what are your favorite Yip Man (hi)stories?

[rubthebuddha]

for those of you with favorite stories about Yip Man, or have found a favorite telling of his life's history, please share or post links here.

[PHILBERT]

I'd have to say his fight between him and that Mantis guy would be my favorite story.

[Jim Roselando]

Hello,


I thought the fight with the Mantis guy was supposed to be Yuen Kay San?


The story I like the most is the one where dropped into Gwai Ma and countered his opponents attack with a punch.

The story I like the least is the one where he supposably applied his Kung Fu grip and broke a Hand Gun (pistol)!


Regards,

[yuanfen]

Since Ip Man is a wing chun ancestor I dont dwell on his personal life outside of his wing chun.
But I do love to hear all the wing chun stories about him. I look forward to seeing what come up on this thread.
Some are well known- some less so- since he knew so many people in his time. Folks got different glimpses of a complex man.
Different sources- now second and third hand. NO one knows the whole story- claims to the contrary. And a major source- he himself is gone.
Apart from the better known stories already in print---
I heard several stories of his kicking prowess in his early days.
Also covering his tracks he once told someone- I just know a little hsing Yi!
Apparently Leung Bik's daughter in law once controlled him
in wing chun quite well.
There is the story on Victor Kan's site where VK was present when a bully was beating up on a woman near where IM was teaching and IM asked him to cease and desist. When the guy didnt IM took care of him very quickly.
When IM came to visit Ho Kam Mings school- a young Augustine Fong was trying out his fingers. IM said- boy do you want to break your fingers? First learn the motion this way...
There were two girls from HK who lived here in the valley. One wasa friend of an ex student of mine. One girl went away to SE Asia. Her father wasa private student of IM... and paid substantial fees for his lessons. IM would teach the student at his family courtyard. The student had some friends who were karateka. They came one time and were watching the lesson. Then
one spoke up and said that wc wouldnt work against powerful kickers. The situation was awkward because of the on going lesson. So IM witha smile said- lets see what you have. The guys came kicking at him. Witha big grin IP man sent them flying and then continued with the lesson. One of my regrets is not taping the narration of the girl who was present because her father was the private student!

A remarkable martial artist and CMA genius. Without him there is a good chance that wc would have remained a minor art.
One can thank Mao and the PRC for IM going public when he escaped to HK and one can thank Bruce Lee for drawing attention to wing chun in his early years in the US.

[PHILBERT]

Well in the November/December 2002 issue there was an article about his fight with the Mantis guy, by Ron Heimberger. It was taken from the book Ip Man Portrait of a Kung Fu Master

[yuanfen]

rubthe buddha- philbert is correct. I revisited the nice little Ip Ching book on Ip Man.
It wasa fight (circa 1918) with a northern mantis guy who could punch a hole in a solid wall with his phoenix eye.

The grabbing the revolving part of a pistol story- to prevent firing-
is also nicely told without adornment. Some of those old revolvers had the revolving part fairly exposed. Diificult to do with today's guns and hair triggers.

Ip Ching does a nice job without marketing himself. Full of respect for his father... and some nice pictures that are not in other books.

[PHILBERT]

yuanfen, it was Jim Roselando that questioned the Mantis story, not rubthebuddha. got the names mixed up a little there. But it's all good on both parts.

Mr Roselando, what is this about Yuen Kay San and a Mantis guy? Is the story told in any particular book by chance?

[yuanfen]

Philbert- I knew that. I addressed rubthe buddha because he
phrased the original question and started the thread.THX.

[Rolling_Hand]

There are three sons in Ip man's family.

Ip Chun, Ip Ching and Ip Wah(?)

There's also one daughter who lives in America.

[yuanfen]

FWIW-

I didnt want to get into his family relationships.
The legacy of his wing chun is enough for me.
So I stick to wing chun stories.

[Rolling_Hand]

How many of you know Ip Man's real name?

[Jook Lum]

Hello everyone!There is some mention of Ip Man`s fight with the northern mantis guy in the Nov/Dec 2002 issue of Kung Fu/Qi Gong magazine it`s an article on page 62.

Also here is an address to a story about William Cheung,it mentions a little about Ip Man-http://www.templewingchun.com/new/twcread.html

[teazer]

Originally posted by Rolling_Hand
How many of you know Ip Man's real name?

Well, it's as 'real' as anything given that's what people called him through most of his life. But I understand he was originally called Gei Man if that helps.

[Grendel]

Originally posted by teazer


Well, it's as 'real' as anything given that's what people called him through most of his life. But I understand he was originally called Gei Man if that helps.

Yip Man's disrespectful teenage students in the late 50s called him "old thing." Not to his face of course.

Not to be confused with Peewee and Mother Thing from Heinlein's "Have Space Suit, Will Travel," of course.

Heinlein would have liked Wing Chun, I think. Too bad he and Yip Man never met.

[rubthebuddha]

philbert -- thanks for the reference

joy -- thanks for the clarification. i guess i kind of left it open-ended as far as the story, because, as is demonstrable in our daily lives, separating the kung fu from the rest of our lives is often a difficult thing. an example of this would be the story of the withdrawal and the unfortunate wall bag.

i guess what it boils down to is that you're thankful for what he handed down, and that's all that really matters, right?