The raised platform is tradition. It's usually padded all around it so really not much risk. I've seen some in Chinese events that are floating in a pool, that's pretty cool IMO.
Old days Lei Tai matches were raised and there were no pads anywhere, including feet and hands.
What I find interesting about these matches it that it does not really seem to matter what style they are because it all just seems to become a kick boxing and shoving match
CLF guy was relying on So Choi too much & stayed on the outside as much as possible. He took first round, especially with the ring toss he got. Good chum sum toi's in the 3rd from him, but you could tell he was gassed. WC guy was way more passive that I expected. Couple of good straights but nothing that stood out to me.
It's not bad, but it's not a "good" representation. As with most things, the ring makes things change for real, but not always as what we envision. On the Lei Tai, the training focus will shift to knocking an opponent off the Lei Tai. In the Sanda ring, it will focus to throws & takedowns to a good measure. Both should still focus on the seeds & principles of CLF & that branches version of them. But all in all, it's ok. There's worse out there. There's better out there.
A good representation of CLF in fighting examples is just about anything from the Lacy's in Fremont, Ca. They take walk in challenges & have plenty of videos showing them.