A medical holding apparatus includes: an arm including a plurality of links mutually coupled through one of joints, the arm having at least six degrees of freedom due to rotational motion about a rotation axis, the arm being configured to function as a balanced arm with a counterweight and support a medical device; and an arm controller configured to control motion of the arm, in which at least three of the joints in the arm each are provided with an angular sensor that detects a rotation angle of the rotation axis and an actuator that gives the joint an assist force of assisting the rotational motion, and the arm controller controls, based on respective detected results of the angular sensors, the respective assist forces of the actuators such that an amount of force in operation necessary when an operator moves the medical device supported by the arm remains in a predetermined range.