During the Jiajing period, Baoding, Hebei Province already had a red furnace workshop to make fitness balls. There is a story about the invention of fitness ball. There is a blacksmith in Baoding who lives and works in peace and contentment. Unexpectedly, a local evil gentry took a fancy to his daughter and wanted to insult her. Later, it happened that a local censor went back to his hometown to visit relatives. Knowing this, they tried their best to rescue the blacksmith, which made the father and daughter grateful. Soon after, the proposal was framed by the traitors in the DPRK and retired to other places. He was paralyzed by a stroke, and his speech was clumsy and he had difficulty in moving. The blacksmith's father and daughter thought for a long time and tried to repay him for saving his life, but there was no good way. One night, the blacksmith dreamed that Sun Simiao, the drug king, told him to make a pair of iron balls. According to what he saw in his dream, the blacksmith forged a pair for himself and gave it to Yushi. If the suggestion is valuable, rub it every day, and within two months, the body will recover greatly. Naturally, fitness balls became popular.
Beautiful legends generally come from the people, although there are inevitably exaggerated colors in the meantime, but in the end it explains its ins and outs. We can't imagine that it was just a brainwave of one person or several people, created overnight. Before this, people must have had some similar experiences in this regard. People still often see people rubbing small natural balls, such as walnuts and pebbles. As time goes on, the ball becomes shiny. Manually playing fitness ball is bound to be gradually developed on the basis of this naturally formed health care method. In any case, this fitness ball regimen was widely used in the Qing Dynasty. For example, Wu Shangxian, a physician in Qing Dynasty, once mentioned "making pills" and "rubbing pills" in Li Long Parallel Prose, saying that "rubbing with iron pills can remove silt". It is said that Ji Xiaolan, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty and editor-in-chief of the famous Sikuquanshu, liked this kind of pill rubbing activity very much, and recommended it to Emperor Qianlong at that time. As a result, both of them achieved longevity.
Now it is considered that the method of fitness ball is most suitable for the health care of middle-aged and elderly people. Whenever you are free, you can take a walk, watch TV and sit and chat. It can not only circulate the whole body's qi and blood, activate the bones and muscles, so as to achieve the health care purpose of harmonizing yin and yang, but also has the function of treating some diseases, such as paralysis, scapulohumeral periarthritis, hemiplegia, hypertension, osteoarthropathy, cervical spondylosis, and even chronic diarrhea, chilblain and other diseases.
Why did the ancients value balls so much? How do you think it can play such a big role in health care and treatment?
The ancients believed that the limbs and the whole body of the human body are a whole, and the inside and outside of the human body are connected by a system that runs through all parts and corners of the body. This system is called "meridian system". There are 14 large meridians in the whole body. Except for two meridians distributed on the back and ventral surface of the midline of the body, the other 12 meridians connect hands and feet with the chest and abdomen of the body, which is called "five internal organs, six internal organs and hundreds of limbs" in Chinese medicine. From these meridians, some collaterals are sent out, which are connected with other angles. Meridian is the channel through which qi and blood flow throughout the body. In this way, there is a "straight line" communication between the four glue and the internal organs. Similarly, the feet and lower limbs also have six meridians, which are connected with the other six internal organs of the body, namely the kidney,
Liver, spleen, bladder, gallbladder and stomach are interrelated.
As the saying goes, "ten fingers are connected to the heart" means that 10 fingers (including 10 toes) are connected with all internal organs of the whole body. The ancients believed that there were some very sensitive acupoints on the tips of these fingers and toes, as well as on the palms and soles of the feet, which were called "acupoints". Stimulating these acupoints, information can be transmitted to the corresponding organs through meridians, affecting the whole body. For example, in the "tiger mouth" part of the back of the hand, Chinese medicine believes that there is a "Hegu" point, which is connected with the head meridians; It is for this reason that stimulating this acupoint can treat or relieve the symptoms of head, face and mouth.
By kneading the fitness ball, the acupuncture points distributed on the palm, back and fingers are continuously stimulated, which not only acts on the corresponding viscera, but also activates the local meridians, so that qi and blood can circulate. After qi and blood circulate, it is not easy for evil spirits to invade and hide here. This is the reason why the fitness ball can keep healthy and keep stupid, and it can also treat some diseases.