The film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen as the titual character, with martial arts choreography by Sammo Hung.

The film co-stars Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, Lam Ka-tung, Xing Yu, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, and Tenma Shibuya.

One day, a local troublemaker named Yuan loses his kite, which lands in a tree in the Ip family's back yard.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip and his family are forced to move into a decrepit apartment after the Imperial Japanese Army confiscates the house for use as their military headquarters.

Desperate to support his family, Ip finds work at a coal mine alongside Lin, who hopes to reconcile with his brother for humiliating him but has so far failed to track him down.

General Miura, a Japanese Karate master, sets up an arena where Chinese martial artists can fight with his military trainees for a bag of rice.

Former police officer Li Zhao, now an interpreter for the Japanese, offers the martial artists the opportunity to fight in the arena.

At the arena, Ip witnesses Liu being executed by Miura's deputy Colonel Sato, for picking up a bag of rice from a prior victory after giving up a second match against 3 karateka.

Deducing that Lin was killed in his fight against Miura, Ip demands a match with ten karateka at once, whom he brutally defeats.

After the fight, Ip confronts Yuan and gives him a small tin that belonged to Lin after informing him of his brother's death.

Despite Li's warnings, Ip surrenders himself to the Japanese while arranging for his wife and son to be sent to Hong Kong for protection.

A closing montage and captions reveal that Ip spent the rest of his life working to spread the teachings of Wing Chun, establishing a school and training several students, including Bruce Lee.

Principal photography for Ip Man began in March 2008 and ended in August; filming took place in Shanghai, which was used to architecturally recreate Foshan.

Donnie Yen signed onto the project, hoping to star as Ip, with Stephen Chow co-starring as Bruce Lee.

Producer Raymond Wong stated that the film would take on a similar look and feel to SPL: Sha Po Lang.

A majority of the film focuses on events surrounding Ip Man that took place in Foshan in the 1930s and 1940s during the Sino-Japanese War.

The martial arts choreography was designed by Sammo Hung and veteran fight and stunt coordinator Tony Leung Siu-hung.

Hung had previously collaborated with Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen as an actor in the 2005 film SPL: Sha Po Lang.

[5] He spent months preparing for the role by going on a strict diet which consisted of eating one meal a day, training in Wing Chun, and learning more about Ip Man through his two sons.

This was all in the hopes of portraying an erudite and cultured Ip Man, as well as bringing out the special traits of Wing Chun.

[5] While rehearsing a fight scene, Yen was reportedly injured when an axe wielder accidentally slashed the side of his left eye.

[12] Japanese actor Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, who holds a black belt in Judo, found it "difficult" working under Hung's command.

In one scene, he suffered a mild concussion after receiving four consecutive blows from celebrated fight co-ordinator Edward 'Sweco' Chan.

[25] Prior to its theatrical release in China, Ip Man held a test screening in Beijing on 4 December 2008.

Salon's Andrew O'Hehir deemed Ip Man a "well-paced and satisfying piece of Chinese-nationalist pulp," referring to the film's heavy anti-Japanese sentiment.

[27] Derek Elley of Variety Magazine wrote in his review, "Yen, who's taking on real star charisma in middle age, is aces as Ip, with a simple dignity that exactly mirrors the movie's own and a gracefulness in combat that's very different from his trademark whiplash style.

"[30] Jen Ogilvie of Fortean Times wrote, "what carries Ip Man is its dramatic charge: it is the story's entanglement in the real horrors of Japanese occupation that pulls the viewer in and builds tension into the fight scenes.

The site's critics consensus reads, "At once beholden to the established conventions of the genre and delightfully subversive of them, Ip Man is one of the most exciting – and refreshingly character-driven – martial arts films in years.

[41][failed verification] During its opening weekend in Hong Kong, Ip Man came in first place at the box office, grossing HK$4.5 million (US$579,715).

Yen expressed his lack of interest in making a third film, feeling that, "Ip Man 2 will incontrovertibly become a classic, bettering the first.