Kids Corner: Ben Ferguson Interviews JR Black Belt Miss Kline (Text)
Mr Ferguson interviews Leadership Student, Junior Black Belt, and Competition Team Member Miss Gisele Kline
Ben Ferguson [00:00:01] Hi there, I’m Ben Ferguson from Premier Martial arts, I’m interviewing Jazelle Klein, how are you today?
MIss Kline [00:00:06] Hi, I’m good, thank you.
Ben Ferguson [00:00:09] OK, you want to move into your martial arts past? Yes. OK, so talk about your journey to where you are now in karate.
MIss Kline [00:00:18] So I’ve been doing martial arts
Ben Ferguson [00:00:20] for four years
MIss Kline [00:00:22] now and I started when I was eight and I started no, I was really small white belt and now I’m a junior black belt.
Ben Ferguson [00:00:31] OK, so why did you start martial arts?
MIss Kline [00:00:34] I started karate because I tried other sports before. I tried like ballet and gymnastics. I didn’t like them. So after a couple of weeks I had already watched The Karate Kid and I loved and I was fascinated. So I wanted to take karate lessons.
Ben Ferguson [00:00:49] OK, so let’s move on to your present in the martial arts. OK, so talk about where you are now in your martial arts journey.
MIss Kline [00:01:00] So right now I’m a junior blackbelt and I’ll be testing for my second degree black next year.
Ben Ferguson [00:01:09] OK, kind of. I know we’ve already talked about this a bit, but elaborate a little more on your journey from your deputy black belt, which is a belt before black belt to your chin, your black belt.
MIss Kline [00:01:21] Well, being a black, but it’s a lot like you do a lot of things to be able to get ready for a junior black belt. And because you have to go to advanced, you have to get ready for your black belt and your deputy buckle up for a long time.
Ben Ferguson [00:01:40] Yeah. So how has martial arts affected your life?
MIss Kline [00:01:44] Premier has affected impacted my life. Like in a lot of ways. It’s helped me to have discipline. It’s helped me to respect. I’m me to work harder and it’s even helped me to work on myself.
Ben Ferguson [00:01:56] Yeah. Like one of the things that we teach at Premier is discipline and respect. So like we do these monthly well, excellent homeworks. And they vary in top topics from kindness to discipline. So that’s kind of what I believe that you’re getting at right there sort of is those things, because we aren’t just a martial arts school where you wear you like where we just teach karate. It’s like fight, fight, fight. It’s we teach a lot of different things. And let’s get back into this. So what would you say your least and most favorite things about martial arts are?
MIss Kline [00:02:29] That’s a hard question, because I like almost everything we do. Yeah, but my least favorite thing in martial arts is probably weapons. I don’t it really depends on the day I could love weapons or I could not like at all. But my favorite thing would be ground work and sparring. Like I said, I wouldn’t say I don’t like weapons because I do. It’s just not my favorite thing to do because I love everything I do here anyway.
Ben Ferguson [00:02:54] Yeah, same for me. I mean, like, I’m very it depends on the day. Some days I really like sparring or some days I really like ground work. So it depends on the day. Explain how we are a family.
MIss Kline [00:03:09] PMA is like a family because they really want to support you and they help you through the way I truly see them as a second family.
Ben Ferguson [00:03:18] Yeah, like we have a saying. I’m sure I mentioned this before. One team. One family. Yeah. So it’s like if you want if or if you listen to Mr. Patterson’s interview, he said that a lot of his adult students would go out and just do things together outside of martial arts. I go out and go to lunch or something. I don’t know, go get coffee. Yeah. Yeah. OK, so let’s move into your future and martial arts.
MIss Kline [00:03:42] I could see myself as an instructor someday because I do have a passion for martial arts and I would love to teach you.
Ben Ferguson [00:03:50] OK, what makes you want to teach?
MIss Kline [00:03:53] I just like the way of like helping people. Like I like how I can teach the younger students and I can teach and help out with other classes.
Ben Ferguson [00:04:06] Yeah. And I mean, like, I’m sure you will be teaching someday. I mean I’ve known for three years now. You seem like you would be an excellent teacher. But what why would you say that you like helping other people like oh give me a couple of traits. But yeah, sure. A couple of traits that you would think would help you help other people.
MIss Kline [00:04:28] I like to lead other people and I like to show people how to do things. So like I’ve teach to car a weapons car before. I love doing that because, yeah, it was fun to teach them how to do Twan or something like that, but I thought it was very. Interesting to teach you how to do something.
Ben Ferguson [00:04:54] Yeah, yeah, I mean, like I remember is my first day and you taught me the White Belt, so yeah, Kujo one. So, yeah, it’s just a great time here. Now we’re going to move to into what you sort of like to do outside of martial art. So like things that you don’t necessarily do in here, but like you do elsewhere. So like, OK, what are some of the favorite things that you like to do outside of martial arts?
MIss Kline [00:05:25] So I like to sit still athletic, so I like a bunch of other sports. I love to run, I love to run, track and cross-country. It’s one of my favorite sports. I like hanging out with my friends and I love to swim fast. And I love football just because it’s part of my family.
Ben Ferguson [00:05:43] Yeah. So you did cross-country to get ready for your blackbelt person?
MIss Kline [00:05:49] Yes, I did, yes. From starting in Scorchers in August to October. And yeah, sometimes you have to run in the snow, which I’ve done before,
Ben Ferguson [00:05:57] about the same.
MIss Kline [00:05:58] So I was fun.
Ben Ferguson [00:06:02] What are some of your favorite things about yourself? So like your favorite character traits, but your favorite things that you know about yourself, if you get what I mean?
MIss Kline [00:06:13] So my favorite things I like about myself is I like how I’m funny just because I can get a laugh out of my friends or and my family and I like how I’m smart just because it’s useful.
Ben Ferguson [00:06:26] Yeah. Baseball is useful. Yeah. OK, well what is your favorite subject in school. Oh OK. I know we all a lot of us like also
MIss Kline [00:06:38] people might hate me for this, but I actually like math. Math is pretty fun. So I’m like in science, I don’t like science, but my favorite subject is social studies and math.
Ben Ferguson [00:06:50] OK, so just how would you describe yourself, like if you were in a job interview or the leadership team interview and they asked you, how would you describe yourself? What would you answer?
MIss Kline [00:07:03] I would describe myself as funny and goofy and smart and respectful just because that’s what I’m best out. And that’s what people like me.
Ben Ferguson [00:07:13] Yeah. And why would you describe yourself as those things?
MIss Kline [00:07:17] Just because that’s like my terrorist sticks. I’m funny every day and I’m respectful of others and I focus in school, so I’m smart and I would just describe myself as those. Yeah.
Ben Ferguson [00:07:32] So we are actually going to move back to what are you some are some of your favorite things about yourself, because I actually forgot to ask one question that why are those your favorite things about yourself?
MIss Kline [00:07:43] Um, let’s see here. I like that I’m funny and I’m smart because like I said, like how I would describe myself. It’s like kind of how I am and I just like who I am. So that’s just something I like about myself and.
Ben Ferguson [00:08:05] Yeah, yeah. OK, so we’re actually moved back into your present in martial arts. Yeah. What is your favorite technique.
MIss Kline [00:08:14] Oh, my favorite take at my favorite technique probably is awareness. Kick off the back leg. Yeah.
Ben Ferguson [00:08:21] That’s really fun. One to do. I personally I’m actually going to give you a little something about myself. My probably the front like sidekick or the front like roundhouse kick. Yeah. I like the hook or the radnofsky, the front leg.
MIss Kline [00:08:33] I just, I don’t know
Ben Ferguson [00:08:35] how they’re all useful for different things like front legs, fast back legs powerful. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all for coming on.
MIss Kline [00:08:48] Thank you for inviting me.
Ben Ferguson [00:08:50] You are very welcome. We will see you next time.
About the Interviewer: Ben Ferguson is a long time student of Premier Martial Arts. Ben is a 2021 Junior Black Belt Candidate, and a member of our Leadership, and Competition Team.
Premier Martial Arts has been in business for more than 20 years, and since our founding in 1998 we have helped thousands of students of all ages realize their full potential. Premier Martial Arts delivers a best-in-class martial arts experience that helps our students develop the personal skills that are necessary to build a successful life. Our mastery of teaching martial arts over the past two decades is evident in our structured and thorough curriculum, which is standardized across our 100+ locations across the United States, Canada and England.
Our curriculum focuses on character development far beyond the importance of self-defense. We teach our young students how to respect their elders, how to be accountable, how to focus and how to stay in shape in a fun and exciting atmosphere. We empower our adult students with the self-confidence to overcome anxieties and trauma, in an environment that fosters inclusion and social belonging.
Premier Martial Arts Fort Wayne founded in 2015 by 6th Degree Black Belt and Master Instructor Ron Kuhn. Master Kuhn had a distinguished management & engineering career working for such companies as Verizon, NIPSCO, Frontier Communications and Mediacom. In 2019 he made the decision to operate his Martial Arts School fulltime which has always been his lifelong dream. That one location has grown to three in the City of Fort Wayne.
Master Ron Kuhn is married to his wife Anita (retired Special Needs Teacher) of 27 years. They have three wonderful daughters, Jordan, Ally and Katie. Jordan is a nurse who lives in Indianapolis. Ally has a computer science and business background and works with her dad at Premier Martial Arts. Katie is Chemical Engineering graduate and works in the pharmaceutical industry in Indianapolis.
Premier Martial Arts of Fort Wayne operates three locations:
North – 10240 Coldwater Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46825 (Coldwater & DuPont)
East – 10154 Maysville Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46835 (Chapel Hill Area)
Southwest – 9906 Illinois Road Fort Wayne, IN 46804 (Scott & Illinois Road)
260-217-6064
Also check us out on:
https://www.facebook.com/pmaftwaynenorth
https://www.facebook.com/premiermartialartssouthwest
