IP MAN(YIP MAN)
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| Yip Man |
Ip Man is a 2008 Hong Kong biographical martial arts film
based on the life of Yip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and
master 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 and Hiroyuki Ikeuchi.
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| Donnie Yen take role as Ip Man |
First of all, I would like to explain about synopsis of the
story.
In the 1930s, Foshan is a hub of Southern
Chinese martial arts, where various schools actively recruit disciples and
compete against each other. Although the Wing Chun master Ip Man is
the most skilled martial artist in Foshan, he is unassuming and keeps a low profile.
As an independent wealthy man, he feels no need to accept any disciples and
instead spends his days training, meeting with friends, and spending time with
his family. Though not a professional martial artist, Ip is respected in Foshan
due to the abilities he displays in friendly, closed-door competitions with
local masters. Ip's reputation is further enhanced when he defeats an
aggressive, rude, highly skilled Northern Chinese martial
arts master, Jin Shanzhao, thus upholding the regional pride of fellow
Southern stylists and others in Foshan.
The Japanese invasion in 1937 adversely affects
the life of everyone in Foshan. Ip's house is claimed by the Japanese and used
as their Foshan headquarters. Ip and his family lose their wealth and are
forced to move into a decrepit house. Desperate to support his family, Ip
accepts work at a coal mine. The Japanese General Miura, who is
a Karate master, establishes an arena where Chinese martial artists
compete with his military trainees. The Chinese earn a bag of rice for every
match they win. Ip at first declines to participate in the matches. However,
when his friend Lin goes missing, he agrees to take part in order to
investigate. Ip arrives to see Liu executed by Miura's lieutenant, Sato, for
picking up a bag of rice from a prior victory after conceding in a second match
against three karateka. He also comes to understand that Lin was killed in an
earlier fight. Barely able to contain his rage, Ip demands a match with ten
karateka at once. Despite having not practiced Wing Chun since the invasion
began (in order to conserve what little food his family had to survive), he
proceeds to mercilessly crush each of them with a brutal barrage of his martial
art mastery, showing none of the restraint he exhibited in previous
engagements. His skill arouses the interest of Miura, who seeks to learn more
about Ip and see him fight again.
The Japanese soldiers eventually find Ip at the cotton mill.
Miura tells Ip that his life will be spared if he agrees to instruct the
Japanese soldiers in martial arts. Ip refuses and challenges Miura to a match,
which Miura accepts, both because of his love for martial arts and because
refusing the challenge would be a humiliation to the Japanese. The match
between Ip and Miura is held in public in Foshan's square. At first, the two
fighters seem equally matched, but Miura soon finds himself unable to penetrate
Ip's impeccable defense and becomes overwhelmed by his relentless and direct
blows. He is helpless to defend himself as Ip effortlessly uses him as
a wooden dummy, inflicting a severe beating on him and clearly winning.
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| The Wooden Dummy |
As the beaten general lies down after his defeat, Ip looks
over to the cheering Chinese crowd and spots his wife and child with Chow.
Suddenly, Miura's enraged deputy Sato shoots at Ip, sparking a scuffle between
the Chinese audience and the Japanese soldiers. During the scuffle, Li Zhao
kills Sato with Sato's own gun. Ip is taken away amidst the chaos. The
epilogue reveals that he survives and escapes to Hong Kong with his
family with the help of Chow Ching-chuen. There, Ip establishes a Wing Chun
school, where his students come to learn martial arts from him, including Bruce
Lee.
This are a few values that I obtain from this film.
Humility goes a long way.
Although Ip Man was a top martial arts exponent, he never
saw the need to prove himself to anyone. His humility won over many friends in
the town to him. This is one big lesson for leaders. Although you might be the
smartest and most capable of your group, if you choose to stay humble, you will
gain a lot of respect from your followers. On the other hand, if you choose to
throw your weight around, you will probably end up humiliated, like the man
from the North who came to challenge Ip Man.
Your values make you a good leader.
At the end of the show, Ip Man managed to unconsciously
rally the township of Fuzhou to himself through a mix of his values and
ability. A leader doesn’t just need talent for people to follow; people will
follow a man who is rooted in strong values and knows what he believes in. As a
leader, we must clear about who we are and what we believe in.
Balance is the key to life.
Throughout the show, we observe that Ip Man is a man who is
family oriented, calm, cool and collected in his handling of conflict and it
shows in his fighting style as well. As a leader, we need to understand that
success comes not by striving anxiously for a single cause, but by a holistic,
balanced approach to all things in life.
Train diligently. even when you're alone.
That the scene where Ip Man quietly trained with his Wing
Chun dummy. From this, I learnt that in order to achieve success, we must keep
practicing with all of our effort. For example, If I wanted to be a superb
football player like Cristiano Ronaldo and Leonel Messi, I must do training
everyday to obtain a better improvement. Or if I wanted to be a doctor, I must
study hard and smart to get the best result and achieve my dreams.
After I watched this movie, it's really boost up myself to be a
determined and hardworking person. I also had watched the sequel of Ip Man, Ip
Man 2 and now I'm waiting for Ip Man 3 which will be released on 24th December 2015 in Hong Kong.
