Ip Man

Ip Man (1893–1972) is the grandmaster who brought Wing Chun Kung Fu from China to Hong Kong and from there to the world—and the teacher of Bruce Lee. Born into a wealthy family in Foshan, Guangdong Province, Ip Man began training in Wing Chun under Chan Wah-shun at the age of 9 and later refined his skills under Leung Bik in Hong Kong. After the Communist takeover of mainland China in 1949, Ip Man fled to Hong Kong and began teaching Wing Chun publicly—the first grandmaster to do so outside the closed family tradition. His decision to teach openly, combined with the international fame of his most famous student, Bruce Lee, made Ip Man’s lineage the dominant branch of Wing Chun worldwide. The Ip Man film series (2008–2019), starring Donnie Yen, brought his story to a global audience of hundreds of millions.