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The Kung Fu master travels to the U.S. where his student has upset the local martial arts community by opening a Wing Chun school. ^{^Source}

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From China to America 🥋

I have always loved Ip Man movies. They combine amazing action sequences with some really deep storytelling. Most of these stories have taken place over in Asia, mainly in China. Ip Man 4 however crosses between China and the United States. If you are unfamiliar with who Ip Man (Donnie Yen) is, let me briefly explain.

Yip Man, also known as Ip Man, was born on October 1, 1893, in Foshan, China. He studied Wing Chun and went on to become one of the most respected martial arts masters of his time. Among his most notable students was Bruce Lee. Yip Man died on December 2, 1972, in Hong Kong. ^{^Source} Oddly enough, Bruce Lee died shortly after on July 20, 1973. His death was quite a bit more mysterious and is worth looking into further if you enjoy conspiracies.

During the trilogy, Ip Man goes through and survives so many impossible odds. This guy proves how hardened his fighting skills are over and over. It is crazy that the guy even has any fight left in him for a fourth movie, but trust me he does have plenty left in the tank. Ip Man has to travel to San Francisco to find a new school for his son who gets expelled in China.

One of the other reasons that Ip Man decides to finally visit the USA is because his student Bruce Lee invited him. Bruce now lives in San Francisco and runs a Wing Chun school for any and all walks of life. The Chinese Benevolent Association is not okay with this, as they believe kung fu should only be taught to Chinese students. Bruce Lee is such an unstoppable fighter that nobody can keep him from doing what he wants, so the CBA has hopes that Ip Man can stop Bruce Lee from teaching non-Chinese students. Don't expect Bruce Lee to be in this movie nonstop, but when he is, he is exactly like you'd expect him to be and does a few fight scenes.

The situation in the USA is not a pretty one. This film shows just how bad racism was in the 1960s. It is up to Ip Man to stand up for his fellow Chinese who are constantly belittled and treated like garbage. There is a fine line to walk between keeping from being walked all over and now allowing a war to break out between Chinese and Americans. Ip Man ends up finding himself in the situation where he must save a young girl named Wan Yonah from school bullies. They were doing terrible things to her that must not continue.

It turns out that the young girl Wan Yonah is also the daughter of Wan Zong Hua, who is the head of the Chinese Benevolent Association. Ip Man needs to get a recommendation from Wan Zong Hua so that his son can come to America for school. Wan Zong Hua refuses to give up the recommendation without a fight since Ip Man doesn't want to stop Bruce Lee from teaching all types of students. This causes the two masters to fight amongst themselves if only they would realize there is a bigger enemy that requires the Chinese to stick together.

Speaking of enemies, let's talk about these two racist assholes. The main antagonist is Gunnery Sergeant Barton Geddes (Scott Adkins) and he also has a human attack dog named Colin Frater (Chris Collins). Both are firm believers in Karate over Kung Fu during Ip Man 4. They act as if Karate was invented by Americans and that the Chinese are worthless and weak. The things that Barton does will seriously make you hate him so much, which turns him into the perfect villain.

The story in Ip Man films is always pretty good, but the best part by far is the badass fight scenes. The skill that these actors possess is quite clear. Although the fights aren't 100% true to life, they are close but do have some added flair. Each fight is wonderfully choreographed and will have you locked in and watching each move unfold.

Even though Ip Man is pretty old in Ip Man 4, he is still an absolute beast. It seems as though his story really does end here with the finale. The only way I see more Ip Man movies happening after this one is perhaps a prequel or maybe beginning to focus on Bruce Lee. If you are a fan of Ip Man or kung fu, you 100% need to see Ip Man 4. If you've never watched the Ip Man trilogy, I also highly recommend that.