Stuff Asian People Like™

When you think about the small A-list (“Asian-list,” get it?) of mainstream martial artists that are portrayed in western and eastern culture, it’s hard to ignore #27 Jackie Chan, #33 Jet Li & Bruce Lee. Jackie Chan is cast in mostly creative, comedic, and heartwarming roles– while Jet Li and Bruce Lee were more often tough, robotic, and technically dazzling. Donnie Yen fits the latter mold. In IP MAN 1/2/3, he plays Wing Chun’s top martial artist and master teacher, “Ip Man” (also known as “Yip Man” or by his real name Yip Kai-man). He’s also Bruce Lee’s teacher in case you didn’t know!

Yen himself started learning wushu and tai-chi at the age of 4 from his mother– martial arts master Bow Sim Mark. He moved to Boston when he was 11, and there became well versed in Karate, Tae-Kwon-Do, Kickboxing, and boxing of course. Yen later studied under Chinese martial arts Master Wu Bin, who coached Jet Li. It really shows during intense fight scenes that he is one of the most versatile artists/athletes in the world. He’s pound-for-pound the most effective on-screen fighter today.

Throughout the Ip Man series, Yen tries valiantly to make Wing Chun relevant again in a society that is quickly advancing (guns, steroids, wartime). He overcomes countless hardships like getting shot, beating rivaling martial arts schools, financial woes, and western foes looking for a beatdown. Much to the chagrin of fans, Yen uses a mix of Wing Chun and MMA-style moves when he’s extremely angry, but only when disrespected in some way. It’s actually quite cathartic to see when Asian males are so often emasculated in western culture (look no further than Ken Jeong).

IP MAN 3 is so big in Asia that it pushed back the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. SAPL received a pre-screener a few weeks ago, and it has far exceeded the 80% on Rotten Tomatoes it got. I’d suggest you grab a copy on April 19th, when the movie is available on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Tell us what you like about the movie in the comments below!

Peace Out!
-Peter.

PRESS RELEASE: Donnie Yen ignites the screen in a return to his iconic role of Ip Man, the real-life Wing Chun Kung Fu master who mentored Bruce Lee. In this explosive third installment of the blockbuster martial arts series, when a band of brutal gangsters led by a crooked property developer (Mike Tyson) make a play to take over the city, Master Ip is forced to take a stand.  Fists will fly as some of the most incredible fight scenes ever filmed play out on the big screen in this soon-to-be classic of the genre.

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