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Ip Man (Chinese: 叶问 / 葉問) is a 2008 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and teacher of Bruce Lee. The film focuses on events in Ip's life that supposedly took place in the city of Foshan during the Sino-Japanese War. The film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen as Ip Man, with martial arts choreography by Sammo Hung. The supporting cast includes Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-tung, Xing Yu, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, and Tenma Shibuya. The film was a co-production between China and Hong Kong, and was the last film to be distributed by Mandarin Films. Ip Man is the first film in the Ip Man film series. It premiered in Beijing on 10 December 2008, and was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 19 December 2008, receiving widespread acclaim from critics and audiences. Before the film's release, Raymond Wong announced that there would be a sequel; a second installment titled Ip Man 2, was released in April 2010, a third installment titled Ip Man 3 was released in 2015, and Ip Man 4: The Finale was released in 2019. Ip Man grossed more than US$22 million worldwide, despite not being released in North America and most of Europe. Following its success, the film was nominated for 12 Hong Kong Film Awards, winning awards for Best Film and Best Action Choreography. Plot In 1935, Foshan is a hub of Southern Chinese martial arts, where the various schools' students compete against each other. Ip Man, the most skilled martial artist in town, maintains a low profile while building a reputation for skill through friendly, closed-door competitions with other masters. One day, a local troublemaker named Yuan loses his kite, which lands in a tree in the Ip family's backyard. While retrieving it, Yuan witnesses Ip defeating fellow kung fu master Liu in a sparring match. Although Ip and Liu had agreed that the news of who won would remain a secret, Yuan spreads the story around town, inadvertently embarrassing Liu. Yuan's brother Lin, a restaurant owner and disciple of Liu, publicly shames Yuan as he tries to arrange a rematch between Liu and Ip, and Yuan runs away from home. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip and his family are forced to move into a decrepit apartment after the Imperial Japanese Army confiscates their house for use as a military headquarters. Running out of valuables to sell for food, Ip gets a job at a coal mine in 1938 alongside Lin, who hopes to reconcile with his brother but has failed to track him down. General Miura, a Japanese Karate master, sets up an arena where Chinese martial artists can challenge his military trainees for a bag of rice. Former police officer Li Zhao, now an interpreter for the Japanese, visits the mine to recruit anyone willing to fight. Ip declines, but Lin agrees to participate. Lin and two other fighters face Miura, but Miura defeats them soundly, and kills Lin when he refuses to surrender. Ip, worried about Lin's disappearance, decides to participate in the fights. At the arena, Ip witnesses Master Liu win a fight, which gives him rice, but he requests to challenge three more soldiers. He is overwhelmed by the karatekas. To the horror of the Chinese bystanders, including Ip, Liu takes the bag despite his loss, and is shot in the head by Miura's sadistic second-in-command, Colonel Sato. Realizing that Lin is dead, the rage-filled Ip demands to fight 10 karatekas, to the bewilderment of Miura and Li, and Sato's amusement. To the shock of all present, he brutally defeats all 10 opponents, winning the respect of Miura, who asks Ip to return and inquires his identity. Ip says that he is just a Chinese man, but Li gives his full name instead. Afterwards, Ip chastises Li for knowingly putting his countrymen in danger. Jin Shanzhao, a highly skilled Northern Chinese martial arts master who once defeated all the masters in Foshan except Ip, now leads a bandit gang and harasses the workers at a cotton mill run by Ip's friend Chow Ching-chuen. Ip agrees to train the workers in Wing Chun for self-defense. When the gang returns, the workers are able to stall them long enough for Ip to arrive and defeat Jin and Yuan, now a part of the gang. After running Jin's gang out of Foshan, Ip confronts Yuan and informs him of his brother's death, giving him a small tin that belonged to Lin. An emotional Yuan opens the tin and finds his kite inside; this motivates him to abandon the gang. When Ip does not return to the arena, Miura beats Li and sends Sato to find him. After overpowering Sato and his soldiers at the apartment, Ip and his family flee and hide in Li's house. The Japanese learn about the cotton mill and take the workers hostage. Despite Li's warnings, Ip surrenders himself to the Japanese while begging Chow to take his wife and son to Hong Kong for their safety. Miura asks Ip to train the Japanese soldiers in Chinese martial arts, but Ip refuses and challenges Miura to a match. Though Sato insists on executing Ip, Miura accepts the challenge to uphold his honor and crush the Chinese spirit. However, Sato has privately issued death threats to Ip if the General does not win. With the people of Foshan watching, Ip defeats Miura after a long and hard fight. Looking over the cheering crowd and seeing his wife and son, Ip is shot in the shoulder by Sato. As the crowd overwhelms the Japanese soldiers, Li manages to kill Sato with his own gun. Ip is spirited away by Chow amid the chaos and manages to escape with his family to Hong Kong. A closing montage and captions reveal that Ip spent the rest of his life working to spread the teachings of Wing Chun, establishing a school and training several students, including Bruce Lee. Cast Donnie Yen as Ip Man, the son of a wealthy family and Foshan's only practitioner of the martial art form known as Wing Chun. Lynn Hung as Cheung Wing-sing, Ip Man's wife. Hiroyuki Ikeuchi as General Miura (Japanese: 陸軍大将 三浦, Rikugun-Taishō Miura/三浦将军; Sānpǔ jiāngjūn), a Japanese general and Karate expert, who is eager to assert the dominance of his native traditions over those of the Chinese. Tenma Shibuya as Colonel Sato (Japanese: 陸軍大佐 佐藤, Rikugun-Taisa Satō/佐藤上校; Zuǒténg shàngxiào), a sadistic, cruel Japanese colonel and Miura's second in-command. Gordon Lam as Li Chiu (simplified Chinese: 李钊; traditional Chinese: 李釗; pinyin: Lǐ Zhào), a police officer and Ip Man's acquaintance. He becomes a translator for the Japanese officers when they occupy Foshan despite being labeled a traitor by his neighbors. Fan Siu-wong as Jin Shanzhao (金山找; Jīn Shānzhǎo), an aggressive northern martial artist who comes to Foshan to challenge other masters, hoping to set up a school and climb out of poverty. When the Japanese invade, he forms a gang of bandits and is eventually chased out of Foshan by Ip Man. Simon Yam as Chow Ching-chuen (周清泉; Zhōu Qīngquán), a businessman and Ip Man's acquaintance who borrows money from him to set up a cotton mill. Xing Yu as .... Discover the Ip Factly popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ip Factly books.