The project was announced almost 10 years before its final release, due to director Wong Kar-Wai's endless perfectionism. Several other motion pictures about the Ip Man that were conceived after this announcement (most famously Ip Man (2008) and Ip Man 2, le retour du grand maître (2010)) were all released in the meantime.
Wing Chun is a Chinese martial art that emphasizes short-range practical combat with direct punches and blocks and low kicks. Its practitioners are trained to quickly approach and engage opponents at close range. This can negate the longer range of taller opponents by attacking from inside their offensive perimeter.
One reason for the long development time of the movie was that the film spent over a year in editing before director Wong Kar-Wai was satisfied.
Bruce Lee trained in Wing Chun and later developed his own hybrid martial arts philosophy, Jeet Kune Do ("The Way of the Intercepting Fist.")