Are Ip Man movies true? Truths and Myths

Martial Arts movies are always fun to watch: their breath-taking scenes and talented actors end up being very inspiring.
In fact Ip Man movies are no different, with Donnie Yen depicting a Ip Man as a typical people's hero.
Have you ever wondered tho if Ip Man was really like that? And more in general, are the Ip Man movies true in depicting Ip Man's real-life events? And if not, what is true and what is not?
Without furthermore beating around the bush, let's get right into it.

True Story or just a Cinema pomp?

To answer you immediately if the Ip Man movies are true or not: yes and no: some aspects are, some a little bit less and some are purely fictional.
Ip Man really did exist and the basic information about him in the movies is true. He was born on October 1st, 1893 in Foshan and died on December 2nd, 1972 in Hong Kong.
He's considered the father of Wing Chun Kung Fu. He truly was the first one to formally open the first school of Wing Chun in Hong Kong, and initially had some financial struggles too, but mainly because of his opium addiction.

Personal Life

As it often happens, Ip's fame and Legacy remained till nowadays, but yet we don't know that much about his personal life.
The Ip Man quadrilogy depicts him as a true eastern family man, reserved in manners but deeply loving and loyal. Was the real Ip Man truly a family man like that?
First of all, Ip and his wife Cheung Wing-Sing had 4 children together: Ip Ching and Ip Chun, the sons who later on inherited and carried on their father's Wing Chun, and also two daughters Ip Nga-Sum and Ip Nga-Wun.

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Ip Man also had a mistress Hong Kong - Shanghai Po, with whom he had an illegitimate son Ip Siu-Wah.
Ip's wife did die of cancer as it was portrayed in the movies, they were already separated from each other. Back in 1950 his wife and daughter had returned to Foshan to retrieve their identity cards but due to the closure of borders, they could not return to Hong Kong anymore.
By the way, in the case you ever wondered, there's neither no proof of Ip Man ever fighting with a US Navy Officer, a Japanese Army general or 10 black karate belts.

Was Ip Man Bruce Lee's Instructor?

Yes! Bruce Lee had trained in Ip Man's school in Hong Kong from 1953. For how long did Bruce Lee trained in Ip's Wing Chun school is not very clear since there are many sources with different information. The period may vary from 6 months to several years.
However, there are no sources of Ip Man reaching Bruce to USA to meet him.

The relationship between these two legends is a topic on itself. If you're interested, we have revealed many mysteries in the following article:

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All Ip Man movies: What is true and what is not

The quadrilogy starring Donnie Yen as the main character are not the only movies that are inspired to the Master's life and skills.
Even though they are for sure the most known ones, other Ip Man inspired movies also deserve to be mentioned.
Following, the list of all the films so far, in chronological order.

Ip Man (2008)

This is the first Ip Man that started it all - the by so many loved quadrilogy of Ip Man.
Starring Donnie Yen as Ip Man, the red thread of the story evolves about the Japanese conquest and resulting tyranny on the Chinese territory.
The film portrais Ip Man as a wealthy Chinese middle-class gentleman who lives in a great mansion in Foshan and divides his time among his passion for Wing Chun and drinking tea. In other words, he's the Wing Chun version of Foshan Bat Man.
While Ip Man was from a wealthy family, his Wing Chun wasn't that great at the time. The movie than continues with a completely fictional story about Ip losing house to the Japanese Army, participating to forced work and taking part in a great fight against Miura, the Japanese army general in front of the whole village.
What truly happened is that Ip became a police officer and was forced to leave Foshan firstly bacause of the Second Sino-Japanese War, secondly in 1949 after the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil War.

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Ip Man 2 (2010)

Almost immediately after Ip Man recovers from his fight against Miura, he is involved in the sequel of the Ip Man saga.
Excluding the fact that Ip Man really moved to Hong Kong, the plot of this sequel couldn't be more far from the real.
In the first part of the film, Ip Man opens his first school and struggles a lot with finances. From here on, the movie plot begins to detach from his real life events.
As first, Ip is involved in local fights and has to gain his respect from the local masters who already have schools - a typical with us or against us scenario. In the moment he gains the acceptance of the main Master Hung (Sammo Hung), the second part of the movie begins and sees them both involved side by side against an arrogant British boxer named Twister. This Rocky like ending finishes with master Hung losing to the boxer and Ip Man, inevitably, avenging him.

Ip Man: The Legend is born (2010)

Directed by Herman Yau and starring Dennis To in the main role, the film features several actors from the most known Wilson Yip saga such as Sammo Hung, Louis Fan and Chen Zhihui.
The plot sees a young Ip Man learning and evolving his Wing Chun while he studies under three masters.
He has some conflicts with the masters, who struggle to accept the skill of this young prodigy but they will come in handy while Ip Man will save the day resisting foreign invaders.

The Grandmaster (2013)

Written and directed by Wong Kar-wai, Tony Leung plays the leading role of Ip Man.
The style is completely different from Wilson Yip and it shows throughout the plot, with the use of multiple flashbacks and flashforwards that might take you by surprise if you follow the film loosely.
The movie takes inspiration from the early life of the grandmaster, from heir related problematics in Foshan (fictional) to moving to Hong Kong and earning his reputation by challenging other local masters. Even though this last part seems to be perfectly taken from Ip Man 2 (Wilson Yip series), the movie depicts truthfully the separation of Ip Man and his wife Cheung Wing, due to border closure between Hong Kong and China.

Ip Man: The Final Fight (2013)

After releasing The Legend is Born, Herman Yau writes and directs this version of Ip Man's life using different actors. This time, Ip Man is interpreted by Antony Wong.
The Plot of the story takes place in Hong Kong in the late 50' and early 60', up to the end of his life. Herman runs away from Wilson's style and instead of presenting Ip Man as a real-life superhero, he opts for a very raw and "human" version. This Ip Man suffers from physical diseases and tries his best to handle his interior demons.
If you are a super fan of Donnie Yen's version of Ip Man, this movie might give you a surprising twist on your perception of the story.

Ip Man 3 (2015)

After five long years Donnie Yen accepts again to collaborate together with Wilson Yip on the continuation of the saga. Prone to decline the offer since he feels like the Ip Man theme is being over-saturated, he finally accepts the role, and his fans couldn't be happier about it.
The third part of the movie continues the legends dramatic life in Hong Kong. This time, he's involved against some foreign gangsters (led by actual Mike Tyson). Gangsters who want to take the school where Ip's son is studying. Along with that, he's also challenged by another Wing Chun fighter while his wife is dying of cancer.

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Ip Man 4 The Finale (2019)

The title sums it up pretty well. The 2019 sequel truly is the finale gives end to the Ip Man series decade starring Donnie Yen.
Again, the only thing that is true in this part is that Ip Man truly was Bruce Lee's teacher (even though at the beginning it was one of Ip's best students) and that he died of throat cancer.
In this part Bruce Lee finally appears and master Ip Man travels to the United States to seek for his son's school and also gives a helping hand to one of his most legendary students.

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Ip Man: The Awakening (2022)

This movie sees Miu Tse playing the young Ip Man. While he visits Hong Kong and, by chance stops a kidnapping attempt. This move however puts him in big trouble with the British human trafficking gang.
Of course the story is purely fictional but however, even if it's not from the Donnie Wilson Yip series, this film was generally appreciated by the public.

References

• Is the story of Ip Man true?
• The 'Ip Man' Movies Are Based on a Real Person, but They're Not 100% Accurate
• Ip Man: What's True And What's Fake In The Martial Arts Quadrilogy?
• Ip Man: The Man, The Myth, The Movies
• Who Was Yip Man, the Inspiration Behind Ip Man Movies?
• Ip Man (film)