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Ip Man 2008



Ip Man is about the invasion of China by Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. 3,800,000–10,600,000+ military casualties after July 1937 (excluding Manchuria and Burma campaign). 

Over Ten million military people died. 22 million total estimated. 

Covid will up to a million in America, and I think that's undercounting for political reasons, and no overcounting for political reasons.

The movie portrays China as a place of honor and Japan as a place of no honor. I would ask if the Chinese have honor in their treatment of the Tibetans and Uyghurs. Ip Man would fight for them, not for the Chinese.

Ip Man is about martial arts, and the whole hidden and not boastful approach to martial arts. It's about virtue, humility and justice. 

The real Ip Man trained Bruce Lee.

Ip Man has the air of Seven Samurai, the 1954 film by Kurosawa. The use of martial arts to pursue justice against robbers.

Martial arts movies have more in common with choreographed dancing than they do martial arts. People are on strings and pulleys to go flying so much. It's entertainment, not information or skills display. The movie is sped up and slowed down as it suits the entertainment. The blows are exaggerated or minimized.

There are 4 movies in all so far in the franchise. 

Ip Man 2 is dubbed, I like that. I can't play chess during the lulls with subtitles. I like to listen to dialogue, but the action sometimes bores me.

After establishing the right to teach in Hong Kong and skirmishes with rival dojos, there's a bit with boxing an English guy, and they keep calling him a foreign devil. Yikes. It's a little like Rocky with the boxer facing off against the martial arts opponent. 

All the films are on Netflix. Ip Man 3 is "free" on YouTube (watch commercials). Mike Tyson is in 3. 

Ip Man 4 is like an anti-smoking ad, plus Bruce Lee becoming famous. 

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