Plot

The story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee.

Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.—Immanuel Ambhara

The film narrates the life of the Wing Chun grand-master Ip Man, beginning in the 1930s in Foshan and moving on to cover his flight to Hong Kong after the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the events leading up to his death. The movie begins with Ip Man reflecting on martial arts, and then cuts to a scene of a fight under the rain between Ip and a dozen combatants. Ip Man wins, and experiences flashbacks of his life, from his early training at the age of seven to his induction into martial arts by his master Chan Wah-shun, and his marriage to his wife Cheung Wing-sing..

Ip Man is a Wing Chun grand-master from the 1930s in Foshan, Guangdong Province. Ip Man (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) reflects on martial arts, and then fights a dozen combatants under the rain. Ip Man wins, and experiences flashbacks of his life. Ip Man and his family comes from Foshan, where his father had business exporting goods to Hong Kong. Ip Man's family was wealthy, and he was free to pursue his passion for Kung Fu.

He had his early training at the age of seven to his induction into martial arts by his master Chan Wah-Shun (Yuen Woo-ping), and his marriage to his wife Cheung Wing-Sing (Song Hye-Kyo). Cheung was the daughter of an Imperial Minister. Cheung loves music and Ip often took her to the Opera, which was unusual for the era as "nice" women were not supposed to visit places like that. Cheung and Ip had 2 daughters. The first 40 years of Ip Man's life were very peaceful.

In 1936, Foshan was a prosperous city. Men would socialize in brothels and Foshan's finest brothel was the Republican house. Its walls were covered in gold and hence was also called the Golden Pavilion. It was the first one to have an elevator. The brothel was a meeting place for the practitioners of martial arts.

Ip Man's peaceful existence is threatened by the arrival of Gong Yutian (Wang Qingxiang), the Wudang Boxing martial arts grand-master from northern China, who announces that he has already retired and has appointed Ma San (Zhang Jin) as his heir in the North. He then concedes that the South should have its own heir. A flurry of discussions and fights erupt as various masters attempt to challenge Gong, but they are all defeated by Ma San. Gong Yutian sends Ma San away saying that he will not allow a Southern Master to be selected as heir.

As the Southern masters are deliberating on a representative, Gong Yutian's daughter Gong Er (Zhang Ziyi) arrives and she tries to convince her father not to continue the fight, as she feels they are all unworthy. Gong Yutian tells Gong Er that the old has to make way for the young to take its place. He asks Gong Er to pursue her medical career, as she is engaged to be married.

Meanwhile, the Southern masters decide on Ip Man to represent them, and Ip proceeds to be tested by three Southern masters before he challenges Gong Yutian. Ip Man gives an excellent display of the 3 basic techniques of Wing Chun, namely Spade, Pin and Sheath, to defeat the 3 Southern masters. However, the "fight" between Ip and Gong turns out to be actually an exchange of philosophical ideas using a crumbled flat-cake as a metaphor for Chinese unity. Gong proclaims that Ip has shown him the limits of his knowledge and declares Ip the winner. Gong returns to northern China after asking Ip to keep the light of Kung Fu burning and to pass on the torch at the right time.

However, Gong Er sets out to regain her family's honor by challenging Ip Man, and they agree that if anything breaks, Ip loses. "Kung Fu is about precision", so whoever breaks a piece of furniture during the fight will be the loser. An intense fight breaks out between Ip Man and Gong Er, which concludes with victory for Gong because Ip broke a step at the very end while saving her from falling. Ip and Gong then part on friendly terms, with Ip saying he wants a rematch.

Ip Man and Gong Er keep in contact after parting ways by exchanging letters, and Ip intends to bring his family with him to northern China, but his plans are disrupted by the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938. During the war, Ip Man and his family descend into poverty, and he loses his two daughters due to starvation. In the meantime, in northern China, Ma San becomes a Hanjian and ends up killing Gong Yutian. Ma San betrays China in favor of the puppet government in Manchuria.

When Gong Er returns, she confronts her elders for forsaking her father, but Mr. Jiang (Shang Tie Long) the family servant tells her that her father's final wish was for her to be happy and not to seek vengeance. Gong Er refuses to accept that, and she vows to never teach, marry or have children her entire life, in order to choose the path of vengeance against Ma San.

Ip Man moves to Hong Kong in 1950 in the hope of starting a career as a martial arts teacher. He spars with and defeats other martial artists soundly, earning a reputation. The Chinese government closes the border with Hong Kong in 1951 and Ip never sees his wife again. He meets Gong Er again on Chinese New Year's Eve 1950 and asks her for one more contest while implying that she should rebuild her martial art school. Gong Er refuses, stating that many martial arts have disappeared throughout the course of history, and that her family's would not be the only one.

A flashback 10 years earlier shows a confrontation between Gong Er and Ma San at a train station on Chinese New Year's Eve 1940, in which Gong Er defeats Ma San using one of her father's special moves that Ma San had failed to learn. Gong Er loses her desire to use martial arts and moves to Hong Kong with Mr. Jiang to open a clinic.

In 1952, Ip Man and Gong Er meet each other for the last time. Gong confesses to Ip that she has harbored romantic feelings for him since their first fight. She dies in 1953, taking her father's secrets of the Baguazhang to the grave. A voice-over from Ip reveals that the fight with Ma San left Gong badly injured, and she turned to opium to help with the pain.

The final scenes offer a visual montage as Ip Man's school flourishes, including a statement that Ip made Wing Chun popular worldwide, and his most famous student was Bruce Lee. Off screen, it is stated that Ip Man died in 1972.