Donnie Yeh acts as "Ip Man" (葉問)

Ip Man established a hub of southern Chinese martial arts in the 1930s in Fo Shan where various schools actively recruiting disciples and competing against each other. Though Wing Chun master Ip Man is the most proficient martial artist in Foshan, he was humble and kept a low profile in all public activities. He did not need to earn money from teaching as he was a wealthy man in Foshan. He was very choosy about recruiting disciples. Ip spent his days training, with friends and his family. He did not pay much attention to his wife at all, instead, he spent most of his time practicing Kung Fu, discussing martial arts with friends and Kung Fu Aficionados. Ip Man was an armature martial practitioner, Ip earned respect in Foshan because of his friendly behaviour, private competitions with local masters. Ip's reputation was further enhanced when he defeats an aggressive, rude, highly skilled Northern master, Jin Shanzhao, thus upholding the regional pride of fellow Southern stylists and others in Foshan.



The 1937 Japanese adversely affected the life of everyone in Foshan. Ip's house was illegal occupied by the Japanese as Foshan headquarters. Ip and his family lost most of their wealth and are forced to move into a decrepit house. Desperate to support his family, Ip accepted work as a coolie at a coal mine. The Japanese Colonel Miura, who used to be a master Karate, established an arena where Chinese martial artists compete with his military trainees. The Chinese martial artists earned a bag of rice for every Japanese opponent they could defeat. When one of his friends went missing, Ip investigated and discovered the matches. At first disturbed by the spectacle, he was further enraged when a fellow Foshan master was killed while trying to take a bag of rice given to the master after his defeat of a Japanese opponent. Ip also discovered that his friend, Li Zhao, a former police officer is now working as a translator for the Japanese. In response, Ip demanded a match with ten Karatekas, and defeated. His abilities arouse the interest of Miura, who desperately seek to fight again.


Ip paid a visit to his old friend Chow Ching-chuen, who owned and ran a cotton mill in Foshan. Chow tells Ip that a highway robbery gang led by Jin Shanzhao was harassing his workers and extorting money from them. Ip trained the workers in Wing Chun as self defense technique. Meanwhile, Miura grew impatient when Ip did not return to the arena and sent someone to find Ip. These men harassed Ip's family, and Ip incapacitated them. Ip and his family hid themselves. The robbers returned to the cotton mill to ask money brutally. The workers fought back using the techniques Ip had taught them. Ip appeared and defeated Jin Shanzhao, warmed him not to harass the workers again.


The Japanese soldiers eventually found Ip at the cotton mill. Miura told Ip that his life will be spared if he trained the Japanese soldiers in Wing Chun. Ip refused and challenges Miura to a match, which Miura accepted. The match between Ip and Miura was held in public in Foshan's square. Ip won the fight by defeating Miura with his skills of Wing Chun.


As the beaten general laid down losing the fight, Ip looked over to the crowd and heard the Chinese cheering him; within the crowd, he spotted his wife and child with Chow. Just then, Miura's deputy Sato shot Ip. This sparks a scuffle between the Chinese supporters and the Japanese soldiers. During the scuffle Li killed Sato with his own gun. Ip went away amidst the chaos. It was revealed that he survived and escaped to Hong Kong with his family. There, Ip established a Wing Chun school, where Bruce Lee was appeared to be one of his students.

Refer to Donnie Yeh's official Website http://www.donnieyen.com/martialarts.htm
 
HK Snob