Folowing on from, or perhaps cashing in on the success of the recent martial arts hit Ip Man, directed by Wilson Yip and starring Donnie Yen, comes The Legend is Born: Ip Man (Yip Man chinchyun) hops back in time a little further to explore the early training of the kung fu legend who developed the Wing Chung style and trained Bruce Lee.

Directed by genre old hand and former cinematographer Herman Yau (the Troublesome Night series) and starring To Yu-Hang (who made his debut in the first Ip Man movie) as Yip Man, the film follows his journey from his initial training through to the ultimate battle to become supreme master of the art of Wing Chun – culminating in a stunning blindfolded duel between action superstars Sammo Hung (Enter The Dragon) and Yuen Biao. In what must rank as a bit of a coup, the film also stars Ip Man’s real life son, 76-year-old Ip Chun, as Ip Man’s kung fu master.

The Legend is Born: Ip Man will be released on UK DVD on 20th September 2010 by Metrodome at the RRP of £15.99. The only listed extra so far is the Making of The Legend Is Born: Ip Man featurette. This should tide genre fans over until Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen return with Ip Man 2, which also features Sammo Hung, later this year (we presume).