Lei Tai - History (prior To 1928)

History (prior To 1928)

The lei tai first appeared during the Song Dynasty when it was used for boxing and Shuai Jiao exhibition matches and private duels. According to the Chinese Kuoshu Institute (UK), an ancestor of the lei tai was used during the Qin Dynasty to hold Jiao Li wrestling competitions between imperial soldiers. The winner would be chosen to act as a bodyguard to the emperor or a martial arts instructor for the Imperial Military.

According to Cung Le, a famous full-contact fighter, “In the old days, if you wanted to announce yourself as a boxer in a new village, you built a lei tai, stood on it, and invited all comers to try and knock you off.” Some fighters issued their challenge in the form of a hand written letter to the person they wished to face. This form of challenge was illustrated in the movie Fearless, when Jet Li's character challenges another warrior to a fight. The book Ultimate Sparring: Principles & Practices comments, "martial artists conducted ‘Challenge matches’ to test each others skills, because of a personal dispute, or to prove one martial system’s superiority over another system." Either fighter lost the match and his credibility if he fell, was forced off or was knocked to the floor of the stage. As a result, no one would want to learn boxing from him. The winner of the bout became the "owner of the platform" and remained on stage unless he was forced off himself. If there were no more challengers, he became the champion and or established the dominance of his style in that area. Another way was to defeat an already established master on the lei tai and then take over his school.

In order to become a champion, a fighter had to defeat countless opponents. For instance, Lama Pai Grandmaster Wong Yan-Lam set up his own lei tai platform in front of Hai Tung Monastery in Guangdong after having worked as a famous bodyguard in Northern China. For 18 days, he fought over 150 other martial artists and was never defeated. According to Hop Gar Grandmaster David Chin, "Either the challenger was maimed or killed. Wong never let one challenger leave his school without injury. He was a master of using the technique of cruelty." Shortly afterwards, he was elected as the leader of the Ten Tigers of Canton, who were the top ten kung fu men in Guangdong. Eighteenth generation Chen-style t'ai chi Grandmaster Chen Zhao Pi (陈照丕) (1893–1972), third nephew of Chen Fake, set up a platform by Beijing’s “Xuan Wu Men” city gate after an unauthorized article claiming the superiority of Chen-style t'ai chi appeared in the Beijing Times, causing many martial artists to challenge his skills. Over the course of 17 days, he defeated over 200 people and made many friends. If these examples are followed, it took a fighter anywhere from 17–18 days and 150-200 plus consecutive wins to establish their style's dominance in that area.

All weapons and boxing matches were conducted without protective gear like the Jissen Kumite (full-contact fighting) of Kyokushin Karate. On top of being forced from or thrown to the floor of the stage, the fights sometimes continued until either boxer conceded defeat, was severely injured and could no longer fight, or was even killed. One example of a death on stage was described by Hung Gar Grandmaster Chiu Kow (1895–1995), father of Grandmaster Chiu Chi Ling. The fight took place between Hung Gar Master Leng Cai Yuk and a triad boss named Ha Saan fu, who was also a master of Internal martial arts. Because Ha dealt in prostitution, gambling, and drugs, Leng challenged Ha to a lei tai bout to halt the expansion of his criminal territory. Ha accepted the challenge and agreed to leave the area if he lost.

Ha had previously heard of Master Leng’s ability to tear at the flesh of his opponents with his bare hands, so he wrapped his torso with a leather strap prior to the fight. Both men met on the lei tai some time later and signed a contract that stated the fight could end in death. The crowd watched as both initiated combat. After a few moments, Leng (apparently seeing the leather straps through his ripped clothing) bypassed Ha’s armor by forcing his hand down from the top of the wrap and tore out the triad boss’ bowels. When Ha fell dead to the stage, his men tried attacking Leng to exact revenge, but the local police quickly arrested Leng to protect him. He was eventually set free.

However, the railess architecture of the lei tai allowed a fighter to escape serious injury if they faced a more powerful opponent. All they had to do was leap down from the stage. This constituted a loss, but the boxer lived to fight another day. Despite this option, the Nationalist government banned the old traditions of private duels on the lei tai in 1928 because too many people were dying.