A Martial Arts Master becomes a Teacher and Upholds the Dignity of his Culture...

Rating: 10/10 (5 March 2012)

Here in the States, as in many other places, if you have knowledge that enables you to hurt someone efficiently while you yourself remain relatively unharmed, you are considered someone who really knows something. Compared with growing crops or domesticating animals for the dinner table, or designing clothes or building appropriate shelters that can withstand the challenge of the elements, the ability to hurt or maim others seems to have dubious value. However, there have been cases in History where this ability has come in handy against mad dogs, wild animals and the crazed in their campaign to victimize others.
Truth be told, fighting for its own sake has always bored me, as there are other subjects and activities that more easily bring joy to the user and even generate experiences and products that others can easily enjoy. Hunting I understand, as you have to have something to eat, and self preservation against armed interlopers needs no explanation.
Contest is built into the warp and woof of this universe, and I once read somewhere that Life is essentially a war between spirit and matter. A sobering thought that few would take umbrage with.
The reason I like 'IP MAN' so much is because I feel it is a more accurate reflection of the true oriental mind. The exposition of the film has an almost Edenic quality to it as a martial arts master comes to visit another. Ip Man receives his guest with warm courtesy and civility. He offers his guest tea and something to eat even though it is obvious that his visitor has come to test his martial arts skills against him and would like to get on with it. There is no anger or rancor in either man. The visitor finds the tea quite good and nods to Ip Man's wife when he is offered a sweet. I believe Ip Man's son darts in and out from time to time. At this point, Ip Man and his friend are like two college professors enjoying each other's company. Outside a kite is floating in the breeze until it eventually gets caught in a tree.
When the light repast is finished, the chairs are removed to the far sides of the room and the masters bow to each other. The time has come to compare techniques and review their understanding. The sparring lasts for a few minutes and the masters are careful not to break the furniture. It is obvious at this point that Ip Man holds the ascendancy, but at no point do we feel he is out to take the other man's dignity. When the sparring is done, both cheerfully bow and the visiting master exclaims that he has learned a lot. One has the impression that he will hasten to take what he has learned and share it with his students as he runs his own school.
So much for the visiting martial arts master seeking counsel from a recognized expert. While they were sparring, a young man climbed into the tree to get his kite back and witnessed the entire affair. He can't wait to run back and tell his friends how Ip Man 'wiped the floor' with their master!
This beginning scene hooked me on the movie. The idea that there could be a civilization where people could share ideas and knowledge without inferring 'superior' or 'inferior' status in a demeaning way was a tantalizing point plot. I could imagine Ip Man visiting the martial arts school master one day to share a new technique he had just discovered and being similarly enlightened by his friend's growing body of knowledge.
Anyway, excuse this digression into Shangri-La. This opening scene makes this a different martial arts movie all together for me. It is less about martial prowess and its honor and glory and gives a substantial nod to the values of family and community. The scene where Ip Man teaches a group of factory workers techniques so that they can defend themselves from the extortion of a gang of martial artists is a revelation in and of itself. It reminds one that in many cases,the martial arts is the product of a people of smaller physical stature who wanted to end victimizing conflicts quickly and to the result of overcoming possible oppressions.
Director Wilson Yip has a gem on his hands that compares favorably to the 'ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA' Trilogy and is a quantum leap beyond the revenge aesthetic of 'THE Chinese CONNECTION' or 'FIST OF FURY'! Donnie Yen's Ip Man reminds me of some of the teachers I have studied under. They could be cheerful and yet firm and were not somebody you wanted to mess around with.
I think this film brings one a step further into the Soul of the Martial Arts.