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San Shou means free fighting, and Sanda meands free hitting.  The context of the word "free" refers to no rules fighting, and can be considered "No Holds Barred" or to put it loosley, mixed martial arts.  The term San Shou is popularly used in the USA for political reasons, while the term Sanda is the original term that has roots to Lei Tai fighting.

The Lèi tái (Traditional: 擂臺 Simplified: 擂台 “Beat (a drum) Platform”) is a raised fighting platform, without railings, where often fatal weapons and bare-knuckle Chinese martial arts tournaments were once held. The lei tai first appeared in its present form in China during the Song Dynasty. However, ancient variations of it can be traced back to at least the Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.E.).  Officially sanctioned matches were presided over by a referee on the platform and judges on the sides. Fighters lost the match when 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, and if there were no more challengers, he became the champion.

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Private duels on the stage had no rules and were sometimes fought to the death. In 1928, the Chinese government banned private duels and martial arts became an organized sport. Today, the lei tai is used in Sanshou and Kuoshu competitions throughout the world.

The absence of a railing or ropes makes the lei tai a unique fighting arena. There is no opportunity to trap an opponent in the turnbuckle, so the fighting strategy shifts away from power boxing to more evasive "circling" maneuvers. Sudden charges are not possible because a quick redirection will send a charging opponent flying off the stage. The platform is some distance off the floor, so fighters must deal with an added psychological factor when they approach the edge.

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’ [on the lei tai] to test each others skills, because of a personal dispute, or to prove one martial system’s superiority over another system."[19] 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."[21] 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 Taichi 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 Taichi 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.

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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.

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Modern day (1928 to present)

National Boxing Competitions

In order to screen the best practitioners for teaching positions at the newly founded Central Kuoshu Institute (中南國術館), and in the provincial schools, Generals Zhang Zhi Jiang (张之江) (1882-1966), Li Lie Jun (李烈鈞) (1882-1946) and Li Jing Lin (李景林) (1884-1931) held the first modern full contact, national competition in October 1928. Many traditional masters did not compete because they believed their skills could only be proven in serious duels and not "sporting" contests. However, the event attracted hundreds of the best Chinese martial artists who participated in boxing, weapons and wrestling in a lei tai ring format. But after the first several days, the fighting competitions had to be halted because two masters were killed and many more seriously injured. The final 12 contestants were not permitted to continue for fear of killing off some of the greatest masters of the time. The overall winner was voted on by a jury of his peers. Many of the "Top 15" finishers (some being Xingyi boxers) went on to teach at the institute.

In 1929, the governor of Guangdong Province invited some of the institutes's masters (including some of those that had competed in the 1928 lei tai) to come south to establish a "Southern Kuoshu Institute". General Li Jinglin chose five masters to represent northern China. These men were known as the Wu hu xia jiangnan (五虎下江南 - "Five tigers heading south of Jiangnan.

Gu Ru Zhang (顾汝章) (1893-1952) of Northern Shaolin style. He was famously known as "Iron Palm Gu Ruzhang". He placed in the "Top 15" of the 1928 lei tai;

Wan Lai Sheng (1903-1995) of Northern Shaolin and Internal styles (including Natural Boxing);

Fu Zhensong (傅振嵩) (1881-1953) of Baguazhang style;

Wang Shao Zhou (王绍周) of Northern Shaolin and Cha styles and

Li Xian Wuof Northern Shaolin and Internal styles.

In 1933, the institute again hosted the national competition. The rules said, "...if death occurs as a result of boxing injuries and fights, the coffin with a body of the deceased will be sent home." Some of the top winners of this contest include:

	Chang Tong Sheng (1908-1986) of Shuai Jiao style. He won theheavy weight division and earned the martial nickname “FlyingButterfly”
	Wang Yu Shan (王玉山) (1892-1976) of Praying Mantis style
	Li Kun Shan (1894-1976) of Praying Mantis style

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