The martial arts instructor with whom Bruce Lee studied for the most extended period of time was Ip Man (the family name is Ip), a master of the wing chun style of kung fu. Wing chun is derived from the classical Shaolin styles of Chinese martial arts and is regarded by many as a streamlined form of those styles designed to impart acceptable fighting skills in a far shorter time. To this end, the style emphasizes close-range fighting, the development of efficient contact and visual reflexes, and avoiding the use of force against force. Wikipedia's articles on wing chun are pretty accurate.
Ip Man grew up in Fatshan, China, where noted wing chun master Leung Jan lived and taught. Ip Man came from a wealthy family, but nevertheless became interested in martial arts and learned wing chun from Leung Jan's top student, Chan Wah Shan -- who also taught in Fatshan. Ip Man went to college in Hong Kong, where Leung Bik -- son of Leung Jan -- lived. The younger Mr. Leung happened to hear of Ip Man using his skills in a fight, recognized the style as wing chun, and invited him to visit; ultimately, Ip Man trained under Leung Bik for several years as well.
Training under two high-level masters gave Ip Man a detailed understanding of the art; wing chun is principle based and as a result, looks very different from practitioner to practitioner -- it is your job as a student to learn the principles and learn how to make them work for you. A stronger person will use the principles differently than weaker one, a thin person from a fat one, a short guy from a tall person, etc. etc. So seeing the principles manifested in two different masters was likely very beneficial -- Chan was tall and strong, the younger Leung was small and thin.
Ip Man was said to have worked briefly as a police officer under the Nationalist government. Thus, when the Communists took power in 1949, his life -- as both a Nationalist and a member of the wealthy class -- was in real danger and he fled to Hong Kong, forced to leave his wife and two sons behind. (As others have noted, the movie starring Donnie Yen incorrectly dramatizes his role in World War II: he refused to teach wing chun to the Japanese military, but other than that is not believed to have participated directly in fighting or resisting the Japanese.)
Life in Hong Kong was difficult, and with no real skills aside from his martial arts, he began teaching publicly for the first time. Ultimately, Ip Man's wing chun became famous in Hong Kong, in large part because he happened to start teaching a group of teenage boys who took his advice to test their skills in the real world to heart. Ip was said to have urged students: Don't just take my word for it. Go try it out, and then come back and tell me how it works out. These teenagers, which included people now recognized as masters in their own right such as Wong Shun Leung, William Cheung, Hawkins Cheung, and yes, Bruce Lee -- responded by holding private, full contact matches on rooftops and small rooms against students from other kung fu schools, and also by "kicking the door" at kung fu schools. ("Kicking the door" refers to an old practice in which you could go to a kung fu school, and challenge the teacher by asking him for "a lesson" right then and there. The teacher or a senior student would be obliged to respond, and technically, if you won, you had the right to order him to stop teaching. They say many a kung fu school in Hong Kong was shut down by Ip Man's teenaged students in this way.) Wing chun students tended to come out on top in such contests (though not always), and in time, a reporter for a local paper heard of the matches, managed to convince them to let him tag along, and began writing up accounts of the fights in his paper. Wing chun thus gained a reputation in Hong Kong as a style that would actually work in a fight, and Ip Man -- by extension -- as a guy who could teach you how to really fight.
Of course, Bruce Lee -- an actor even as a child -- eventually moved to the U.S., made it big both as a martial artist and as a movie star, and when it became known that his first serious study was in the art of wing chun, Ip Man became known around the world.
Ip Man's sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching, would later join him in Hong Kong: they had completed their schooling at this point and were young adults in their early 20s. (It is not clear what happened to Ip Man's wife, except to note that she never lived in Hong Kong and died in China.) They went on to complete their wing chun training and today are acknowledged as among the finest proponents of wing chun in the world.
Ip Man died in 1972 of throat cancer. Like many Chinese men of means of his generation, Ip was a lifelong smoker of both cigarettes and opium; it was likely that these contributed to his throat cancer. In a fantastic display of willpower, Ip Man, just a few days before he died, got out of bed and demonstrated the first two empty hand forms of wing chun on film for posterity, as well as the wooden dummy form. When you think of how weak and in pain he must have been at that point, these performances are simply astounding. A digitally cleaned-up version of this footage can be viewed on the Web site of Master Samuel Kwok of the UK: http://www.kwokwingchun.co.uk/
Ip Man grew up in Fatshan, China, where noted wing chun master Leung Jan lived and taught. Ip Man came from a wealthy family, but nevertheless became interested in martial arts and learned wing chun from Leung Jan's top student, Chan Wah Shan -- who also taught in Fatshan. Ip Man went to college in Hong Kong, where Leung Bik -- son of Leung Jan -- lived. The younger Mr. Leung happened to hear of Ip Man using his skills in a fight, recognized the style as wing chun, and invited him to visit; ultimately, Ip Man trained under Leung Bik for several years as well.
Training under two high-level masters gave Ip Man a detailed understanding of the art; wing chun is principle based and as a result, looks very different from practitioner to practitioner -- it is your job as a student to learn the principles and learn how to make them work for you. A stronger person will use the principles differently than weaker one, a thin person from a fat one, a short guy from a tall person, etc. etc. So seeing the principles manifested in two different masters was likely very beneficial -- Chan was tall and strong, the younger Leung was small and thin.
Ip Man was said to have worked briefly as a police officer under the Nationalist government. Thus, when the Communists took power in 1949, his life -- as both a Nationalist and a member of the wealthy class -- was in real danger and he fled to Hong Kong, forced to leave his wife and two sons behind. (As others have noted, the movie starring Donnie Yen incorrectly dramatizes his role in World War II: he refused to teach wing chun to the Japanese military, but other than that is not believed to have participated directly in fighting or resisting the Japanese.)
Life in Hong Kong was difficult, and with no real skills aside from his martial arts, he began teaching publicly for the first time. Ultimately, Ip Man's wing chun became famous in Hong Kong, in large part because he happened to start teaching a group of teenage boys who took his advice to test their skills in the real world to heart. Ip was said to have urged students: Don't just take my word for it. Go try it out, and then come back and tell me how it works out. These teenagers, which included people now recognized as masters in their own right such as Wong Shun Leung, William Cheung, Hawkins Cheung, and yes, Bruce Lee -- responded by holding private, full contact matches on rooftops and small rooms against students from other kung fu schools, and also by "kicking the door" at kung fu schools. ("Kicking the door" refers to an old practice in which you could go to a kung fu school, and challenge the teacher by asking him for "a lesson" right then and there. The teacher or a senior student would be obliged to respond, and technically, if you won, you had the right to order him to stop teaching. They say many a kung fu school in Hong Kong was shut down by Ip Man's teenaged students in this way.) Wing chun students tended to come out on top in such contests (though not always), and in time, a reporter for a local paper heard of the matches, managed to convince them to let him tag along, and began writing up accounts of the fights in his paper. Wing chun thus gained a reputation in Hong Kong as a style that would actually work in a fight, and Ip Man -- by extension -- as a guy who could teach you how to really fight.
Of course, Bruce Lee -- an actor even as a child -- eventually moved to the U.S., made it big both as a martial artist and as a movie star, and when it became known that his first serious study was in the art of wing chun, Ip Man became known around the world.
Ip Man's sons, Ip Chun and Ip Ching, would later join him in Hong Kong: they had completed their schooling at this point and were young adults in their early 20s. (It is not clear what happened to Ip Man's wife, except to note that she never lived in Hong Kong and died in China.) They went on to complete their wing chun training and today are acknowledged as among the finest proponents of wing chun in the world.
Ip Man died in 1972 of throat cancer. Like many Chinese men of means of his generation, Ip was a lifelong smoker of both cigarettes and opium; it was likely that these contributed to his throat cancer. In a fantastic display of willpower, Ip Man, just a few days before he died, got out of bed and demonstrated the first two empty hand forms of wing chun on film for posterity, as well as the wooden dummy form. When you think of how weak and in pain he must have been at that point, these performances are simply astounding. A digitally cleaned-up version of this footage can be viewed on the Web site of Master Samuel Kwok of the UK: http://www.kwokwingchun.co.uk/
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