Ip-Man

Traditional Wing-Chun as practiced by Late Grandmaster Ip Man

Great Grandmaster Ip-Man (Yip-Gei-Man) (1893-1972)

Ip Man was born in Foshan (China) in 1893 to a wealthy merchant family and lived to the age of 79, passing away at his home in Hong-Kong in December 1972. He was the first martial arts master to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing-Chun openly. He had several students who later became martial arts teachers in their own right, including Bruce Lee.

Ip Gei Man was the last Wing-Chun student of Chan Wah-Shun when he was 70 years old. He was born to ip Oi Dor and Ng Shui, and was the third of four children. He grew up in a very wealthy family in Foshan, Guangdong, and received an exceptional traditional Chinese education. His older brother was Ip Gei Gak. His older sister was Ip Wan Mei and his younger sister was Ip Wan Hum.

Ip Man went to Hong-Kong at the age of 17 to attend High School at Saint Francis College. At the time the British, who ruled Hong-Kong, were using Indian and Pakistani police officers in Hong-Kong. The policemen were not very supportive of the Chinese people and were often quite cruel. One day, on the way to school, Ip Man and a classmate came across an Indian police officer who was beating a Chinese lady. Both kids told the officer that if this lady was a thief or if she had done something wrong then the policeman had every right to take her into custody. But even if she was a thief, he had no right to beat her. In actuality, she had done nothing wrong. The police officer was just being cruel. And the officer, realizing that Ip Man was just a kid, took a swing at Ip Man. Unfortunately for the police officer, Ip Man had four years of Kung-Fu under his belt. Ip Man responded to the police officers attack with what appeared to his classmate to be a very simple move, but the police officer went down with blood all over his face. Ip Man and his classmate ran very quickly to school.

Ip Man's classmate told an older man who lived in the same building about what had happened that day. The old gentleman, who was also from Fatshan, asked the young man to show him what Ip Man had done. When he saw what the young man showed him, the old man asked Ip Man's classmate to ask Ip Man to come and see him.

The next day both Ip Man and his friend went to see the older gentleman. The older gentleman asked Ip Man what type of Kung-Fu he had studied in Fatshan. Ip man replied that it was the best type of kung fu in the world and that if he told him the old man wouldn't understand. After a little cajoling, Ip Man relented and told the old man that he had studied a famous kung fu called Wing-Chun. The older gentleman replied that he had heard of it and that there was a person named Chan Wa Sheun teaching there. The old gentleman asked Ip Man to show him the Siu-Nim-Tao form. After the demonstration the old man said, "eh, not too great." This did not make Ip Man very happy because he felt that he was doing the best kung fu in the world.

Then the old gentleman asked Ip Man to perform his Chum-Kiu form. One must remember that at this time the respect between young people and older people was greater than it is now. Ip Man was obviously unhappy with the old gentleman’s request, but he complied anyway. During his demonstration, the old man kept shaking his head and saying, "not very good." This made Ip Man very, very unhappy. At this point the old man asked Ip Man to demonstrate the Biu-Jee form. Not wanting the old man to know he didn’t know the Biu-Jee form, Ip Man said, "I really don't feel like showing you the form." Then the old man asked if Ip Man would chi-sao with him. Ip Man happily complied, thinking that he could finally teach the old man a lesson. Ip Man threw a punch. The old man simply blocked it and threw him to the side. Ip Man got up and attempted to heal his wounded pride with another punch. Once again the old man just blocked him and threw him aside. Ip Man got up and stormed out.

The next day Ip Man's friend told him that the old gentleman wanted to see him but Ip Man didn't want anything to do with him and told his friend no. The friend reported Ip Man's response to the old gentleman. The old gentleman told the teenage boy to let Ip Man know that he was Leung Bik. The next day in class Ip Man's friend told him the old gentleman was Leung Bik. Right there, before class was over, Ip Man jumped up and went straight to Leung Bik's home. Ip Man was so excited because Leung Bik was Ip Man's Si Pak (older uncle, the youngest son of his teacher's teacher, Leung Jan).

Leung Bik lived with Ip Man for five years and learned the entire system of Wing-Chun. Through out his life, Ip Man referred to Leung Bik as Si Pak. Even though both of his Kung-Fu teachers had the same Kung-Fu, they both had different teaching styles. Chan Wa Shun was a relatively uneducated man whose metaphors and understanding were more grounded in the earth, in the common man's language. On the other hand, Leung Bik was very educated and his metaphors and understanding were shaped by philosophy. His understanding of the principles of Wing-Chun was deeper and more refined than his Kung-Fu younger brother Chan Wa Shun. When Leung Bik died, Ip Man returned to Fatshan to help his Kung-Fu brothers with the knowledge he had gained in Hong Kong.

In 1942, Ip Man moved back to Hong Kong to avoid the communist rule in the mainland.

The gift that Ip Man left was a legacy of virtue and honor that is all too vacant in much of today's martial arts scene. Ip Man was born in China in 1893 and began his Wing-Chun training around 1903. He was literally the link between the old ways and the new ways. He was the bridge that integrated the old ways of honor and virtue with a public martial art. Without Ip Man, Wing Chun would be lost today. Not only did Ip Man popularize Wing-Chun to the point that the entire world wants to learn even the worst forms of it, but he was the only disciple to ever learn from Grandmaster Leung Jan's son, Leung Bik. If you’ll recall, Leung Jan only taught 3 people his two sons (Leung Chun and Leung Bik) and Chan Wa Shun. Leung Chun never taught anyone. Leung Bik only taught Ip Man. And Chan Wa Shun taught Ip Man and a handful of others. Ip Man learned the entire system intimately. Because of his Leung Bik lineage, he could have claimed the title of Grandmaster of Wing-Chun. But he did not. Ip Man was tutored in martial virtue. He considered his first teacher his Sifu, even though he learned more from his later teacher, Leung Bik. In doing so, he honored his Kung-Fu brothers, his teachers , and Wing-Chun. Ip man understood the role of tradition and honor in Wing-Chun.

To get a virtual tour of the Ip Man museum in Foshan click here.

Yip Man or Ip Man?

You will often see people referring to the late grandmaster of Wing Chun as both Yip Man and Ip Man, people even argue bitterly over the name. So which spelling is right? Ip Man is the official western spelling of the late grandmaster of Wing Chun and (teacher of Bruce Lee). Why is Ip correct and not Yip? Firstly in the passport Ip Man used he has spelled his name Ip Man and secondly his two son's Ip Chun and Ip Ching both take the name Ip not Yip. Please see the biography of Ip Mans life written by his son Ip Ching here Its worth pointing out here that Ip is the family name which is generally said first in China and Hong Kong.

Does it really matter? Yes and no. The name has the same pronunciation, it is just the spelling that is different (like saying tree and chree) and most people know who you mean when you say Yip or Ip Man. However people in generally do like their name spelled correctly, therefore some effort should be made to use Ip. The photo above is a copy of Ip Man's passport.

So what about Wing Chun or Wing Tsun or Ving Tsun? If the written history of Wing Chun is to be believed, the system was named after a women called Yim (Wing Chun). She probably never spelled her name in Latin characters so it does not matter too much how we spell it in our language. This is something that is really down to personal preference.