Slapping therapy is claimed to be a “self-healing” art that promises to improve blood circulation and release toxins from the body.
But this seemingly painful practice has been linked to numerous deaths around the world and has left its practitioners covered in deep cuts and huge, swollen bruises.
Hongchi Xiao was today found guilty of the gross negligence manslaughter of East Sussex grandmother Danielle Carr-Gomm, a 71-year-old diabetic with a fear of needles.
She attended two of Xiao’s workshops in Bulgaria and then in Wiltshire, where on each occasion she fell seriously ill after allegedly being told to stop taking the crucial insulin medication that regulated her blood sugar levels.
Mrs Carr-Gomm described Xiao as “a messenger sent by God” but she was left to die alone in her room after her serious condition worsened, despite Xiao saying her worsening symptoms were part of the healing process.
This came a year after a six-year-old diabetic boy died in similar circumstances in Australia, for which Xiao was subsequently jailed.
Hongchi Xiao (pictured) claimed that slap therapy could cure people of immune diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and even cancer and autism.
Many doctors have criticized this practice, saying that it causes bruising and leads to rupture of blood vessels, leading to horrible injuries like those pictured above.
Hongchi Xiao claims that these horrible marks left on the skin show the presence of toxins in the body.
He claimed that this type of therapy, also known as paida laijin, could cure people of immune diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and even cancer and autism.
The practice involves participants hitting parts of their body with their hands until they start to swell and turn red, supposedly ridding the blood of so-called toxins that make organs “sick.”
It has managed to gather an almost cult-like following around the world, with one website claiming there are “millions of practitioners in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Germany, Indonesia, India, South Africa and Australia.”
Paida laijin claims to be a more effective form of cupping therapy, in which special suction cups are placed on a person’s back for a few minutes and supposedly increase blood flow and improve circulation.
Those who practice paida laijin believe that it can remove toxin blockages, known as ‘sha’, in the ‘microcirculations’ that are present in all internal organs.
These blockages are thought to be too small to be detected by traditional medical techniques and can prevent nutrients from being “imported” into the body.
If these blockages persist, it is said that they can cause the organ to malfunction.
Paida laijin is supposed to help remove these blockages and help the body to “self-heal” and get rid of any disease.
The term paida is said to refer to the use of the hands to repeatedly strike parts of the body, while laijin is the act of stretching the limbs and joints to make them flexible.
Practitioners like Xiao pat patients all over their bodies to seemingly expel any “sha” before stretching their bodies to allow for the “smooth flow of energy.”
Strikes are often delivered with the hand alone, although some also use specialized “slappers” with large protrusions sticking out.
Two women perform payada on a woman by slapping her arms while she lies down.
A person’s beaten chest is seen covered in purple and red marks as he appears to be receiving continuous slaps from a “slapper.”
A person shows off her injuries after a slap therapy session, with a huge black mark visible on the right side of her lower back.
A person covered in red marks on the back of his legs after participating in a paya lajin.
Many doctors have criticized this practice, saying it causes bruising and leads to rupture of blood vessels.
But Xiao, who has no medical training or qualifications, denies this, saying the black or red marks are in fact ‘sha’ simply leaving the body and are ‘good healing reactions’.
It has also claimed that it can lead to complete recovery in 90 percent of cases, including people with diabetes, Alzheimer’s and even cancer and autism.
The former Wall Street banker previously told a seminar in South Africa: ‘The more pain and bruising there is when you slap someone, it means there is more poison inside the body.
‘You can be your own doctor.
“We are all born with the power of self-healing, but we simply ignore it and spend millions of dollars on drugs.”
Their website adds: ‘Once we think beyond ‘medical intervention’, we will discover that these non-medical methods can be used to prevent, diagnose and self-cure many of the so-called ‘incurable’ diseases for medical professionals.
‘Millions of people have repeatedly demonstrated this over the past five years, and we have online and offline statistics and clinical reports provided by medical institutions that support this claim.’
Despite this sentiment, Xiao has repeatedly claimed that he is “not a doctor” and suggests that people “see a doctor” when they are truly sick.
A pair of people perform slapping exercises on a prone participant.
Bruises on forearm caused by repeated slapping
A person lifts up his shirt to reveal a shadowy pattern of bruises in the shape of an open palm.
Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, who had diabetes, ended up dead from the consequences of Xaio’s unorthodox methods.
In 2019, Xiao was convicted of manslaughter in the case of a seven-year-old diabetic boy who died after Xiao told his parents to stop giving him insulin.
His parents brought their son to Xiao’s workshop to try to cure his type 1 diabetes in 2015.
Xiao told the boy’s parents to stop giving him insulin, telling them it was just a “detox” when in fact their son was dying, a court heard.
The boy later died after being found unconscious at a hotel in Hurstville. Paramedics on the ambulance attempted CPR but were unable to revive him.
Just 17 months later, she again asked one of her followers, Mrs Carr-Gomm, to stop taking insulin during a four-day retreat in which she performed paya lajin.