From the 3rd century BC the examination and measuring of the pulse of patients became an essential tool for diagnosing and prognosing patients. This practice was accompanied by a lively oral and literary debate among the physicians concerning both the theory (e.g. the different types of pulse and their pathological significance) and the practice (e.g. in which part the pulse should be felt and for how long) of this art. In my paper I shall present several illustrative texts from this debate and examine the reciprocal relation between practice and theory in “the art of pulse’, namely: to what extent the practice of examining the pulse was shaped by the theoretical knowledge and to what extent practical experience contributed to the changes in this theoretical knowledge?