I've looked at several studies on good feeder/predictors of future success in aviation. None of them mentioned martial arts instructor. That's a great skill but so is carpenter, kitchen designer, drywaller, Amish framer, etc. Flying takes effort, training, and skill, but the studies don't mention hobbies or second jobs that are indicators of future success.

The difference is significant going from a SEL to a MEL and even more so a jet. Most get it as it's not rocket science but others demonstrate that they've reached their ceiling. Sometimes that occurs in training.

If you have access to a guy currently flying there have him give you some GS introductions to the aircraft, jet ops, systems, FMC's, automation, callouts, checklist use, high altitude performance, SID's and STARS and high speeds and high climb and sink rates, etc. Here's something that gets lost - energy management in congested areas with descents and climbs. The United airlines 757 incident descending into SFO is a perfect example of this - 2 injured because they were descending at a high rate and created their own, self generated, TCAS event. That's just one example of situation awareness that exists in many different areas that you have to learn. It's a great skill to learn but it's a learning process. No one can predict the outcome and it's wildly, and over the top, to believe "I've done this well so I'll do that well" when it's a significantly different arena. Show up, work hard, get assistance, listen, take a deep breath at times because there's often obstacles to overcome, are all part of the process.

Going forward? You need stepping stone career advancements. PC-12 time, MEL time, larger aircraft, faster, heavier, etc, etc. We've all done that in the past. No one started as a Part 121 Captain - we had training, guidance, mentorship, and tutelage to get better.

Don't want for the "we might hire you in 6, 12, 18 months." A former coworker had an offer like that. I told him "you can't wait for a job that might or might not happen in 6 months. You need a job NOW to keep flying. New jet, new type rating, get better at that job, is the path towards resume improvement. For him it involved moving his young family from across the street from his in-laws to a city hours away. It's not about today, this week, or next month, it's about setting yourself for long term success. That gets harder and harde as we age and our family requirements increase.

Good luck.