Ip Man

About Ip Man

Ip Man (1893–1972) was a renowned Chinese martial artist, widely regarded as the paternal figure of Wing Chun kung fu. His historical significance, which places him at HPI Rank #877, stems from his mastery and eventual teaching of this specific martial art form, notably instructing Bruce Lee, one of history's most influential martial artists and cultural icons. While his direct historical footprint is measured by this ranking, his impact is heavily mediated through his famous students and the subsequent global proliferation of Wing Chun.

When examining modern digital attention, Ip Man accrues 713K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. This level of interest suggests an "overattention" relative to his direct historical placement, evidenced by an Attention Gap score of +2x. This indicates that the cultural legacy cemented by his cinematic portrayals gives him significantly more modern internet visibility than his HPI ranking alone would suggest. For contrast, a figure ranked substantially higher in overall historical importance, such as Bernhard Riemann (#394), garners only 179K views, illustrating a significant divergence between long-term global impact and contemporary online engagement.

Ip Man's 2025 interest shows a year-over-year decline of -7.6%, yet the momentum from Q1 to Q3 increased by +20%. This suggests that while overall annual attention may be waning slightly, there was a notable resurgence or peak in interest during the latter half of the year, perhaps driven by a film release or documentary.