Mr Ferguson Interviews Ms Singleton (2021 Black Belt Candidate) (Text ONLY)
Ms Singleton [00:00:05] We’re good.
Mr Ferguson [00:00:07] OK. Hello there, I am Ben Ferguson, and today I’m interviewing Miss Christine Singleton. How are you today?
Ms Singleton [00:00:14] I am doing well, sir. How are you?
Mr Ferguson [00:00:16] I’m good. Let’s go and move into your martial arts path. So talk about your journey to where you are now in martial arts.
Ms Singleton [00:00:24] Well, I started martial arts shortly after I turned 40. Started with a different school, and I stayed there for a few years, earned my brown, but then decided that that school was not where I wanted to be. And so I reached out to our friend Steve Handford, and Mr. Handford referred me over to Mr. Koon. And from there, I started almost four years ago when we were originally lions and now we are premier.
Mr Ferguson [00:01:07] Yeah, OK, so why did you start martial arts in the first place?
Ms Singleton [00:01:12] So I always wanted to do martial arts. When I was a child, my father did martial arts. He was big into martial arts. And as a child, my mother did not want me to participate martial arts. She thought it was a little bit too rough. And so this time around, as an adult, I had actually put two of my boys into martial arts and I was taking them to class and I was like, man, this is kind of cool. I like it. And so I just joined myself.
Mr Ferguson [00:01:49] OK, so let’s move into your present and martial arts now. So where are you now in martial arts?
Ms Singleton [00:01:58] Right now I am a deputy black belt, so hopefully I will be testing this fall to get my black belt. And I am very excited about that.
Mr Ferguson [00:02:11] Yeah, and I know you are the competition team captain, so kind of talk about what that entails.
Ms Singleton [00:02:18] You know, Captain is is a nice formal word. I prefer to call myself Teen Mom. I like to be more of the teen mom, the cheerleader, the encourager. So for me, I absolutely love our competition team. I’m so glad that it is growing. I love helping people through their process. It’s one thing to do martial arts and it’s a whole different ball game to be on a competition team to put all of your skills out there in a gym full of hundreds of people and literally be judged. People don’t want to be judged in general. So there’s a lot of performance anxiety that comes with it. There’s a lot of accomplishments that comes with it and. I like being the team or the team captain just because I get this opportunity to help celebrate young people and all of their accomplishments.
Mr Ferguson [00:03:22] OK, so how is martial arts affected your life?
Ms Singleton [00:03:28] You know what, I wholeheartedly believe that without martial arts, I would be in a very unhealthy place. And I say that as. A middle aged woman who martial arts is most of my. Is most of what I do just for my healthy activity, but it’s also assisted me with stress management, so I am a civil servant. I work in the child welfare industry and it has helped me so much just deescalating from all the stressors of my day and going in and not just with my physical health, but it’s helped me with my mental health and my overall well-being.
Mr Ferguson [00:04:22] OK, so what’s your least favorite thing about martial arts, like what’s your least favorite thing to do in martial arts?
Ms Singleton [00:04:31] You know, I had a feeling you were going to ask me that and I was like, do I want to be honest or not? So I think my least favorite thing and I have a feeling if I say this, I’m going to have to do more of it. Nonetheless, my least favorite thing is the 10 minute run in advanced class. Yes, I can handle everything else that can run and I can handle that too, but it is my least favorite thing.
Mr Ferguson [00:05:10] Yeah, we we would do those a lot in gym class. So I’m kind of I’m kind of good for that, but.
Ms Singleton [00:05:16] Yeah, yeah. And when I was your age, I was good for it to be different.
Mr Ferguson [00:05:23] OK, what’s your most favorite thing about martial arts now.
Ms Singleton [00:05:28] Oh, it’s definitely the competition. Yeah, yeah, by far ranks so high on my list.
Mr Ferguson [00:05:34] Yeah, OK, so now explain how our family.
Ms Singleton [00:05:37] Oh, OK, great. So this is pretty easy for me. Premiere is a different atmosphere, so I’ve spent the last 20 years, 20 plus years. Well, about 20 years being a sports mom, so I had to collegiate athletes, well, three but two in football, one in basketball. You know, the boys traveled a lot. And when you do that, you travel with the teams, but not the way premier does. So, Premier, everyone’s helping everyone else out. And it doesn’t matter if it’s the competition team or not. Just in general. And I’ll give you a great example. This past December, I got I got ill. And I was just down and out and one of the moms showed up at my door and she must have bought. Like 30 pounds worth of everything liquid you could think of that you want when you’re sick. I mean, she provided Gatorade and popsicles and jello and soup and all this, and she just put this very nice care package together and sent me a text and said, hey, check your porch. You know, so it’s and it’s not just about giving, but it’s about the way they support each other. Everyone and palmier supports everyone else I’ve heard like we can be and leadership team and somebody else say, you know, I’m not really good at math. And three other kids will say, well, I’m really good at math. So if you need any help, you know, just let me know. Yeah. And so it’s not even just the adults supporting each other, but it’s the young people supporting each other, too. And as a part of the leadership team. I participate in the interviews with young people before they come, before they’re accepted into the leadership class, and it’s amazing how many times they talk about how their instructors impact them, but also how helpful other leaders, youth leaders are in their class. And so I think that is a huge part of our premier family motto is being inclusive and welcoming and encouraging and supporting each other. Yeah.
Mr Ferguson [00:08:15] OK, let’s move back to Terminus, what are your favorite thing to do it well, or what would your favorite thing in a tournament be? So sparring weapons or
Ms Singleton [00:08:26] by far sparring. Sparring. So I happen to believe just a personal belief that. Tournaments can be a bit political and we have all of the judges by all these different styles, and I think sparring is probably the most even playing field. So you can run a great counter, but if they didn’t like your computer or it didn’t mesh up with how they teach their codders, sometimes
Mr Ferguson [00:09:02] you never know like they might do it. I mean, it’s. Yeah, yeah, I get that. And I’ll tell you, me and all of them tell all the people out there my favorite things, probably weapons. Oh, I wonder why they
Ms Singleton [00:09:18] do that or app. And if anyone out there is watching, you won first place. And you competed in Grand Champion yesterday with that or.
Mr Ferguson [00:09:33] OK, so let’s move on your favorite. What do you see yourself doing in the future?
Ms Singleton [00:09:40] You know what, I believe in being a lifetime learner, so a lot of people, their goal is to get their blackbelt. Well, OK, so you get a black belt, then. What do you do with it? If I had a magic wand. I think that I would teach women’s self-defense and I would incorporate an adaptive class for children with special needs, you know, that would be my wish.
Mr Ferguson [00:10:12] And why would those be your wish, your wishes?
Ms Singleton [00:10:16] So if I were to be very frank, I believe that a lot of the self-defense that is taught in martial arts is not actually geared towards women. And I’ll give you an example, things like, oh, bear hugs, where someone’s going to come up and, you know, they’re just going to body slam you into the ground. Most men are not going to do that to women because if they’re physically attacking them, they’re attacking them for different reasons and most women are not going to do that to women. And so having a more practical self-defense that is geared towards women and not so much men, I think is important for survival. And then as far as having an adaptive martial arts class, when we talk about kicking and punching, we were normally thinking about individuals with two hands or two arms and two legs. Martial arts class can be very loud. And so for some kids with autism or other sensitivities, that’s not going to be an ideal setting for them. So having an adaptive class for young people with special needs so that they can still benefit from martial arts and still enjoy it in an environment that’s more suited for their needs is very important to me.
Mr Ferguson [00:11:47] OK, have you ever thought about instructing?
Ms Singleton [00:11:50] I have in fact, I was asked to do an adaptive martial arts class for the Wii, and at the time I just didn’t have the time to do it. And I did instruct and do a lot of leadership at. At my other school, so I had a a. A children’s class on Saturdays, and I think that’s where my desire to do an adaptive class comes from.
Mr Ferguson [00:12:27] OK. So let’s move to outside of martial arts. What are some of your favorite things do outside of martial arts?
Ms Singleton [00:12:37] Play with my Pepes. Until they get on my nerves normally, like, it’s just the best feeling to come home to dogs that want to play with you and and they’re jumping all over you and they just crave your attention. So that’s one of my favorite things. And then the other thing is finding some downtime where I can just do something I want to do. So it may be, you know, reading a book and having a glass of wine. It may be having a girls night going out and just enjoying myself and not having to worry about children, grandchildren or the dogs, you know, but just having some me time. Yeah.
Mr Ferguson [00:13:27] What are some of your favorite things about yourself? Best qualities about yourself.
Ms Singleton [00:13:36] You know what, I love myself, and I think that enough people don’t get to that point where they can love themselves as is so I know that I am in my late 40s. I know that I’m overweight. I know that I’m still, you know, but I have a ways to go. But I’m not hard on myself. I’m not that person looking at myself saying, oh, my gosh, I have to fit into all of the checkboxes that society wants me to fit in. And I think that once you can accept yourself and love yourself for who you are, that you’ll be a much happier person.
Mr Ferguson [00:14:15] Yeah. And why? So my question is, why, why are those your best qualities? If you kind of get what I mean, yeah, I think
Ms Singleton [00:14:29] I do, and honestly, I think that the world is a hard place wherever you go. There are haters, right? You can be the best person. I think that Ben Ferguson is an amazing young man, but there’s probably somebody in the world who thinks, oh, he’s always smiling, he’s always cheery, he’s too nice. He’s to this there’s just always haters in the world. And so, you know, I think your best defense against them is to be able to love yourself and say, you know what, I’m sorry somebody didn’t love you enough or I’m sorry you’re having a bad day, but I can’t let that affect me. And so negativity affects us so much stronger than positivity does. We can give you one hundred compliments and the two people that say something bad about you that’s going to stick with you longer than our hundred compliments. And so I think that that’s just been my best shield of defense, is learning who I am being happy with, who I am. And so the critics can just be critics and it doesn’t affect me.
Mr Ferguson [00:15:44] How would you describe yourself?
Ms Singleton [00:15:48] You know, I’m pretty easygoing and fun. I am. But I am who I am, like I. I don’t know, Ben, how would you describe me?
Mr Ferguson [00:16:02] Oh, gosh.
Ms Singleton [00:16:04] Exactly right.
Mr Ferguson [00:16:05] You should I tell you, you should have gave me
Ms Singleton [00:16:07] that question beforehand. How would I describe myself? I think I can be caring, but firm. I think I can be blunt at times. I think I would. Describe my communication, a short and sweet. Yeah, I think it just depends on the day or the the environment.
Mr Ferguson [00:16:41] OK, so if you have any superpower, what would it be?
Ms Singleton [00:16:49] My superpower would be the ability to heal communities. Yeah, yeah, know, yeah, we’re just you know, right now, I think a lot of people are hurting, whether it’s physically, emotionally, mentally, we’re just you know, we seem to be a country divided. And if I could. Just he’ll be the world, you know, and I’m not talking about being peaceful, I’m just, you know, there’s just too many people hurting right now. So, yeah, that would be my superpower.
Mr Ferguson [00:17:27] Do you have any hidden talents that not many people or nobody knows about?
Ms Singleton [00:17:34] Well, if I tell you, it won’t be hidden anymore.
Mr Ferguson [00:17:36] Well, I said not many people.
Ms Singleton [00:17:45] I don’t know. OK, well, do you know any of my talents?
Mr Ferguson [00:17:52] I know a lot of your talents, but they’re not. Oh, gosh, they want to be hit on them because of hitting and I don’t know about it. Right. That was my whole point.
Ms Singleton [00:18:04] I mean, I don’t know of too many talents that people don’t know about. And the reason I say that is because I feel like if God gives you a gift or a talent, that it should be shared with the world. So. Yeah, I’m going to I’m going to say no, I don’t know of too many hidden talents.
Mr Ferguson [00:18:26] OK, so let’s just leave it here for today. Thank you for watching. Thank you, Christine, for coming on.
Ms Singleton [00:18:34] Thank you for having me. You are an excellent.
Mr Ferguson [00:18:39] You are welcome and I will see you in the next interview.
Ms Singleton [00:18:42] All right, great. Thank you.
Mr Ferguson [00:18:48] OK, turn off that recording.
Ms Singleton [00:18:51] How did it start?
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.
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