Customer Reviews

Ip Man - Portrait of a Kung Fu Master

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As the only teacher of Kung Fu superstar Bruce Lee, Wing Chun Kung Fu Grandmaster Ip Man made a very significant contribution to the Martial Arts world. This is the first book written about his life. The book gives rare insight into the life, and teaching of this amazing man. Ip Man - Portrait of a Kung Fu Master is authored by Ip Man's own son, Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Ching, and one of his top disciples, Master Ron Heimberger. These two men represent the greatest living source of Ip Man's teachings. This book is a guide for those who wish to follow in the footsteps of one of Kung Fu's greatest Masters.

Although a fascinating read, filled with many photos of Ip Man that I had never seen before, it was not as much of a biography as I had thought.

I was personally very interested in Ip Man's life in Foshan before HK and this book only touches upon it in the initial chapters, before following with chapters about his principles and examples of them in the forms of entertaining stories.

The book provides a deep portrait of the master, however it is the size of a children's novel, very short in length (a paragraph or two per chapter) and many of the pages are filled with photos (not a bad thing).

This is the first book I purchased off Amazon and read it in a day. While a thin book, it is an interesting read. The book talks about the life of the late, Great Grandmaster [Y]Ip Man, how he came to learn Ving Tsun Kung Fu, how he lived and what he was. While you could easily find a life story of him easily by a net search, this book shows more a philisophical response to his life and decisions he made, something that is not in other stories I've read on him.

IP MAN: PORTRAIT OF A KUNG FU MASTER (copyright 2000) by his son Ip Ching is a slender volume full of riveting photos and pretty nice text. This is no heavy-weight biography; it is a reminiscence by a respectful and loving son. The attention he pays to his father's legacy and attitudes is splendid. His details are less than forthcoming.

In other words, aside from some - not all - bare-bones dates, there is no biography here. There is no real history of Wing Chun (which is spelled "Ving Tsun" in this book). The history is a subject I love since its original proponent was a Buddhist nun seeking a new way of self-defense.

If you've seen any of the IP MAN films starring Donnie Yen, and you read this book, you will be scratching your head. Where the heck did the producers get all those details for the movies? Is it 100% drama in those films? For example, in the book we learn that in the 1950s, Master Ip Man was the Chief of Hong Kong Police. In the second film, circa 1950, Master Ip gets arrested by the chief.

So much for Chinawood.

This is a charming book for all that - and I can't say enough about the photos in here. They are clear, lovely and haunting. In fact I recognized several people, including the book's author: they had cameo roles in the film IP MAN 2, as wu su masters.

Slim as it is, this book is a must-have for any book lover. Its classification in my mind goes a little like this: martial arts>biography>Ip Man>history>Hong Kong. It's well worth it. The 5 stars is my personal feeling about it; however, I have to rate this strictly with a qualified three stars. It is too lacking for a book that could have been four times the material.

I have decided to buy this book of our Grand Master-Teacher (Tai Shi in Cantonese) the Hon'ble Ip Man who was instrumental in bringing his style of effective empty-hand combat via Bruce Lee to the Western World. I am not looking for a book on how-to-do instructions as I am more interested in the story behind the story of the realm of Wing Chun Martial Arts which later form the basis of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Doh (The fighting art of Interception Fists & Legs). Recently, there appeared on Chinese movies the exploits of Ip Man Vol.1 and Ip Man Vol.2 produced in Hong Kong and based on the life and times of Tai Shi Ip Man.

There will, I hope, another movie Vol. 3 on Ip Man's life and this time, I hope too, will concentrate on how he trained Bruce Lee and his students - first in Futshan (Canton) and then in Hong Kong, prior to Bruce Lee's emigration to the States. Of late, as well, there appeared a 50-episode TV series based on the life and times of Bruce Lee - i.e. from his troublesome days in school at Hong Kong, his entanglement with the dark Triads and his ultimate journey to America and became a grandmaster and superstar ultimately. Unfortunately, this very interesting story made by China Central Television Network (CCTV in 2008) was exclusively made for Mandarin-speaking viewers but subsequently duped in the Cantonese version for the Cantonese-speaking Chinese all over the world. Let's hope that CCTV would at least made an English subtitle version for the benefits of Bruce Lee's fans all over the world who neither speak or understand Chinese. May the superior fighting concepts of Ip Man and Bruce Lee continue to speak and spread all over the world in the spirit of global brotherhood. Cheers...!

PS: In the Legend of Bruce Lee (50-episodes), he said, without exaggeration nor nationalistic, that the true source of Japanese Karate, Jujitsu, Kempo, and Korean Taewon Do were adapted originally from China's KUNGFU...and he was so damned right, pals...you may believe this or not, pals!

I enjoyed reading the book and learning more about Ip Man. I am a disciple of Wing Chun under Sifu Sam Chan (but not his best student) and found this book very informative giving a look into the life of the man who is considered by many the Father of Wing Chun. I strongly recommend this book if you enjoy the history behind Wing Chun as I do.

Sifu Heimberger takes us on a trip into the private life of one of the worlds most legendary martial artists in history. Through stories told by his youngest son (Ip Ching) we learn lessons that were kept private from the rest of the world for decades. Lessons that teach not only true wing chun, but also of life. This book treats Grandmaster Ip Man with the respect and honor he deserves.

If you are looking for a collection of pictures of the all time wing chun master, the book is fine. But if you are looking for wing chun content, in terms of theories, old fashion training (the way wing chun was traditionally taught, before the bad influence of the american way of life.....not being patient for the necessary time, etc); To clarifying the big public about, who were in fact the students who had a very near relation to the grandmaster. Then you will be very dissapointed with this book. It does not add anything to what was written before.

a well organized book. Its about a man who reached the peak of his profession as a martial arts instructor. His most famous student - Bruce Lee - overshadowed him, But I would rather study under Ip Man than Bruce Lee.

I didn't really know who IP Man was until I saw the movie, after knowing that it was based on a true story I became fascinated by this man and his Kung Fu Wing Chun. I have heard and read many styles of Martial Arts but Wing Chun is by far one of the best to practice. Before studying the art of Wing Chun I purchased this book to learn about this great master. His teachings are inspiring and will make you appreciate how wonderful and kind this man was. I enjoy every page of this book and all that was written in it.