Thank you for the replies. While I will agree that achieving a brown belt in 2 years, or slightly less, is an achievable goal, however, that individual would have to be a good martial artist, not miss a class and even put in some extra time - that is just my opinion and maybe a biased one. My friend, or I guess at this point ex-friend, is over weight, uncoordinated adn not very limber at all. I have taken some class' with him and noticed that his forms are not very precise in form (no pun intended), his kicks are weak and look like a white or even a yellow belt, he couldn't kick at my head if his life depended on it (and I'm only 5'6" - he's 6'). He has complained that his former school was trying to holding him back and not giving him the grades he should of had on his tests when they have even let him walk through a couple of tests due to sugery on his ankle. So he has changed schools and was very happy to tell me that he will get his BB sooner at the new school, he then tells me a couple of months later that he is testing for his brown belt (when he had just gotten his blue from the previous school not long before changing schools). I then eluded to the fact that I think he needed to slow down a little, he then got nasty with me and said that I was just jealous because he is passing me (I have not been in school in quite some time due to money, not desire), and that I didn't know what I was talking about. I told him that there were some schools out there that just pretty much sold belts and I feard that was happening with him, I asked what he would like to be, a black belt of a good black belt - well our friendship of almost 20 years is done but I feel I did the right thing and hopefully have put a seed in his head and he slows down. I also hope that his teachers care enough to hold him in place for a while and work with him to improve the areas that he's lacking, which are considerable.... Thanks for listening to my rant and letting me unload. Tony
