Born and raised in the years between the two world wars, young Ip Man (Kevin Cheng) finds his luck in the martial arts arenas of Canton. There, he meets the first Wing Chun Master, Fung-Kau (Rongguang Yu), and his childhood love Cheung Wing-sing (Cecila Han). But with the start of a civil war, Ip Man's life both in the arena and at home begin to fall apart.