Baoding balls
Traditional product of Baoding, China
健身球 · 钢胆 · 바오딩 볼
- Type
- Holds and pins
- Martial arts
- Qigong
- Classified as
- iron ball
King's Kung-Fu and Tai Chi has taught 5 Animal 5 Family kung fu, tai chi and chi kung in Southern California since 1982. These original school pages cover this style:
Baoding balls (Chinese: 保定健身球; pinyin: Bǎodìng Jiànshēn Qiú; Wade–Giles: Pao3-ting4 Chien4-sheng1 Ch'iu2) are metal balls small enough to hold in one hand, used for physical exercise and therapy. They are also known as Chinese exercise balls, Chinese health balls, Chinese meditation balls, and Chinese medicine balls. Baoding balls are used by rotating two or more balls repeatedly in the hand. Intended to improve finger dexterity, relax the hand, or aid in the recovery of muscle strength and motor skills after surgery, Baoding balls work similarly to Western stress balls.
Japanese terms for holds and pins
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 逆手 | sakate | underhand grip (e.g. in gymnastics, etc.) |
| 遁術 | tonjutsu | Ninja art of escape |
| 遁法 | tonpou | Ninja art of escape |
| 裸絞め | hadakajime | rear naked choke; sleeper hold |
| 左上手 | hidariuwate | left-handed outside grip (on one's opponent's belt) |
| 左四つ | hidariyotsu | hold in which both wrestlers obtain an underarm grip with the left hand and an over-arm grip with the right |
| 隠遁術 | intonjutsu | Ninja art of escape |
| 右上手 | migiuwate | right-handed outside grip (on one's opponent's belt) |
| 右四つ | migiyotsu | hold in which both wrestlers obtain an underarm grip with the right hand and an overarm grip with the left |
| 両差し | morozashi | deep double underarm grip which prevents the opponent from grabbing the belt |
| 四つ身 | yotsumi | cross-grips (situation in which each rikishi has an underarm grip on the other) |
| 腕を返す | kainaokaesu | to place one's arms under those of the opponent and lift them up, in order to prevent an overhand grip on one's mawashi |
23 terms in total on the holds and pins page.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q772291 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.