Baoding balls are also known as "Chinese health balls", "Chinese meditation balls" or "exercise balls". Baoding, a city in northern China, is known for producing small, chiming spheres, which are referred to locally as Jiànshen qiú. In translation, this means "balls for physical health", and their use has been documented since the 14th century during the Ming dynasty in China. In the past, people used nuts and fruit to train their skills. Later on, the balls also had a spiritual effect. Now they are made of stone or metal and the spiritual belief remains: if you let both sound balls rotate in your hand, female yin and male yang should harmonize according to Taoist doctrine. According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), numerous acupressure points on the hand are stimulated through rotational movements. In addition, it is believed that exercising with Baoding balls promotes fine motor skills of fingers and thus promises relief from arthritis of the hands and finger joints.
For sound enthusiasts, however, not only the haptic use is interesting but of course also the musical aspect. Our Baoding balls consist of a hollow chrome steel ball in which a spring and a small freely moving steel marble are enclosed. Rotation creates gentle, meditative tones whose intensity can be increased by vigorous movements and shaking. The sound balls are therefore best suited as tools with sound effects and shakers.
