Technical Abstract: It is now a decade since Brachypodium distachyon was suggested as a model species for temperate grasses and cereals. Since then transformation protocols, large expressed sequence tag (EST) populations, tools for forward and reverse genetic screens, highly refined cytogenetic probes, germplasm collections and recently, a complete genome sequence have been generated. In this review we will describe the current status of the Brachypodium (Brachy) Tool Box and how it is beginning to be applied to study a range of biological traits. At the same time, the development of next generation sequencing platforms is facilitating well the genomic analysis of larger genome cereals and forage grasses so we will re-evaluate Brachypodium as a model species. We suggest that there remains an urgent need to employ reverse genetic and functional genomic approaches to identify the functionality of key genetic elements which could be employed subsequently in plant breeding programmes. Brachypodium has easy growth requirements, small physical stature, and rapid seed-to-seed life cycle which coupled with the resources offered by the Brachy Tool Box, make this species ideally suited as a model for such studies.