Fast Advancement

[Thelardking]

I'm a beginner in MA and I haven't looked into too many different styles. I'm also looking for fast (Very fast) advancement since I need to apply to med school in a year and I wish to obtain an advanced belt (Brown?) in that time to pad my resume. I'm athletic and solid built, and I learn movements (katas or techniques) quickly. Is there a martial art that's suitable for fast advancement?

I realize this question may come off as if I don't really take MA as an art form, but rather as a resume booster. Reality is I do enjoy martial arts, and I know i'll keep taking it for years to come. However, I need to meet my immediate goal as well, or at least give it my best shot. Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

 

[14 Kempo]

You can get a brown belt on the Internet for anywhere from $2.95 to custom embroidered belts that can be more than $100 ... good luck!

 

[SFC JeffJ]

Find something that you like and work your *** off would be my advice.

Jeff

 

[Xue Sheng]

You can get a brown belt on the Internet for anywhere from $2.95 to custom embroidered belts that can be more than $100 ... good luck!

you beat me to it.

 

[CoryKS]

Fast advancement... med school... thanks, I'm going to have "Crash Course in Brain Surgery" running in my head for the rest of the day.

 

[Flying Crane]

You can get a brown belt on the Internet for anywhere from $2.95 to custom embroidered belts that can be more than $100 ... good luck!

and if you are REALLY in a hurry, ask them to Fed-Ex, for when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight...

 

[Big Don]

I'm a beginner in MA and I haven't looked into too many different styles. I'm also looking for fast (Very fast) advancement since I need to apply to med school in a year and I wish to obtain an advanced belt (Brown?) in that time to pad my resume. I'm athletic and solid built, and I learn movements (katas or techniques) quickly. Is there a martial art that's suitable for fast advancement?

I realize this question may come off as if I don't really take MA as an art form, but rather as a resume booster. Reality is I do enjoy martial arts, and I know i'll keep taking it for years to come. However, I need to meet my immediate goal as well, or at least give it my best shot. Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

So you really aren't interested in quality? Where are you applying to med school, Third World U? Do me a favor and specialize in gynecology, that way your haphazard approach to life won't endanger me or my son. I am more than a little offended by your post. I started training three years ago and have worked my *** off. I am about two months away from testing for my Brown Belt and have invested thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of practice both on the mat and at home, and literally, blood, sweat and tears. To hear someone ask how they can jump to Brown in a year is offensive to me.

 

[arnisador]

Well...there's probably a TKD school nearby with fast advancement.

Many Japanese weapons arts (e.g. iaido) have relatively fast advancement and are still quite legitimate.

Of course, I don't encourage you to make speed your criterion.

 

[CoryKS]

On a more serious note, I've heard that Krav Maga has a rapid advancement rate. Can anyone verify that?

 

[MJS]

I'm a beginner in MA and I haven't looked into too many different styles. I'm also looking for fast (Very fast) advancement since I need to apply to med school in a year and I wish to obtain an advanced belt (Brown?) in that time to pad my resume. I'm athletic and solid built, and I learn movements (katas or techniques) quickly. Is there a martial art that's suitable for fast advancement?

I realize this question may come off as if I don't really take MA as an art form, but rather as a resume booster. Reality is I do enjoy martial arts, and I know i'll keep taking it for years to come. However, I need to meet my immediate goal as well, or at least give it my best shot. Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

Any school that offers fast advancement is a mcdojo IMHO. Any school worth anything should ensure that the students are learning properly. Learning the material should be the main concern, not the color of belt around your waist.

However, your best bet, IMO, would be to check out a Krav Maga school. Now, I'm not saying that they're mcdojos, but the Krav material is easy, simple to learn, doesn't take much practice to retain and its effective. Again, I am not saying, hinting or anything of that nature that KM is a bad art or that the schools suck. I'm saying that it would probably be the best for you, given how busy you are saying you will be.

Mike

 

[Empty Hands]

Invest in an MCAT training course. It will do you more good on your resume than a McDojo brown belt.

 

[Empty Hands]

I am about two months away from testing for my Brown Belt and have invested thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of practice both on the mat and at home, and literally, blood, sweat and tears.

You know Don, you and I have clashed a lot in the politics threads, so I would like to take this opportunity to say that I really respect you for this. Politics are politics, but true martial artists are always to be respected.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

Brown in 1 year not in my dojo or any of my friends dojos. Come on that is not even a logical thing there is so much more to learn than just movements and katas. There is so much depth and precision. I like the example of a crash course in brain surgery its about the same thing. Find another way to make yourself look good quick because my guess is it should have been a priority before now. I know you didn't just jump up and decide to go to medical school. You could have trained in the martial arts during undergrad and possibly made it to black over the 4 years if anything at least a legitimate brown belt.

 

[Laurentkd]

While I agree with everyone here that fast advancement is not what you should care about, I might have one idea. Look into getting private lessons. I know that one on one time with my instructor gives me a chance to learn and improve on material much faster than in group lessons. If you did a couple private lessons a week and then worked your tail off on your own, you could obtain SOME amount of proficiency in a year. Nothing compares to the hours and hours investment over years, but you would be better off with private lessons for a year than group lessons.

Another thing to think about- putting that are you "brown belt" in X martial art in a resume won't really mean anything to the people reading it. Most people know that white belt is first and black belt is last and don't know anything in between (and even those "facts" aren't entirely correct). What I am saying is, if you put you are a green belt or a purple belt or even a polka dot belt they won't know the difference. Instead just put X martial art down as one of your hobbies and find a way to explain the benefits that you receive from it in an essay or interview question (perseverance, respect, etc... whatever you actually gain over your year of training).
Hope this helps!

 

[Kacey]

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. As with many others here, I find your attitude toward getting rank quickly to "pad your resume" troublesome, at best; what your attitude bespeaks about your ethics - especially in someone who wants to practice medicine - I find to be highly disturbing. I sincerely hope that whomever is reviewing your application knows enough about martial arts to recognize that the time frame and the rank are not synchronized, should you actually meet this goal you have set for yourself.

If you want to advance quickly in a serious school, you will need to find a school where the instructor has the time - and the willingness - to provide private lessons so that you can progress more quickly. You will need to be very up-front with the instructor about your goal and the reason for it; however, I suspect that most instructors worth training with will be unwilling to fast-track you for the reason you give.

If you are willing - as it sounds that you are - to attend a school that is less serious, check your local phone book and newspaper; schools that are more interested in your money than in your actual proficiency (i.e., those commonly referred to as "McDojos") will be apparent from their advertising, which often includes the words "contract", "quick advancement", and "guaranteed to reach 'X' rank in 'Y' timeframe", or similar phrases.

 

[Big Don]

I've worked, as I stated for three years to get to where I am, and if it takes 10 more to earn my Black Belt, I am fine with that. Quality takes time, I am in no hurry.

 

[MA-Caver]

So you really aren't interested in quality? Where are you applying to med school, Third World U? Do me a favor and specialize in gynecology, that way your haphazard approach to life won't endanger me or my son. I am more than a little offended by your post. I started training three years ago and have worked my *** off. I am about two months away from testing for my Brown Belt and have invested thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of practice both on the mat and at home, and literally, blood, sweat and tears. To hear someone ask how they can jump to Brown in a year is offensive to me.

While I'm not a woman I found the bold sentence inappropriate. In a way I can see what you're saying Don, but there would've been a better way to go about it. Basically it's saying it's ok to screw up with women than it is with men.

I agree that Thelardking should be more concerned with quality of his MA training than the speed of it. There are Martial Artists on this forum that have spent YEARS getting the rank/belts that they now hold and to have someone wanting to achieve that in a quick way just to "pad their resume" is not cool. Your "busting your ***" to get your brown is worth applauding. The gynecology comment is not. Sorry, but even as a man I was offended by it.
:asian:

 

[Big Don]

While I'm not a woman I found the bold sentence inappropriate. In a way I can see what you're saying Don, but there would've been a better way to go about it. Basically it's saying it's ok to screw up with women than it is with men.

I agree that Thelardking should be more concerned with quality of his MA training than the speed of it. There are Martial Artists on this forum that have spent YEARS getting the rank/belts that they now hold and to have someone wanting to achieve that in a quick way just to "pad their resume" is not cool. Your "busting your ***" to get your brown is worth applauding. The gynecology comment is not. Sorry, but even as a man I was offended by it.
:asian:

My apologies to anyone offended by the comment, it was the only field of medicine I could think of that will never impact me or my son. I suppose I should have said forensic pathology, but, that wasn't what popped into my head at the time.

 

[MA-Caver]

My apologies to anyone offended by the comment, it was the only field of medicine I could think of that will never impact me or my son. I suppose I should have said forensic pathology, but, that wasn't what popped into my head at the time.

No worries... I suffer from foot-n-mouth disease myself from time to time. Just ask anyone here!

I'm sure the ladies (here) will appreciate your apology. :asian:

 

[Big Don]

No worries... I suffer from foot-n-mouth disease myself from time to time. Just ask anyone here!

I'm sure the ladies (here) will appreciate your apology. :asian:

Yeah, but now Jack Klugman will hate me...