Warning: If you are unfamiliar with Ip Man's life, some spoilers follow.
On paper, The Grandmaster follows the story of legendary kung fu master Ip Man (Tony Leung), who would eventually train Bruce Lee, in the years following China's last dynasty, through the birth of his work as a teacher in Hong Kong. It was in Hong King that Ip would make a name for himself as the man who brought the Wing Chun martial arts form out of the shadows of the elite, and opened it up to all those with the talent and discipline to master it, irrelevant of birth.
The film opens on an epic battle that leads to a significant passing of the mantle, as Northern master Gong Baosen (Wang Qingxiang) challenges Southern Ip Man to what amounts to a battle of wits. Ip's victory, in a sense, marks him as the keeper of the flame of martial arts and bestows upon him the responsibility to carry it forward. Gong united the Northern and Southern fighting styles, but Ip's vision was even larger in scope, and that is what this film is really about. It shines a light on heritage, and what it takes to truly honor it.
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