Shindokai/Shin Shin Mugendo Karate?

[LightFighterZero]

At the dojo where I am going to be taking classes, they also offer a Shindokai/Shin Shin Mugendo class. I have been looking around and I have found nothing about this art anywhere else so I came here to ask if any of you have. and if you have can you please tell me a little about it and if you would recommend it or not? thisis what the dojo site says:

"Superficially, traditional martial arts styles tend to incorporate movement patterns which can loosely be described as falling into two movement categories: circular and linear. Ben Otake recognized that each movement category - circular and linear - enjoys an advantage vs. the other category depending on such factors as response time, distance, and power. The converse is also true - each movement style can be said to be at a disadvantage with respect to the other style, again, depending on the situation. For example, a hard front-kick is very difficult to defeat with a hard forearm block. A deflecting parry might be more successful. With this in mind, Otake Sensei saw that it is possible to combine circular and linear elements into a new family of techniques thus combining the advantages of both types of movements. By using a continuous figure-eight pattern of movement, he has developed and refined a training method which enables the practitioner to respond and counter quickly to any attack with little or no recovery time. He calls his method Shin Shin Mugendo, or way of infinity."

Thank you for your time and kind consideration,

Light Fighter Zero

[powerof0ne]

I don't know much about the style but from what it says but Ben Otake definitely has a background in martial arts that seems pretty good to me: http://www.martialsource.com/shindokai.htm

He earned a roku dan under Kubota so he must have some skill. I'm sure if you just asked an instructor at this school that they would gladly tell you information or point you in the right direction.

My only real advice would be to beware any school that doesn't want to tell you their lineage/rank and similar information or information that can't be verified.

[LightFighterZero]

It turns out Ben Otake is one of the instuctors at the dojo. Seems promising. I'll check it out.