Eric Hall (Lee Yi Bing)

Eric Hall began his martial arts training in his teens where he studied Tae Kwon Do and Kempo Karate for approximately 5 years. He would eventually reunite with his passion for the arts by being introduced to an art of Jeet Kune Do made famous by the late Bruce Lee. Fascinated with this fighting style, he sought out a qualified teacher and was fortunate enough to meet Sifu David Gallaher of the Gung Fu Institute. After a brief meeting with Sifu Gallaher, Eric signed up for three different martial arts that were being taught at the school. JKD, Kali, and Wing Chun. In the beginning Eric split his attention equally between the three arts but after a year of training in each art, he decided to focus one hundred percent of his time on his newly found passion Wing Chun. For the majority of his time at the Gung Fu Institute Eric was taught both in a class environment and also privately. These private lessons took place several times a week and laster for several years. And even though one can get an excellent education in a classroom environment, having the ability to learn privately from a Sifu in a one on one fashion greatly accelerates the learning process. While training at the Gung Fu Institute Eric had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong with his Sifu and Sihings where they had the great privilege of training with one of Grand Master Ip Man’s sons. (Grandmaster Ip Ching) as well as one of Grandmaster Ip Man’s early disciples Grandmaster Chan Che Man. Eventually Eric was promoted into an Instructor position for the school. In all, Eric spent approximately 7 years training at the Gung Fu Institute (2005)-(2011). Due to the nature of Eric’s work at Shaolin House (he owns a manufacturing company that manufactures Wing Chun Wooden Dummies) he’s had the great fortune to be able to speak directly with countless Top Level Sifu’s from all over the world. One of these Sifu’s seemed to stand above the rest. By pure chance Sifu Darrell Jordan (Lee Gar Lin) of the WVTAA asked him to build a custom made dummy for one of his students. And during the time it took to build the dummy, Eric and Darrell exchanged many e mails and conversations. During this time of correspondence Eric would often ask Sifu Darrell questions that had been troubling him about certain facets of Ving Tsun. Sifu Darrell was able to answer all of his questions and even pose new ones that would ultimately be responsible for elevating his skills and abilities to an even greater level. After a long careful debate Eric made the decision to switch schools (which is never an easy choice for anyone who’s gone through this process). Eric started training with Sifu Darrell Jordan privately to ensure that he was receiving the best instruction possible. Private lessons are the best way to accomplish this. The transition was very difficult at first because Eric’s previous training was based on the Ip Ching/Ip Chun Wing Chun Method. After switching teachers he had to totally relearn everything that he had learned up to that point and he had to learn it the way Grandmaster Moy Yat taught it. This “Relearning” of the system has given Eric an even deeper understanding of this dynamic fighting art and a true appreciation for the different types of styles out there. When Eric was offered the chance to start a WVTAA Charter School by Sifu Darrell Jordan in 2012 he jumped at the opportunity and now serves as the academy’s Chief Instructor . In 2013 Eric was bestowed the great honor of a Bai Si Ceremony which is also known as the Tea Ceremony where one is formally accepted as a disciple of their master. He was given the Chines name Lee Yi Bing 炳意李 which tralslates to Bright/ Luminous. As a fourth generation disciple of Ip Man, Eric constantly strives to teach the art of Ving Tsun Kung Fu and pass it down as it was intended by the late Grandmaster Ip Man. Nothing is left out and nothing is held back. Get started on your own path to greatness by learning authentic Ving Tsun Kung Fu. To learn more about our academy please contact us today!