American Ninja Warrior

myI can’t believe I haven’t blogged about American Ninja Warrior until now.

Have you watched this sport? It’s amazing. It’s based on a show that aired for a while in Japan called Ninja Warrior, and it basically makes an obstacle course into a sport.

This is the 6th season of ANW. Up until this season, it came across as a television show. And it is. But this season it feels a lot more like a sport. 

In a way that’s just semantics, and what are sports but entertainment (with television as a way of viewing them)? But what’s cool to me is that the athletes who compete on the show are in incredibly good shape. They train hard for the competition. Many of them are recognized in their hometowns. There are even gyms that focus specifically on training for ANW.

The show is really entertaining. It’s been airing for most of the summer on Monday nights. They’re 2-hour episodes, and while they’re not live, the pre-recorded aspect adds to the drama. It allows the producers to edit each episode into an arc where you see athletes progress further and further into the obstacle course, failing at an specific point several times before someone solves it. Just when it seems impossible that anyone will complete the course, someone does. Then it becomes a race to do it faster than that person.

The structure of the competition is set in various stages. There are various stages around the country where past competitors are invited back to compete again and rookies wait in line for days for a chance to join. Then there are local finals. The top 100 athletes are then invited to Las Vegas for a four-stage, single-elimination competition (this week was the first week for that).

It’s an individual competition, so there are tons of interesting characters to root for. There’s a few guys in their 40s and 50s as well as some really young guys. There’s a really short guy and a really tall guy. And there are several amazing women who compete from year to year too (they provide some of the most memorable moments for the sport). They haven’t progressed as far as the men yet, but I like that the sport is completely open to all genders.

American Ninja Warrior is so much fun. I can’t say enough good things about it. I hope it continues to evolve beyond its humble roots as a show to become a full-fledged sport.

3 thoughts on “American Ninja Warrior”

  1. If I am ever having a bad day, I watch that video of Kacy Catanzaro and just sit in awe of humans. I’ve never seen the show, just YouTube clips, but WOW.

    Reply
    • Yeah, I’ve watched it at least half a dozen times. It’s amazing. I like the idea of using it as a bad day video–I’m going to try that!

      Reply

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