A woman in China is demanding 40,000 yuan (US$5,500) in compensation from a colleague she has accused of slapping her on the back using a powerful kung fu move.
The woman, surnamed Zheng, from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, eastern China, claims the slap by a male colleague, surnamed Lu, left her unable to work.
Zheng, who was working as a security guard at a metro station in Hangzhou at the time of the incident, told a local television station that she was slapped in June last year.
She said she was taking a nap leaning against a desk during an afternoon break when Lu slapped her on the back to wake her up.
“It felt like I got an electric shock at the time. My arms and my neck all felt numb,” Zheng said.
She asked a female colleague to take a picture of her back which clearly showed the prints of five figures, apparently left by Lu, and Zheng said she did not feel well afterwards.
Lu gave her 3,000 yuan (US$400) on the understanding that Zheng would not take things any further.
Zheng suspected her problem was caused by a martial arts move known as “iron sand palm” because Lu had boasted to colleagues that he was learning the kung fu skill.
“Iron sand palm”, or simply “iron palm”, is a training method used in many Shaolin Temple martial arts schools.
Practitioners punch a canvas bag filled with iron sand with their bare-hands to condition them to deliver fierce blows.
When Zheng’s condition did not improve after a month, she went to hospital. Doctors found she had a protruding spinal disc and advised her to rest for two weeks.
But Zheng did not go to work for a year due to her health issues.
She then told Lu she wanted 40,000 yuan (US$5,500) in compensation to cover her medical costs as well as her loss of earnings.
Lu blocked all contact with Zheng so she felt she had no option but to tell the media.
He dismissed the possibility of a serious injury from his “slight” slapping.
Lu said Zheng’s health problems could be a result of falling off the electric bike she had been using for getting to work.
Mainland social media has been abuzz over their dispute, with many people seeing the funny side.
“A slap can make your cervical vertebrae protrude. Is that different from blackmail?” one internet user joked.
“Are you made of tofu? Your body falls to pieces from a slap?” said another.
