A Movie Based On True Story That Inspired Me

IP MAN(YIP MAN)

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.

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.

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.