Ip Man 3

Ip Man 3 (葉問3) is a Hong Kong film directed by Wilson Yip, which premiered in Hong Kong on 16 December 2015. The story is set in 1959: Ip Man confronts the developer Frank, played by former boxing champion Mike Tyson, looks after his ill wife and fights Cheung Tin-chi, a Wing Chun master from the same lineage. Filming took place in Shanghai from March to June 2015. During the fight with Donnie Yen, Tyson broke a finger. Yen and Tyson first met at a press conference in Shanghai, where in front of 3 500 spectators they gave a demonstration of Wing Chun against boxing. For Tyson it was the first major film role in which he did not play himself. The producers originally wanted to create Bruce Lee by computer. Bruce Lee Enterprises called this unauthorized and threatened legal action, the plan was dropped, and Lee is played by Danny Chan Kwok-kwan, who himself practises Jeet Kune Do. At the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016, Yuen Woo-ping was nominated for action choreography and Zhang Jin for a supporting role. The film was followed by Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019); Zhang Jin returned to the role of Cheung Tin-chi in the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018).

Martial arts in this work

Fight choreography

The action director was Yuen Woo-ping. According to English sources that cite no source, Donnie Yen adjusted and improvised many scenes himself; for the fight with Tyson he wanted to use elements of MMA and aim at his opponent's legs. In the fight with butterfly swords, a typical Wing Chun weapon, Zhang Jin accidentally hit Yen's nose; Yen filmed on the next day. Zhang Jin is a former wushu competitor and plays Wing Chun in the film. Mike Tyson performs boxing, which he did professionally himself, and Danny Chan Kwok-kwan practises Jeet Kune Do, the style of Bruce Lee, whom he plays in the film. According to Chinese sources, advisers were Ip Man's sons Ip Chun and Ip Ching.

Fact and fiction

The film sets his wife Cheung Wing-sing's illness in Hong Kong. According to her biographies, however, she died of cancer in 1960 in Foshan, separated from her husband since the border closed in 1951. In the film son Ip Ching is with his parents in Hong Kong; according to his biography, both sons came to their father only in 1962. Bruce Lee moved to Seattle in 1959, so we have not been able to confirm in the sources his visit to Ip Man in Hong Kong that year. According to Chinese sources, Cheung Tin-chi is a fictional character, as is the developer Frank.

People and martial arts

• Ip Manthe real person the work is about· Wing Chun (real practitioner)
• Wilson YipDirector
• Yuen Woo-pingAction director· Wing Chun
• Donnie YenActor — as Ip Man· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)
• Zhang JinActor — as Cheung Tin-chi· Wing Chun (portrays the art on screen)
• Mike TysonActor — as Frank· Boxing (real practitioner)
• Danny Chan Kwok-kwanActor — as Bruce Lee· Jeet Kune Do (real practitioner)
• Yip ChunTechnical advisor· Wing Chun (real practitioner)
• Yip ChingTechnical advisor· Wing Chun (real practitioner)

Awards

• Nominated · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Action Choreography (2016) — Yuen Woo-ping
• Nominated · Hong Kong Film Awards, Best Supporting Actor (Zhang Jin) (2016)

Series