Lei Tai

Lei Tai

The lèi tái (Traditional: 擂臺 Simplified: 擂台 literally "striking platform") is an elevated fighting arena, without railings, where often fatal weapons and bare-knuckle martial arts tournaments were once held. "Sanctioned" matches were presided over by a referee on the platform and judges on the sides. Fighters would lose if they surrendered, were incapacitated, were thrown or otherwise forced from the stage. The winner would remain on the stage (as its "owner") unless ousted by a stronger opponent. If there were no more challengers, they would become the champion. Private duels on the stage had no rules and were sometimes fought to the death.

In its present form, the lei tai first appeared in China during the Song Dynasty. However, ancient variations of it can be traced back to at least the Qin Dynasty. Today it is used in Sanshou and Kuoshu competitions throughout the world.

The drawing shown below is the colour version of an original drawing appeared in the Ming Dynasty (ca. WanLi 明萬歷 1573-1620) edition of the famous Chinese novel Outlaws of the Water Margin (水滸傳). This scene depicts a major character Yan Qing (燕青) in the novel defeating his rival Ren Yuan, nicknamed QingTianZhu (擎天柱任原), in a lei tai challenge.