What you think

<p>Hey I'm going to be applying to Cal next month. My grades are pretty solid and so are my essays. I am applying as a Political Science major. I have a question. I have been doing karate for 13 years now. I have been sponsored and traveled all around the world to compete in kumate. I have been 2x national champion in the US and 3x state champion. So would those awards be legit? How good would they look? BTW there will be more awards other than those.</p>

<p>They seem very legit. They show an extensive time commitment and ammount of dedication. You may very well want to write an essay relating to your experience in the category to further legitimize the awards. Cal has some great martial arts stuff. <a href="http://www.ucmap.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ucmap.com&lt;/a> . I hope to join this semester. You might want to use only a few awards from this category to show that you are more well-rounded than just karate, but if all you have is really karate awards, then I still would fill up the application with the awards that mean something or show something different about you.</p>

<p>thanks for your response, we will defintely have to spar sometime LOL</p>

<p>haha sure, I could use a butt whooping. :) I mean, I used to do martial arts for years (but stopped 6 or 7 years ago), and I wasn't that committed.</p>

<p>So, what style do you do? Is it called kumate? I can't find much about it online . . . is there any site you recommend to learn about it?</p>

<p>yea its karate, more in particular the style is called Kajukembo</p>

<p>sorry it was a typo. I meant to say I compete in Kumite not Kumate. Kumite means fighting in japanese</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajukembo%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajukembo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Sounds very rough. :)</p>

<p>yes it is very tough indeed. Countless injuries. But that's what it takes to be a champion</p>

<p>Apply to West Point or Annapolis. I think you would be well qualified because you appear to be a well disciplined person.</p>