Slap therapy is claimed to be an art of ‘self-healing’ which promises to improve blood circulation and release toxins from the body. 

But the seemingly painful practice has been linked to a number of deaths worldwide, and left practitioners covered in deep cuts and huge swollen bruises. 

Hongchi Xiao, was today convicted 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 Wiltshire, where, each time, she fell desperately 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 from God,’ but was left to die alone in her room after her grave condition worsened, despite Xiao saying her worsening symptoms were all part of the healing process. 

It came a year after a six-year-old diabetic boy died in similar circumstances in Australia, for which Xiao was later jailed. 

Many medical practitioners have criticised the practice, saying that it causes bruises and results in broken blood vessels leading to horrific injuries such as those pictured above 

Hongchi Xiao claims these horrific marks left on the skin show the presence of toxins in the body

He claimed this type of therapy, also known as paida laijin, could cure people from immune diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and even cancer and autism. 

The practice involves participants slapping parts of their body with their hands until they begin to swell and turn red, supposedly ridding paidthe blood of so called toxins which cause organs to ‘become sick’. 

It has amassed a 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, Australia’. 

Paida laijin claims to be a more effective form of cupping therapy, which sees people attach special cups to a person’s back for a few minutes and supposedly increases blood flow and improves circulation. 

Those who practice paida laijin believe it can remove blockages of toxins, known as ‘sha’, in ‘microcirculations’ that are present in all internal organs. 

These blockages are supposedly too small to spot using traditional medical techniques and can prevent nutrients being ‘imported’ into the body. 

If these blockages remain in place, they can cause the organ to malfunction, it is claimed. 

Paida laijin supposedly helps clear these blockages and help the body to ‘self heal’ and rid itself of any diseases. 

The term paida, is said to refer to the use of one’s hands to repeatedly slap parts of the body while laijin is the act of stretching your limbs and joints to make them flexible. 

Practitioners like Xiao will slap patients all over their body to apparently expel any ‘sha’ before stretching their bodies to allow the ‘smooth flow of energy’.

The slapping is often carried out with just a persons hand, although some also use specialised ‘slappers’, with large, protruding bumps. 

Two women perform paida on a woman by slapping her arms as she lays down 

A person’s beaten chest is pictured covered in purple and red marks as they appear to be continually slapped by a ‘slapper’ 

A person shows off their injuries after a slap therapy session, with a huge black mark seen on the right side of their lower back

A person covered in red marks across the backs of their legs after taking part in paida lajin

Many medical practitioners have criticised the practice, saying that it causes bruises and results in broken blood vessels. 

But Xiao – who has no medical qualifications or training – disputes this, instead claiming that any black or red marks are in fact ‘sha’ just leaving the body and are ‘good healing reactions’. 

He has also claimed it can lead to full recovery in 90 per cent 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 greater the pain and bruises while slapping means there is more poison inside the body. 

‘You can be your own doctor. 

‘We were all born with self-healing power but we simply ignore it and spend millions of dollars paying for medications.’

His website adds: ‘Once we think out of the box of ‘medical intervention’, we will find that these non-medical methods can be used to prevent, diagnose and self-heal many so-called ‘incurable’ diseases for medical professionals. 

‘This has been repeatedly proven true by millions of people over the past five years, and we have online and offline statistics and clinical reports provided by medical institutions to support this claim.’

Despite this sentiment, Xiao has repeatedly claimed he is ‘not a doctor,’ and suggests people do ‘see a doctor’ when they are actually sick. 

A couple of people perform the slapping exercises on a prone participant

Bruises to the forearm caused by being slapped repeatedly

A person lifts their T-shirt to reveal a grim pattern of bruises the shape of an opened palm

Danielle Carr-Gomm, 71, who had diabetes, ended up dead from the consequences of Xaio’s unorthodox methods

In 2019, Xiao was found guilty of the manslaughter of a seven-year-old diabetic boy who died after Xiao told his parents to stop giving him insulin.

His parents had taken 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 and told them that it was merely the ‘detox’ when their son was in fact dying, a court was told. 

The boy later died after he was found unconscious in a Hurstville hotel. Ambulance paramedics attempted CPR but he couldn’t be revived.

Just 17 months later he again told one of his followers, Mrs Carr-Gomm, to stop taking insulin during a  four-day retreat where he performed paida lajin.