Ip Man 2

Ip Man 2 (葉問2) is a Hong Kong film directed by Wilson Yip from 2010 and a sequel to the film Ip Man from 2008. For Donnie Yen in the lead role it was the fifth collaboration with Yip, and the producer was again Raymond Wong. The plot follows Ip Man after his arrival in Hong Kong, where he tries to open a Wing Chun school, runs into local masters led by Hung Chun-nam and finally steps into the ring against a British boxer. The film was originally meant to focus on Ip Man's friendship with Bruce Lee, but the rights could not be agreed with Lee's heirs, so Lee appears only as a ten-year-old boy. The character of Wong Leung, played by Huang Xiaoming, is based on Ip Man's real student Wong Shun Leung, later a teacher of Bruce Lee. Filming took place from August to November 2009 at the Songjiang studios in Shanghai. Sammo Hung, who had led the action already in the first instalment, won the award for action choreography at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011; Wilson Yip was nominated for directing. The film was followed by Ip Man 3 (2015), Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019) and the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018).

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

The fight scenes were choreographed by Sammo Hung, who also plays the master Hung Chun-nam, a representative of Hung Gar. Hung trained at the Peking opera and holds a black belt in hapkido; in the film he plays Hung Gar as a character. Before filming he underwent heart surgery, so he first shot the dramatic scenes and the fights only at the end; he did the stunts himself. During shooting Darren Shahlavi hit him in the face. Hung finished the scene and went to the hospital, where he was given four stitches, only after five hours. He was reportedly not satisfied with the fight of his character, because in his view the script constrained the movements. The British boxer Twister is played by Darren Shahlavi, who actually trained boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, judo and karate. Huang Xiaoming learned Wing Chun before filming: he set up a gym in his hotel room, practised on a wooden dummy and trained with the stunt team. In the final fight, according to the plot, the referee bans Ip Man from kicking, and Ip Man combines Wing Chun with elements of Hung Gar and aims at the opponent's arms.

Fact and fiction

The fight with the British boxing champion is fiction; the film critic Andrew O'Hehir writes in Salon that the real Ip Man probably never fought a British champion. We did not find a historical person named Hung Chun-nam in the sources. The family setting does not match either. The film shows Ip Man in Hong Kong with his pregnant wife Cheung Wing-sing. According to her biographies, after his departure at the end of 1949 she returned to Foshan, stayed there after the border was closed in 1951 and died in 1960. The second son Ip Ching was born in Foshan in 1936 and came to his father in Hong Kong only in 1962.

People and martial arts

• Ip Manthe real person the work is about· Wing Chun (real practitioner)
• Wilson YipDirector
• Sammo HungAction director· Wing Chun
• Donnie YenActor — as Ip Man· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)
• Sammo HungActor — as Hung Chun-nam· Hung Gar (portrays the art on screen)
• Darren ShahlaviActor — as Twister· Boxing (real practitioner)
• Huang XiaomingActor — as Wong Leung· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)

Awards

• Won · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Action Choreography (2011) — Sammo Hung
• Nominated · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Director (Wilson Yip) (2011)

Series