Ip Man 2 (叶问 2) continues from Ip Man 1 after Ip Man escaped from Fatt Shan to Hong Kong. To earn a living, Ip Man decided to teach Wing Chun. From there he found out that opening a school to teach wushu in Hong Kong at that time is not as easy as it's look.
While Ip Man 2 has it's nice action and fighting scene choreographed by Sammo Hung whom also act as Master Hung in Ip Man 2 (he's the leader of the martial art community in Hong Kong). There's two fighting scenes that I like the most is the scene in the market and the one where Ip Man fighting Master Hung.
There are more inner heart acting in Ip Man 2 as compared to Ip Man 1. News has it that Donnie Yen won't be making Ip Man 3 because there will not be any Ip Man 3. He thinks that the story has already been told enough and there's nothing more can be told in Ip Man's life that are worthy to be made into a movie.
Rating: 8/10
Well, if you are really is a super fan of Ip Man, maybe you can buy the Ip Man's Prologue (葉問前傳) comic by King Comics (玉皇朝漫画) coming out next week or wait for Wong Kar Wai's The Grand Master (一代宗师) planned to release in 2010 (which the story base on Ip Man too) starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Zhang Ziyi. Good luck waiting for it though :p
Also, for those of you that will like to learn Wing Chun style of martial art in Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. You might want to visit Yip Kin Wing Chun, from what I read the monthly fee is only RM 80 per month and classes are conducted in different days in different location. You can also read more about the history of Grand Master Yip Kin (not related to Ip Man by the way) and Grand Master Yip Fook Choy (Grand Son of GrandMaster Yip Kin).
9 comments :
Hi Simon. Have you watched Iron Man 2 btw?
Mr. Lonely: Thanks.
Boon Kheng: I haven't watch Iron Man 2 yet. Heard it's good. Will try to watch it tomorrow.
Don't promote Yip Kin wing chun on a page about Ip Man, it's an ultimate insult to Ip Man!!!
Yip Kin wing chun has zero resemblance to the original Hong Kong wing chun system that is being taught by Ip Chun, William Cheung, Leung Ting and others.
Wing chun is supposed to be economic and efficient. Just see Yip Kin wing chun's forms for yourself and compare with Ip Man wing chun, and ask yourself which one reflects the true philosophy of wing chun. You'll conclude that Yip Kin wing chun is an insult to wing chun!!
There are many Hong Kong lineage wing chun instructors around, such as Simon Hew at Hartamas, and also Brandon Chan, also at Hartamas. Their wing chun is more efficient and effective than the Yip Kin nonsense any day.
Donkey Kong: Firstly, I didn't say anything about Yip Kin Wing Chun resembling Ip Man's style of Wing Chun. So, don't say that I'm insulting Ip Man's Wing Chun. Secondly, even for Wing Chun there are so many clans, so it's really very hard to say which is the best. As Ip Man says in the movie, it's not about the martial art but the way of thinking of people that make it strong.
I'll be happy to promote other styles of Wing Chun here if you have anymore information for me.
Hi Simon,
Yip Kin Wing Chun cannot seriously be considered as Wing Chun because it lacks the economy of motion of Wing Chun. It's supposedly derived from Ban Chung Wing Chun but Yip Kin himself has modified Ban Chung Wing Chun and inserted elements of Hung Gar and Choy Li Futt into it.
It's like someone teaching Tae Kwon Do but introduced silat moves into it, and still call it authentic Tae Kwon Do just because they've been teaching this mish-mashed style for almost a century.
Ip Man wing chun, which is what almost all Hong Kong lineages adhere to, is considered "pure" for the following reasons:
1) Ip Man's wing chun system is efficient and preserves the core of wing chun theory, so we can see that it hasn't deviated from the main principles of the wing chun system
2) Ip Man's lineage can be traced directly to the historical founders of Wing Chun from the Red Boat Opera Troupe. Leung Yee Tai and Wong Wah Bo are the likely founders of Wing Chun, and Leung Jan is their best student. Leung Jan's senior student is Chan Wah Sun. Leung Jan also handed down the most effective skills to his son Leung Bik. Ip Man trained under Chan Wah Sun, but perfected his Wing Chun skills after a chance encounter with Leung Bik, who taught Ip Man some other techniques which had not been completely transmitted to others by Leung Jan. Therefore, Ip Man Wing Chun can be considered a distillation of the skills and techniques handed down in an unbroken lineage from the creators of the Wing Chun system.
There are many other wing chun lineages around, especially those that originated from the Fujien province.
Besides Yip Man, there is another one of Chan Wah Sun's student called Jiu Wan who also originated a similar wing chun branch as Yip Man but with some slight differences because it lacked the additional elements from Leung Bik.
Another well-known branch is the Yuen Kay San branch that also made its way to Vietnam and became Vietnamese wing chun. However, it's quite weird in that it had the 5 animal and 5 element forms, which is more Hung Gar than Wing Chun.
These major branches like Yip Man, Yuen Kay San, Pan Nam, Gu Lao, etc. can be traced back to the red boat troupe or to Leung Jan.
The Yip Kin Wing Chun lineage, however, doesn't connect with this well-known wing chun lineage. Instead, it's related to Ban Chung Shaolin, which is related to Cho Gar kungfu. Cho Gar is similar to wing chun in terms of the short strike techniques, and it's said that the legendary Yim Wing Chun's husband Leung Bok Chau helped develop the Wing Chun system by incorporating the system that Ng Mui taught to Yim Wing Chun (snake + crane) with Cho Gar kungfu (an old southern short-range style similar to Hung Gar's Iron Wire Fist and Bak Mei kungfu).
Yip Kin himself learned hung gar and other southern arts before deciding to teach "wing chun", which was actually the short-range elements of his Cho Gar lineage. Hence, you can see their stances are very different from the other well-known wing chun schools.
Hi Donkey Kong.
Wow. Thanks for the lengthy explanation. Maybe you can provide details on where to learn Yip Man lineage Wing Chun in Malaysia. I'll be happy to promote it for you.
Br,
Simon Seow.
JEW JIT SU FOR THE WIN DUMMIES !! LEARN AND RECOGNIZE !!
Donkey Kong just don't understand...
Hi Simon,
Go to :
http://selangoripmanvingchun.org
http://malaysiavingchunkungfu.blogspot.com/
Is the same Master - Dr Brandon Chan claimed the 3rd generation of Master Ip Man.
Good Luck!!!
Your Say