Fast Advancement

[thardey]

Maybe you should try a Martial Art that doesn't involve ranking? I still don't see what "Brown Belt" has to do with anything. Brown Belt is still a "colored belt," that is, a student belt.

If you're looking to demonstrate how athletic you are, why not try something like fencing, or ballroom dancing? You can probably train hard at a ballroom, take a bunch of private lessons, and achieve a "silver level" status by a year. It will cost about the same about of money.

You've already got the "Nat. Guard" endorsement, which shows that you are willing and able to fight. (In general.) If you want to really show that you are "well rounded", maybe you should try something more artistic!

My old Ballroom instructor used to work near a Med. School. Most of his clients were nurses and students. It's worth a look.

Or you could try fencing (which is still considered a Martial Art). It still has a reputation of being a little elite, disciplined, athletic, and intelligent. But it doesn't have ranks. You could fence for a year, and all you would have to include was what weapons you trained under -- Foil, epee, or saber. If you want to really pad your resume, learn all three weapons at once, then you could say Foil, 1 year, epee, 1 year, and saber, 1 year. I wouldn't recommend schlagger, though. While a lot of fun, nobody know what it is, and so it won't really impress anyone.

Or heck, do both dancing and fencing. Then you have two more "well rounded" hobbies (read: renaissance man) in one year! Each one will compliment the other.

But if you're looking to do something impressive in one year, you're gonna have to think outside of the box. When you hear "Martial Arts" don't get yourself stuck to Karate, or Kung-fu, or Jujutsu. Also, don't get yourself stuck to a Brown Belt, either. There's a lot of people of this site who don't even award belts, nor have them -- no matter what your experience.

 

[gkygrl]

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.

Your apology is very much appreciated. That comment caught me a little off-guard!

Also, great advice on this thread. I have finally read it all the way through and it makes a person examine their motives.

Thanks for all the experienced MA's who shared here. Good stuff.

 

[7starmarc]

As someone who is faculty at a medical school and has interviewed candidates for residency positions and medical school for seven years, I would say that you're pursuit may not be the best idea.

Your experience will, of, course, depend on the background and disposition of the interviewer at various institutions, but let's look at a couple scenarios:

1. The interviewer knows nothing of martial arts, notices the interest and nothing more. Your rank would mean very little to them. Also, martial arts means little to them. Other activities might be more intriguing (music, dance, painting) or impressive (research, volunteering, EMT training).

2. The interviewer knows martial arts, notices the interest and rank, is not overly impressed since brown belt is a variable measure of dedication/success. They are aware of the variability in difficulty of achieving that level belt, so it's kind of a footnote. If the person presses the issue, and tries to make it mean more than it does it becomes a put-off (see below).

3. The interviewer knows martial arts and is a serious practitioner. They ask you about you training and style. It comes out that you have been training for only a year, but are a brown belt. Silently, they question your motives and true interest in arts, and what else might be a fabrication in the application. Believe me, once one item is put into doubt, the entire application can be put into doubt.

Those people who have put martial arts on their CV have fallen into three categories, in my experience.

1. People who just have a casual interest and want to share it. They don't claim rank or expertise, it's just another activity.

2. People who are more interested, but have not progressed far. They state their true rank, and it's just a footnote, another interest to round them out. Perhaps more helpful than #1, but pretty neutral overall.

3. People who have achieved something real in martial arts (i.e. black belt or similar). You can tell, it's part of their story and person. For some interviewers it means very little, for others it speaks volumes.

I've never run into a "poser" martial artist in the interviews I've done. If I did, I would question the candidate's application and their authenticity.

I guess the moral of my post is that you should just be yourself. If you have a genuine interest in martial arts, pick a style, train, and don't be overly concerned about how it will look on your application. If it's really significant to you, it will come out as a positive (or neutral) no matter what rank you write down. If you try to make your training into something it's not, you might get away with it, but it will mean very little to your application; or, you might get "caught" and actually harm your application.

You'd be surprised what some of the faculty interviewers I work with pick up on.

 

[kingkong89]

all i can say is find any style that suites you and work hard as you can to advance.