Fast Advancement

[shesulsa]

You guys grade every two months ... and you're calling that slow?

Well ... you'd be better off disserting to your admissions board that fast belts aren't worth the dye they're made with and that comprehension of the knowledge itself is more key to you than the color. But what do I know?

It sounds like you've made your decision, you have plenty of advice here. Good luck ... again. Oh ... what are you hoping to practice? and where?

 

[jks9199]

I believe advancement should be a reflection of my dedication and talent, and my mastery of the art, but not a function of the length of time in the art. If I don't work very hard, taking 2 group classes a week, and spend no time to practice at home, it may take me 10 or 20 years to get a black belt. But if i work 10 times as hard, the question would be, shouldn't it be fair if i can get there 10 times faster?

My hope is that someone can point me to a some options such that I can achieve this impossible goal, or at least get as close to it as i can.

There's an old story (already recounted in full) about a man who went to a well known sword master and asked him how long it would take to master his sword style. The master said 5 years, shocking the prospective student. So, he asked, what if I train twice as hard? 10 years, said the master!

The thing about martial arts training (and I suspect this is actually probably true of medicine, too!) is that it's only partly how "hard" you work... You have to work smart, and train properly, too. There's no substitute for hard work and dedicated practice... but if it's not done with the proper spirit and proper methods, it's worse than wasted effort.

As I believe I said before... change the focus. If you really think this is something that will help your application, focus on learning as much, as well, as you can. Rank will then happen... But if you instead are so focused on rank, you won't learn.

 

[Kacey]

Rank testing occurs when the instructor determines the student is ready for the next level. In my class, my students test every 3-4 months - and there's always a few who aren't ready, and wait for the next testing, or test at another class in our association if they're read off the class's testing schedule. Every 2 months seems horribly fast to me as well - so for you to be asking how you can advance faster than that seems, no matter your protestations to the contrary, to be self-serving rather than out of any actual interest in attaining valid rank.

 

[bydand]

In conclusion, I must restate that I am looking for the fastest art for the proper transfer of knowledge. Kenpo, as i am currently being trained, seems rather slow, with testing every 2 months even if you master the techniques and katas.

Fastest art for proper transfer of knowledge, and 2 months between testing now is too slow? Dude, lay off the minnie-whites and come back to the pace of the real world. I have never seen any art, let alone Kenpo where you master the techniques in 2 months.

Right now I am a mid-kyu level practitioner in my art, it has been 18 months between rankings and will probably be another 2 months before my Instructor and myself think I am ready to demo for the next belt. It will take me that long to put together the demo I want to give, and go through it enough to feel like I have semi-mastered the material. Yes, the school I go to is VERY, VERY slow to rank students, but that is why we are all there. We all have been in belt factories before and know when we tie on the next belt here at this school, there is very few in the same art who is at the same level of knowledge for our respective belt color. That is what we want, not saying that is the way it HAS to be.

I have to agree with the other posters who say to slow down and earn each and every belt through both knowledge and practice. The men and women who sit on the review boards, are not going to be duped into thinking that a 1 year practicing MA is going to be that high ranking with real knowledge of the art or internalization of the thought process involved in learning an art. They may not be MA's themselves, but they have seen dozens claiming to be on applications and resumes, they will pick out the difference between a "resume filler" and a true practitioner. One that has exercised their minds to learn in several different ways for years, not dabbled for months.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I have to agree with Scott that they probably will see through your attempt at a resume filler. Instead, why don't you find a martial system that you enjoy and just practice and when rank happens it will be something that you can be proud of!

 

[Xue Sheng]

Not to beat the point to death, but if I were to purchase a belt, I wouldn't have even bothered writing this post, and in the process arouse much anger among the community. I would've just went and bought it. The question I would've posted would be "where can i buy a ranking? or who's willing to certify me for a fee?", rather than which art can train me faster. I feel much of the attack was on me shortcutting, and the feeling of disgust at the cheapening of the value of hard work. I understand that and I regret that my previous statement came through as such.

In conclusion, I must restate that I am looking for the fastest art for the proper transfer of knowledge. Kenpo, as i am currently being trained, seems rather slow, with testing every 2 months even if you master the techniques and katas.

To be honest, this statement is not much better.

You have to understand that first you are on a page that has a lot of Martial artists that have put in a lot of time to get to where they are and to ask how do I get a brown belt in a year is going to be received as you are looking to buy a belt so why not save time and go to AWMA and buy one.

What the overall sound of the respone you are getting is saying; you can’t “Honestly” get a brown belt in a year. You are also taking something like martial arts that is taken rather seriously on MT and saying it is nothing but padding on your resume which is also saying you are not serious.

Then you add you train kempo that tests every 2 months and further show how much you do not take MA seriously by saying that is to slow. So what do you expect.

This is why you are being told just go buy a belt it is cheaper.

If you get into med school, and I wish you luck with that, I hope you take that training a lot more seriously and if by chance you do get your brown belt in quick time you better hope that there is not a martial artist on the evaluation committee for med school because he/she will have much the same opinion that we have if they know you got your brown belt in a year and why you got it so fast.

There has got to be a better and more honest way to pad out the resume and it might be better to spend your time trying to find that instead of looking for a belt factory, that is if martial art is anything more to you than resume padding.

 

[morph4me]

You have to understand that first you are on a page that has a lot of Martial artists that have put in a lot of time to get to where they are and to ask how do I get a brown belt in a year is going to be received as you are looking to buy a belt so why not save time and go to AWMA and buy one.

What the overall sound of the respone you are getting is saying; you can’t “Honestly” get a brown belt in a year. You are also taking something like martial arts that is taken rather seriously on MT and saying it is nothing but padding on your resume which is also saying you are not serious.

Then you add you train kempo that tests every 2 months and further show how much you do not take MA seriously by saying that is to slow. So what do you expect.

This is why you are being told just go buy a belt it is cheaper.

If you get into med school, and I wish you luck with that, I hope you take that training a lot more seriously and if by chance you do get your brown belt in quick time you better hope that there is not a martial artist on the evaluation committee for med school because he/she will have much the same opinion that we have if they know you got your brown belt in a year and why you got it so fast.

There has got to be a better and more honest way to pad out the resume and it might be better to spend your time trying to find that instead of looking for a belt factory, that is if martial art is anything more to you than resume padding.

I think this says it all.

 

[RED]

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.

Don, I saw the humor in it too because I'm a guy. But I wouldn't want the Mc Doctor checking out my pregnant daughter-in-law either.

There isn't much left for me to add to this conversation. But would Wrestling fit the bill? You wont get rank but you will have the bragging rights. I'm not a grappler, my son is (which by the way he took first in his weight last weekend), but dosen't AAU have adult clasifications? Also, dose your college have a martial arts club? Put that on the resume. Volunteer work as a medical adviser to the club or something.

 

[grydth]

WOW! This is quite an amazing community in that so many people responded and viewed this post. Thanks to you all.

I do volunteer work at hospitals, and I am in the army reserves. So I have some physical training and I know that I like the medical profession. Volunteering, like someone previously said, is quickly becoming tedious, since everyone who's ever attempted med school since the beginning of time has done thousands of hours of it. To stand out, often people take extraordinary steps, and MA, as I have been led to believe, is one of those obscure niches still uncommon enough to garner an extra look at the old resume.

I agree with the thought that mastering the art isn't directly proportional to time spent. At some point, there has to be diminishing returns. Roasting a chicken 10 times hotter just burns the chicken. Can't say i disagree with the analogy, and i accept that I can't do it in 1 year. Although I am still certain that some arts do offer faster transfer of knowledge through more efficient techniques and teachings. After all, martial arts are diverse and no two are created equal.

Not to beat the point to death, but if I were to purchase a belt, I wouldn't have even bothered writing this post, and in the process arouse much anger among the community. I would've just went and bought it. The question I would've posted would be "where can i buy a ranking? or who's willing to certify me for a fee?", rather than which art can train me faster. I feel much of the attack was on me shortcutting, and the feeling of disgust at the cheapening of the value of hard work. I understand that and I regret that my previous statement came through as such.

In conclusion, I must restate that I am looking for the fastest art for the proper transfer of knowledge. Kenpo, as i am currently being trained, seems rather slow, with testing every 2 months even if you master the techniques and katas.

What amazes me is that you expect this tactic to work. Are you of the impression that nobody with a doctoral degree also has significant experience in the martial arts?

A very good friend is one of the most eminent surgeons in the Northeast. He also worked for years for the Ni-Dan he holds. If you run across him - or anyone like him - in the selection process, you will be gutted and hung out to dry.

To understand the ire you have raised with this here, try considering it on your home ground. Imagine an underclassman came to you, ostensibly for advice. But what he really wanted to know is where you could go to become a Medical Doctor in one year. I mean, 8 years of college and med school would be such a drag...... surely there must be some way to be doing surgery after just a year.... right? Now - how would you feel about this prospective "doctor"?

I studied the martial arts intensively on the way to my own doctorate degree. But I did so for the right reasons, and one fine day it saved my life. A resume pad will not save you from a knife wielding nut.

 

[Gentle Fist]

Being a BJJ practitioner, I can say that my style would be the wrong choice for you. One year will get you a two stripe white belt, well.. maybe three.

But on the other hand you will learn more about combat in that time than in most commercial schools that focus to much on forms and the like. So if push came to shove you could disengage someone on the street. Which to me should be your reasoning, not to pad a resume. If you got a year to kill, go do some volunteer work in a low income area or job shadow a doctor.

 

[exile]

To understand the ire you have raised with this here, try considering it on your home ground. Imagine an underclassman came to you, ostensibly for advice. But what he really wanted to know is where you could go to become a Medical Doctor in one year. I mean, 8 years of college and med school would be such a drag...... surely there must be some way to be doing surgery after just a year.... right? Now - how would you feel about this prospective "doctor"?

Grydth's comparison is right on the money; all I would add to it is that I myself don't feel ire so much as... well, frustration, because the OP's world view and mine/ours is so vast and seemingly unbridgeable. I was taught virtually from the cradle by my hyperperfectionist parents that if you undertake to do anything, you should do it right, and not just right but outstandingly well. And what I've discovered in my various MA adventures is that a lot of people who do MAs seriously share this point of view. There is enormous breadth and depth to the MAs, many layers of increasingly sophisticated knowledge and practical ability that would take several lifetimes for even the best of us to reach the frontiers of. That's part of what makes it so satisfying to do: you always know you can do it better. In fact, for one of the great pioneers of modern Taekwondo, Gm. Duk Sung Son, the second headmaster of the Chung Do Kwan and the man that many belief to have been the originator of the name `Taekwondo' for the Korean development of Japanese karate that emerged in the 1950s and '60s, it was this very unattainability of technical perfection that entitled TKD, and other MAs, to the description `martial art'. In his pioneering 1968 TKD book Korean Karate, he observed that

As in the case of painting, singing, or any other human activity generally classified as an art, the art is in the striving and the goal is never reached. In engineering, the bridge is built. In business, the profitable operation is achieved. In medicine, the patient is cured.Of course, the better way is always sought and the horizons of science and engineering are continually broadening. But the steps are tangible. In an art, the only measure is subjective... the goals always remain ahead because, no matter how fast or strong or coordinated a movement is, it can always be done faster or more storngly or with better coordination. This is the asymptotic approach: one is always approaching, but although the measure of miss becomes infinitely small, perfection is never achieved. It is well known that great artists in music, painting, writing and so on never feel they have created the perfect work. They strive to improve.​

(p. 11; emphasis added). One can quibble with details of Gm. Son's comparisons, but I think most of us in the MAs, and certainly on MT, share this same kind of view. So to encounter a perspective which seems to want to bypass the actual substance of the art and instead obtain what would be a truly hollow symbol of competence without the content to match, is... well, it's just not something that we can get our minds around. I'm talking to the OPer now: most of us, I suspect, would be very skeptical of the motives and integrity of anyone who approached any aspect of life the way the OP seems to view the MAs. And as grydth points out, if you encounter a doctor on the admissions board who has studied a MA for any length of time, and offer a one-year brown belt as evidence of... whatever... you're going to be doing your cause way more harm than good.

 

[terryl965]

fistlaw720 Post is the same as mine except I do TKD Being a BJJ practitioner, I can say that my style would be the wrong choice for you. One year will get you a two stripe white belt, well.. maybe three.


The only different is if you find a Mc Dojo then you could actually recieve that rank in your timeframe, if you was to train with me it would be 3-5 if you came 6 days a week for two hours a day.
Nothing comes easy in life and you are looking for an easy way of doing thing in my opinion. What happens if you relly become a doctor take every shortcut there is to make a buck. I hope you really do consider to be a real martial Artest and go down the right path in your journey.

 

[arnisador]

I was taught virtually from the cradle by my hyperperfectionist parents that if you undertake to do anything, you should do it right, and not just right but outstandingly well.

It seems to me that the O.P. feels similarly. He's dedicated himself to admission to the best possible medical school and is seeking to present the most outstanding application possible in order to achieve that end. That our hobby is to him primarily a means to his education-related end doesn't mean he's not doing the best for his goal. You and he have the same attitude applied to different problems.

After all, you have to deal with minor medical issues for the bruises, scrapes, and cuts you get in your martial arts classes, but have you gone to medical or nursing school so that you can provide optimal self-care? Well, you might see that as an exaggerated comparison, but earning a black belt is a nontrivial undertaking whether or not you see it as comparable to a med./nursing school education. Either way, I see some symmetry here. We all define our own goals.

I don't think giving the O.P. advice on admissions to medical school is something anyone here is well-qualified to do...not even those of us who occasionally do it as part of their job (as I do with my undergraduate advisees, like the one who was in my office two weeks ago insisting that organic chem. was "optional" (!!!) for pre-med. students). But advising that using the martial arts in this way will be offensive in real-life as it is online is indeed good advice.

We all know there are schools that will meet this individual's needs. If you live in a good-sized city, you know the names of a couple of such McDojos.(In addition, there may be legitimate schools that simply have a small curriculum and allow relatively quicker advancement.) The only question is, What are the ethics of directing someone to a questionable school for a questionable reason?

I don't see it as being my place to judge his reasons. Not everyone can be expected to be as serious about our area of interest as we are, though showing more respect for it wouldn't have been a bad idea. It could have been phrased much better. (Troll?)

To those who say they wouldn't use such a physician as this individual: Most physicians you visit likely did much worse things in college, because...they were college undergraduates. Who here saw a pre-med. student vomit into a commode at least every other weekend? (Check.) Cheat on assignments? (Check.) Start (and win) a fight at a bar, out of boredom? (Check.) I did know two who were saints, though. None of that correlated with their basic intelligence.

 

[Laurentkd]

I don't see it as being my place to judge his reasons. Not everyone can be expected to be as serious about our area of interest as we are, though showing more respect for it wouldn't have been a bad idea. It could have been phrased much better. (Troll?)

I do like your point here. Whenever I can't understand why a student quits, or doesn't want to give more in class or doesn't want to help assist a class or do a demo my instructor always reminds me "not everyone is like us Lauren."
And it is true. I am willing to bet that everyone here is in the top 1% of their school when it comes to passion for the arts. Hmmm... didn't think of it before but you make a good point sir.:asian:

 

[MJS]

the other comment that I think i should clear up, is that I have a good mcat score and GPA, not superbly high, but well above average. So it comes down to my CV that'll determine WHICH med school i get into. And of course, like any logical person, I would prefer it to be as strong as possible. Given MA is something that I enjoy doing, so naturally I wish to excel in it and be recognized for doing that. Again, I'm not looking for a shortcut (which after I read my initial comment, really sounds like the implied question). No shortcut, but there must be a MA that's both respectable and easy enough to learn such that given enough dedication, i can achieve something above a purple in a year's time.

You state that you're not looking for a shortcut, but actually you are. You're looking for an art that'll give you fast rank in the shortest amount of time. Sounds like a shortcut to me.

 

[Karatedrifter7]

Is it the belt you want? Or mastering the quickest art to be able to fight? I would forget about the belt. Bruce Lee said the quickest way to learn fighting was to practice boxing, and Muay Thai. Not everybody has the same goals, so I respect this one as well.

Buona Fortuna!

Dave

 

[morph4me]

When I read the original post it struck me the same way it struck me when I heard that the 911 terrorist went to flight schools to learn basically how to steer an airplane. I must admit I felt the same resentment as many here have expressed, I've worked for many years to develop my skills and earn my rank. I feel that the OP is demeaning to the time and work put in by the people in this forum, but he's he's young and impatient and I was the same way. Time and experience have a way of teaching us the value of things.

 

[charyuop]

When I read the original post it struck me the same way it struck me when I heard that the 911 terrorist went to flight schools to learn basically how to steer an airplane. I must admit I felt the same resentment as many here have expressed, I've worked for many years to develop my skills and earn my rank. I feel that the OP is demeaning to the time and work put in by the people in this forum, but he's he's young and impatient and I was the same way. Time and experience have a way of teaching us the value of things.

That is called "beginner's enthusiasm". With time you will discover if you actually like the art or not. If you like the art you will start loving. When you start loving it...who cares about the belt? It become a life companion, walks by your side and evolves with you IN you. Time loses meaning and ranking too.

 

[Cirdan]

"Nothing is more important than one`s patience and concideration as practiced in daily life. Live in the "here and now" and do not be distracted bu the ways of the world. If you rush, your path will be narrow, but by keeping one stap back, the way will be wide." -the Bubishi

There are no shortcuts. Brown belt in one year without prior experience is ridicolous.

 

[Grenadier]

Most arts have general guidelines, as to how long it takes the "average" student to get to a certain level, assuming that they train a certain number of times a week, and practice the material at home consistently. You'd best speak to the instructor of a particular school to see how long it would take.

Now, if you were to train twice as much as the "average" student would, and if you can demonstrate the proper level of proficiency for the rank that you are testing, and most importantly, are using the proper kihon for the system (the fundamentals), then I see no problems in someone being promoted faster than the average student. To me, it would be more of a matter of someone simply being more dedicated to his training.

Usually, though, people who are in a terrible rush to complete things as quickly as possible, are going to miss out on some of the important aspects of the training.

Still, if you want to give it a whirl, by all means, talk with the instructors, and see if it is possible. I've had some beginning students train 8 hours a week, instead of the usual 2 hours a week, and it's no surprise that they advanced through the ranks more quickly, since they earned it. I've also had some "rushers" not pass an exam, because they tried to cram too much, too soon.



Now that I've said this, I will also tell you, that I, too, once considered going to medical school, and have been through the application / interview process. Therefore, I can say with some certaintity, that I can give you a bit of advice that will be more informed than the "average" person.

Medical schools primarily look at only a handful of criteria. The big three are your GPA, your MCAT scores, and your recommendations from your professors in the sciences. Those three categories alone are enough to get someone into medical school, assuming that you do decently. Two outstanding performances in the above are usually enough, too.

A fourth category, which is still somewhat significant, but not nearly as significant as the above three, can include what you did in terms of scientific research and / or actual hospital work. This can be a supplement that can help you compensate, in case if one of the above three categories are somewhat deficient.

While it is true, that extra cirricular activities can help, they're nothing more than a tie breaker at best, and if you're at the point where you're involved in a tie breaker at a particular school, then you're probably going to be accepted elsewhere. Thus, if you were heavily involved in something truly worthwhile, you may have a slight edge over the guy whose sole accomplishment (in terms of extra cirricular activities) was that he was a member of the Dungeons and Dragons club, assuming that all things are equal (and they almost never are).