A couple of weeks ago I tested for, and recieved my Brown Belt! I have been studying martial arts for about 14 months now, and it has been great. Everyone should at least try it out. It's great to know you have some knowledge and ability to protect your family and yourself, if you ever need to. Especially since there is no one going to do it for you. But now I will really hammer the fundamentals for a while as I progress through the 3 stages of brown belt, and hopefully later this year or early next year I will become a serious beginner (read: black belt). Also an added bonus was the Cane and Belt clinic given by Master Rick Madore, I got to learn for about 2 hours how to use a standard wooden cane or a belt to defend myself. Weapons are cool.