Sifu Yip Man was born in 1893 in Fat San, in Guangdong province China.

He was the third child of a wealthy family, and developed an interest in martial arts from a young age.

At age 9 he became the student of Wing Chun Master Chun Wah Shun. Legend has it when he demanded Chun Wah Shun teach him, Chun Wah Shun told Yip Man he'd teach him if he could buy enough rice for Chun's household to last a year, then sent Yip Man on his way.

Not realising Yip Man was from a wealthy family, Chun Wah Shun was shocked when Yip man returned with a retinue of servants carrying a year's supply or rice for Chun's household (in another version of the story he brought enough gold money to pay buy a year's supply of rice).

Chun Wah Shun only taught Yip Man for a couple of years before illness forced his retirement. After that Yip Man learned from his older Kung Fu brother, Ng Chun So.

Yip Man taught Wing Chun to a number of people in Fat San where he also worked as a police officer for the Nationalist government. When the Chinese Communist Party won the Chinese civil was in 1949 Yip Man and his family moved to Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, Yip Man struggled with poverty, and so opened a Wing Chun school in order to survive. He eventually began to attract more students, among whom was Bruce Lee. 

From there, Yip Man's version of Wing Chun has gone on to become the most commonly practiced style of Wing Chun in the world today.

Yip Man Wing Chun is direct, relatively simple and places emphasis on economy of motion.

These characteristics make it comparatively simple to learn, with straight forward training methods that, if one applies themselves, can translate into an effective system of self defence in a reasonably short timeframe.

This makes Yip Man Wing Chun easily accessible for most people who have a limited amount of time to spare in a busy lifestyle.