Reflections on Ip Man

There is a clear graduation of force in the various fight scenes which illustrates the Confucius element in Chinese wushu which Ip Man pondered upon when he was imprisioned whilst waiting for his imminent fight with the Japanese army general.

1st fight scene: with Master Liew
Ip Man was very respectful and dian dao wei zhi. He was even a little playful, raining light punches on Master Liew even though he could have used his advantage to inflict more serious injury.

2nd fight scene: with Northerner
Although Ip Man wanted to teach the Northerner a lesson, he was still patient and respectful and asked the police to clear the room so as not to make the Northerner lose face. The way Ip man used a feather duster to whack the Northerner's buttocks, it was almost like a teacher teaching a student.

Contrast this to the later fight again with the Northerner, where Ip Man was more vicious. But Ip Man still reined in his blows because the Northerner and his cronies were still Chinese.

3rd fight scene: with 10 Japanese martial arts students
No holds barred after seeing how Master Liew was killed. Ip Man was clinical and attacked the vital organs and the face and eyes. However, one can still observe the pain in his eyes that he has to injure so many people.

Final fight scene: with Japanese General
Out to kill. Even when the General was defeated and slumped against the corner of the ring, Ip Man continued to beat the living daylights out of him. But as a hark to the Confucius mentality, he held back his last thrust to the General's throat.

Wonderful show.