While actor Chris Collins plays an American Marine Karate Champion in the movie who is bested by Master Ip Man's Wing Chun, in real life Collins is a Wing Chun student of Grandmaster Leung Ting, one of the real Ip Man's most senior students.
The film broke the 100 million RMB box office in China on its first day of release, outgrossing the total for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker which open in China on the same day.
During their alleyway fight, Mark Strange performs a jumping back kick on a solid door to show his skills. This gets the response "Doors don't bite back, but I do" from Bruce Lee, referencing Lee's memorable "boards don't hit back' quote from ENTER THE DRAGON. Not only that, but if one takes a closer look at Mark Strange, he bears more than a passing resemblance to Robert Wall, who plays the character in ENTER THE DRAGON that Lee makes the statement to.
When Frater calls his student Mr. Kreese, it is a hint to the bad guy Kreese in the Karate Kid series
Donnie Yen has officially played the character of IP MAN 4 times, but played a light hearted take on the character in the comedy GOLDEN CHICKEN 2 where he dons the outfit worn by Tony Leung's portrayal of IP MAN in THE GRANDMASTER, but originally played IP MAN in an abandoned project alongside Stephen Chow Sing-chi from Kung Fu Hustle that began shooting in the mid 1990's but imploded after a few days shooting.