Editing Ip Man (section)

==Early life==
Ip Man was born as Ip Kai-man ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉繼問}}) to Ip Oi-dor ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉靄多}}) and Ng Shui ({{lang|zh-Hant|吳瑞}}) as the third of his parents' four children. He grew up in a wealthy family in [[Foshan]] (Fatshan), [[Guangdong]] (Kwangtung) and received a traditional Chinese education alongside his elder brother Ip Kai-gak ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉繼格}}), elder sister Ip Wan-mei ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉允媚}}), and younger sister Ip Wan-hum ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉允堪}}).<ref name="ip-ching-book">Title: Yip Man – Portrait of a Kung Fu Master, Page:3, Author(s): Ip Ching and Ron Heimberger, Paperback: 116 pages, Publisher: Cedar Fort (23 January 2001), {{ISBN|978-1-55517-516-0}}</ref>

Ip started learning [[Wing Chun]] from [[Chan Wah-shun]] when he was 9<ref>Title: 116 Wing Tsun Dummy Techniques as demonstrated by Grandmaster Yip Man, Page: 100, Author(s): Yip Chun, Publisher: Leung's Publications (February 1981)</ref> or 13.<ref>Title: Wing Tsun Kuen - 19th Edition, Page: 47, Author(s): Leung Ting, Publisher: Leung's Publications (September 2003)</ref><ref>Knight, Dan (11 July 2012). "Sam kwok Wing Chun – Yip Man Family Tree". Kwokwingchun.com. Retrieved 28 October 2019.</ref> Chan was 57 at the time, and Ip became Chan's 16th and last student.<ref name="english-history">{{cite web|url=http://www.kwokwingchun.com/about-wing-chun/history-&-family-tree/|title=Sam kwok Wing Chun – Yip Man Family Tree|last=Knight|first=Dan|date=July 11, 2012|publisher=Kwokwingchun.com|access-date=29 November 2011}}</ref><ref>''Mastering Wing Chun'', By Samuel Kwok</ref> Due to Chan's age, he was able to train Ip for only three years before suffering a mild stroke in 1909 and retiring to his village. Ip learned most of his skills and techniques from Chan's second-most senior student, Ng Chung-sok ({{lang|zh-Hant|吳仲素}}).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://chinesemartialstudies.com/2013/04/03/guest-post-at-wing-chun-geeks-ng-chung-so-looking-beyond-the-three-heroes-of-wing-chun/ |title=Lives of Chinese Martial Artists (6): Ng Chung So |date=3 April 2013 | access-date=July 11, 2020 | publisher=Kung Fu Tea}}</ref>

At the age of 16, with help from his relative, Leung Fut-ting, Ip moved to [[Hong Kong]] and attended school at [[St. Stephen's College, Hong Kong|St. Stephen's College]], by then a secondary school for wealthy families and foreigners living in Hong Kong.<ref name="ip-ching-book" /> Six months after moving to Hong Kong, a classmate of Ip's named Lai told him that a friend of Lai's father who was an expert in [[Kung fu (term)|Kung Fu]] techniques was living with them, and had offered to have a friendly sparring match with Ip.<ref name=":0"/>

At the time, Ip was undefeated so he eagerly accepted the challenge. He went to Lai's house on a Sunday afternoon and, after exchanging brief pleasantries, challenged the man to a duel. The man was [[Leung Bik]] and he easily overwhelmed Ip Man. Incredulous at the speed with which he had been countered, Ip requested a second duel and was beaten again, just as soundly.<ref name=":0"/>

Discouraged by his defeat, Ip left without a word and afterwards was so depressed that he did not dare mention that he knew Kung Fu. A week later, Lai told him that the man he had fought was asking after him. Ip replied that he was too embarrassed to return, at which point Lai told him that Leung Bik had highly praised his Kung Fu techniques and that he was the son of [[Leung Jan]], who trained Ip's master, [[Chan Wah-shun]]. Ip proceeded to train with Leung Bik,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kwokwingchun.com/about-wing-chun/ip-mans-wing-chun/interview--with-grandmaster-yip-man/|title=An Interview with Grandmaster Yip Man|date=January 22, 2014|website=www.kwokwingchun.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-25}}</ref> until Leung's death in 1911.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ip Man: Portrait of a Kung Fu Master|last=Ron Heimberger|first=Ip Ching|publisher=Cedar Fort|year=2001|isbn=9781555175160|pages=15}}</ref>

Ip returned to Foshan in 1916 when he was 24 and became a police officer there for the [[Nationalist government]].<ref name="ip-ching-book" /> He taught Wing Chun to several of his subordinates, friends, and relatives, but did not officially run a martial arts school. Noted students of this time were Lok Yiu, Chow Kwong-yue (周光裕), Kwok Fu (郭富), Lun Kah (倫佳), Chan Chi-sun (陳志新), and Lui Ying (呂應 ). Chow Kwong-yue was regarded as the most talented of Ip's Foshan students, but he devoted himself to trade and abandoned the martial arts. Kwok Fu and Lun Kah began teaching and spreading the art of Wing Chun in the Foshan and Guangdong region. Chan Chi-sun and Lui Ying moved to Hong Kong but neither accepted students.

Ip married [[Cheung Wing-sing]] and they had several children: sons [[Ip Chun]] and [[Ip Ching]], and daughters Ip Nga-sum ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉雅心}}) and Ip Nga-wun ({{lang|zh-Hant|葉雅媛}}).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wingchun.si/yipman.htm|title=Wing Chun Kuen|website=www.wingchun.si|access-date=2019-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119193209/http://www.wingchun.si/yipman.htm|archive-date=19 January 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{additional citation needed|date=March 2023}}

During the [[second Sino-Japanese war]], Ip Man sided with [[Kuomintang]] during the conflict.<ref>Yip Chun, "Story of my father", dans 116 Wing Tsun Dummy Techniques, 1981, p. 98-114.</ref> What Ip Man did during the war remains unclear. It is rumoured that he had joined the [[Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics]] in its academy in [[Guizhou]] in 1938, after which he would have returned to Foshan as an undercover intelligence officer. However, the veracity of this has been disputed.<ref>Ken Ing, ''Wing Chun Warrior: The True Tales of Kung Fu Master Duncan Leung, Bruce Lee's Fighting Companion'', 2009, Blacksmith Books, p. 65</ref>{{request quotation|date=March 2023}} It is believed Ip went to live with Kwok Fu during the war and only returned to Foshan at the end of the war.

After the war, Ip Man served for a few years as captain of the Foshan police patrols. Ip found some time to train his second son, Ip Ching, during the year 1949. At the end of 1949, after the [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] won the [[Chinese Civil War]], as Ip was a member of the Kuomintang, Ip, his wife and their elder daughter, Ip Nga-sum, left Foshan for [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kwokwingchun.com/about-wing-chun/ip-mans-wing-chun/ip-mans-biography/|title=Ip Man's Biography|last=Knight|first=Dan|date=20 July 2012|publisher=Kwokwingchun.com|access-date=2 August 2018}}</ref>