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Wing Chun Grandmasters
Ip Man (葉問)
Ip Man Early Days
Yip was born to Yip Oi-dor and Wu Shui, and was the third of four children. He grew up in a wealthy family in Foshan, Guangdong, and received a traditional Chinese education. His elder brother was Yip Kai-gak, his elder sister was Yip Wan-mei and his younger sister was Yip Wan-hum.
Yip started learning Wing Chun from Chan Wah-shun when he was 7. Since Chan was 70 at the time, Yip was Chan's last student.. Due to his teacher's age, Yip learned most of his skills and techniques from Chan's second eldest disciple, Wu Chung-sok (吳仲素). Chan lived three years after Yip's training started and one of his dying wishes was to have Wu continue teaching Yip.
Wing Chun recognition
(詠舂初露鋒芒)
At the age of 16, Yip moved to Hong Kong with help from his relative Leung Fut-ting. One year later, he attended school at St. Stephen's College—a secondary school for wealthy families and foreigners living in Hong Kong.
During Yip's time at St. Stephen's he saw a foreign police officer beating a woman and intervened. The officer attempted to attack Yip, but Yip struck him down and ran to school with his classmate. Yip's classmate later told an older man who lived in his apartment block. The man met with Yip and asked what martial art Yip practised. The man told Yip that his forms were "not too great".
The man challenged Yip's Wing Chun in chi sao (a form of training that involves controlled attack and defence). Yip saw this as an opportunity to prove that his abilities were good, but was defeated by the man after a few strikes. Yip's opponent revealed himself to be Leung Bik, Chan Wah-shun's senior and the son of Chan's teacher, Leung Jan. After that encounter, Yip continued learning from Leung Bik.
Ip Man students
Yip returned to Foshan when he was 24 and became a policeman. He taught Wing Chun to several of his subordinates, friends and relatives, but did not officially run a martial arts school.
Some of his better known informal students were Chow Kwong-yue (周光裕), Kwok Fu (郭富), Lun Kah (倫佳), Chan Chi-sun (陳志新), Xu He-Wei (徐和威) and Lui Ying (呂應).
Among them, Chow Kwong-yue (周光裕) was said to be the best, but he eventually went into commerce and stopped practising martial arts.
Kwok Fu (郭富) and Lun Kah (倫佳) went on to teach students of their own and they passed down the art of Wing Chun in the Foshan and Guangdong region.
Chan Chi-sun (陳志新) and Lui Ying (呂應) went to Hong Kong later but neither of them accepted any students.
Times in Hong Kong
Yip went to live with Kwok Fu (郭富) during the Second Sino-Japanese War and only returned to Foshan after the war, where he continued his career as a police officer. Yip left Foshan for Hong Kong at the end of 1949 after the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese Civil Warbecause he was an officer of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), the Communists' rival in the Civil War.
Initially, Yip Man's teaching business was poor because Yip's students typically stayed for only a couple of months. He moved his school twice: first to Castle Peak Road in Sham Shui Po and then to Lee Tat Street (利達街) in Yau Ma Tei. By then, some of his students had attained proficiency in Wing Chun and they were able to start their own schools. Some of his students and descendants sparred with other martial artists to compare their skills and their victories helped to increase Yip's reputation. In 1967, Yip and some of his students established the Ving Tsun Athletic Association (詠春體育會).
Passing of Ip Man Wing Chun Legacy
Yip died on 2 December 1972 in his unit at 149 Tung Choi Street in Hong Kong, from throat cancer, only 7 months before the death of Bruce Lee.
Yip's legacy is the global practice of Wing Chun. Some of his notable students include: Leung Sheung (梁相), Lok Yiu (駱耀), Chu Shong-tin (徐尚田), Wong Shun Leung (黃淳樑), Wong Kiu (王喬), Yip Bo-ching (葉步青), William Cheung (張卓慶) Hawkins Cheung, Bruce Lee, (李小龍), Derek Fung Ping-bor (馮平波), Chris Chan Shing (陳成), and his sons Ip Ching (葉學正) and Ip Chun (葉準).
Yip also left behind a written history of Wing Chun. Many artefacts of his life are on display in the "Yip Man Tong" museum in the Foshan Ancestral Temple grounds.