This martial arts biopic follows the early years of Ip Man, the master who would one day become Bruce Lee's mentor, as he perfects his Wing Chun style of combat against a small army of villainous foes in his hometown of Foshan before he moved to Hong Kong.

Herman Yau handles the directing chores for this prequel to the Ip Man saga kicked off by the two blockbuster hits that Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen had success with a couple of years ago. The producers hired Action Director Tony Leung Siu-Hung who worked closely with Sammo Hung and Yen on the earlier projects. Yau works closely with his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Joe Chan Kwong-Hung, a talented artist in his field, to create a beautiful visual palette from which to weave this story closely to the first films.