Golf Ball Home Therapy?
Recently a friend asked me to give her an acupuncture treatment for her hand that she injured while working on her sailboat. She was puzzled when I said,†Wait a minute, I need to run next door and borrow some golf balls to use as Baoding Balls!â€
Baoding Balls were first featured in a movie with Humphrey Bogart called the Caine Mutiny.. So what are they? Acupuncturists recommend Baoding Balls as home self-care for a number of issues. And, if you are just trying to reduce mild stress or anxiety or to improve your concentration you don’t need to see an acupuncturist to try using them. Baoding Balls in some cases may help support stroke rehabilitation when combined with acupuncture. Chinese Emperor Qianlang from the Qing Dynasty (1736-1799) claimed that Baoding Balls were responsible for his longevity. True or false, no other Emperor lived so long!
Baoding Balls come in many different sizes and materials but until you decide the balls work for you golf balls or even walnuts will do. (Type “Baoding Balls†in Amazon.) If you decide to try it, keep it simple. First, roll one ball in the palm of one hand using all fingers and your thumb to keep it moving. Then add a second ball and keep them both moving counterclockwise in your right hand or clockwise in your left. Don’t be intimidated by YouTube demos that claim you need to keep the balls apart. Just keep the two balls moving! Do a YouTube search for†Baoding Balls, Chinese Exercise Balls, or Chinese health balls and find demonstrations of simple movements of two balls in the hand. If you want to get fancy see The Complete Book of Chinese Health Balls by Ab Williams.
Trying to remember which movie you saw Baoding Balls being used in? Well, yes, you probably have seen them in one movie or another. The classic Baoding scene is in The Caine Mutiny (1954) where a nervous Navy Captain played by Humphrey Bogart clicks the balls loudly during a crew mutiny trial. More recent movies were Extraction (2020), The Adventurers (2017), and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (2017).