Martial Arts Movie Madness: #3 Ip Man vs. #7 Fearless (votes needed)

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Voting for Ip Man vs. Fearless will close on June 7th at 6 pm EDT.

The Father of Moden Wing Chun vs the Father of the Jing Wu

We’re at the semifinals of this tournament. We’ve seen Ip Man fight himself in the previous stage. Now it’s time to face another famous master. Ip Man is arguably the most important name in Wing Chun in the last century. Donnie Yen’s movie shows it and the fact that it has made it to this stage means you readers probably think the same. Now Fearless to me feels like the underdog of these two. A Jet Li film about master Huo Yuan Jia, famous for his involvement in the Jing Wu Association and bringing about a modernized view of Chinese martial arts at a time where they were not well liked. On the screen, the character’s most famous achievement is being Chen Zhen’s late master. Chen Zhen the avenging hero played by Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen and Jet Li in different incarnations. But enough introduction let’s get into the contestants.

You can check out the full Martial Journal movie reviews for Ip Man and Fearless by clicking these links.

Ip Man

What can we say about Ip Man that hasn’t been said at least twice on Martial Journal? Probably not much. But let’s review it again, for those of you who are newcomers and for those who are coming back but need their memory refreshed. We meet Ip Sifu in Foshan in the 1930s just before the Japanese invasion. He’s a modest master but all his colleagues recognize him as the best in a city filled with martial arts schools. He’s a superb fighter but he prefers to keep a low profile and dedicates himself to his family. But his skills will be challenged time and again. And the result of his fights will determine the honor of his people. First, the Southern Kung Fu community when a fighter from the north comes knocking. And then the honor of the Chinese people when the Japanese invade and an important general gets his sights on him.

Fearless

Jet Li plays Huo Yuan Jia. Master of Mizong Quan style kung fu. He’s a brash, impulsive man who likes to taunt his opponents in public lei tai bouts. This portrayal of Huo Shifu shows us a man who doesn’t really know when to stop. He gets into a big feud with a fellow master which escalates to a point of no return and leaves Tianjin. After some time wandering without destination he returns to his home town to make amends for his past wrongdoings. His return coincides with a foreign wrestler challenging local men to fight him. Huo Yuanjia takes up the challenge and wins. This earns him notoriety as a Chinese fighter which in turn leads to him having to defend the honor of kung fu against other foreigners.

The Martial Arts

Jet Li and Donnie Yen’s respective movies here represent two different eras and film making styles. Notably, they have even been in movies together and even played related characters (sometimes the same, as is the case with Chen Zhen) though in different movies.

Jet Li’s style tends to have more wire-fu. In the case of Fearless, he plays a northern kung fu master so he’s a long fist type of fighter. That said we get some of the best weapon choreographies in recent memory. Chinese jian against Spanish rapier, Chinese spear against western lance, and sanjiegun (three-section staff) vs katana. All beautifully portrayed. Plus, there are several hand-to-hand fight scenes including the one against the giant western wrestler.

Donnie Yen’s style started very similar to Jet Li’s but evolved on his own throughout the years to what we see in movies like Ip Man. More of a down to earth, grounded style of fight scenes. A bit on the grittier side but not on the level of The Raid movies. Here we see him portraying Wing Chun. As far a style from what Jet Li’s usual stuff as you can find. Little, if any, wire work, jumps or high kicks. Successive machine gun like punches, low kicks, elbows and close distances. Of course, if we’re gonna mention just one fight it’s gonna be the one against the ten Karatekas. But I myself, your humble reviewer on this current match, prefer the south vs north kung fu fight between Ip Sifu and the northern bandit Jin Shanzhao.

Conclusion

At the risk of sounding repetitive we’re at the semifinals of this greatest tournament under heaven of martial arts movies. I’ve detailed as far as I can without spoiling much. Now it is up to you our faithful loyal readers to decide. Which movie deserves to get to the final? The one about Bruce Lee’s master? The one about the founder of the Jing Wu? I’m not sure which would get my vote but that’s not important. Two great movies, two of the biggest names in Chinese martial arts history (at least from the 20th century) and two of the biggest actors in kung fu cinema. Tough choice and it’s up to you to decide.

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Ezequiel Davidovich Caballero

I'm from Argentina, Spanish is my mother tongue, and English my second language. I've been into martial arts for as long as I can remember. I've been doing Hung Sing Choy Li Fat (aka Choy Lee Fut or Choy Lay Fut, same thing) for almost two decades now with bits of other Chinese styles in it. Hope you like what I write.

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