’l peace, development anew

New truck ban in city suspended

Put up of truck weigh station along Palispis-Aspiras highway reiterated

ADVERTISEMENT

Recent News

P36 million earmarked to repair historic Mount Data Hotel

Mount Data to be part of nat’l peace museum

September 24, 2023
Apayao solon uplifts spirits of BJMP inmates

Baguio City Jail implements programs for PDL families

September 24, 2023
Mother of 4 named Most Outstanding Parent Leader

City promotes family enrichment

September 24, 2023
Mayor seeks probe on untimely death of OFW from Tanudan

Mayor seeks probe on untimely death of OFW from Tanudan

September 24, 2023
ADVERTISEMENT
HERALD EXPRESS | News in Cordillera and Northern Luzon

Herald Express is a news organization based in Baguio City that has a weekly publication and an online news portal. The newspaper is circulated in the different provinces of Northern Luzon. The name of the fastest-growing publication in town is coined from the word ‘quick messenger’ which is self-explanatory.

Follow Us

Search

No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
  • Sectoral news
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Other sections
  • Ads & Notices
  • About Us

© 2022 Baguio Herald Express - Website Design by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • Headlines
  • City/Region News
    • Covid-19 Advisory and Updates
    • Baguio City
    • CAR
    • Nation
  • Sectoral news
    • Elections
      • Elections – 2022
      • Elections – 2019
    • Agriculture, Fishery and Pets
    • Business and Livelihood
    • Education, Arts & Culture
    • Environment and Disaster Management
    • Science, Health, and Welfare
      • covid-19 advisory and updates
    • Tourism, travel and Events
    • Other Lifestyle
    • Police Beat
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Timek Ti Umili
  • Sports
    • Sports (Home)
    • Sports (Special Feature)
  • Other sections
    • Features
    • Photos/Videos
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Words for reflection
    • Sponsored articles
    • Jobs in Baguio
    • Elections
  • Ads & Notices
    • Obituaries
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Directory
    • Contribute
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Contact Us

© 2022 Baguio Herald Express - Website Design by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie SettingsAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Add New Playlist