American Ninja Warrior and Parkour/Freerunning

[siniri]

Is anyone else a fan of American Ninja Warrior (or the original Sasuke)? I'm in awe of the athleticism displayed on the show, and the grit and determination shown by the competitors.

 

Last season, one guy sprained his ankle in an early obstacle. He made it to the end of the course, which requires you to run up a "warped wall," grab on at the top, and pull yourself up to the finish line. You're allowed 3 attempts at the wall, and he could barely stand on the ankle after the first two attempts -- I was cringing for him, wishing he would stop, honestly -- and he somehow made it to the top on his third attempt. It was absolutely incredible.

 

Anyway. it made me interested in parkour and freerunning -- they're basically what I always wanted to do as a kid, without knowing it had a name -- and I've become a fan of some of the contestants, including Jesse La Flair. For anyone else who's a fan of the sport, he's got a Kickstarter campaign going for a documentary about the sport; he's hoping to go on a world tour with Cory DeMeyers, hosting freerunning jams at all the tour stops in addition to the screenings, to bring more awareness to the sport and bring together practitioners in the communities they visit. They're coming to my city (if it gets funded), so I made my first Kickstarter backing. Not that I actually do parkour, since I have a chronic knee injury, but still... it'll be neat to meet Jesse La Flair.

[Shelley]

I used to watch American Ninja Warrior all the time!! I've stopped watching it though recently. I used to watch wipe out too but that's a whole different ball game haha (or should I say obstacle course? o.O). But yeah it also amazed me that people would have such an insane amount of athletic ability. You have to be really smart too, to figure out how to conquer the obstacles.

 

I think it's awesome to watch people who are really good at parkour perform. We have (had?) a club at my school and everyone in it was pretty bad... hahaha

[Nubisbully]

Looooove ANW!!!!!!!! I actually squealed when I saw the first commercial recently. Last year we were in the stix so it was hard keeping up with it all but it turned out to be disappointing anyhow. Can't wait to see if a few of my favorites get redemption. It's a shame that the best guy (arguably) wiped out so early... I surmise it had something to do with his new obsessive girlfriend (who also competed.)

 

I don't do parkour either (autoimmune/rhematic issues) but I do wish I would have known about it when I was younger. We did things similar, just messing around and while hanging out with the "skaters." I fractured my foot once on a bad landing from about ?10ft?

 

Perhaps it's best that I didn't know about/practice it. I think I might have exhausted my insurance and my broken bone allowance :rolleyes_anim:

[siniri]

I actually don't watch much TV. I knew the new season should be starting soon -- I didn't realize it actually starts Monday! I'm so excited.

 

The guy who sprained his ankle is Samm Sann.

 

I think you might be talking about Paul Kasemir? I think he actually wants to win too much at this point, and it messes with his head. He's trained so hard, but the course requires absolute concentration as well as the crazy athletic ability (plus a bit of luck, because even the minutest variations can cause you to fall -- I've seen competitors slip because the course got wet, and they don't wipe it down for them). When you're focused on winning so much, your body will be too tense with a drop too much adrenaline, and it won't work the way it did for you in training. (I had a similar issue in Irish stepdancing -- I wanted so hard to get to the next competition level, and was training and competing a lot, but I couldn't make that break -- and then I remembered why I was dancing, relaxed at the next competition and just enjoyed dancing to the live music -- and moved up all my dances that day.)

[Nubisbully]

Paul lost his girlfriend in a hiking accident I think. Samm Sanns sounds familiar but there are so many competitors I can't honestly remember right now. I'm sure it'll come up during the try outs. The guy I was talking about was Brent Steffenson. He made to to stage 3, two years ago and everyone expected him to kill it last year. He got a new girlfriend who competed as well (and we learned was a hardcore stalkerish-type fan) and he got psyched out early and did very poorly.

 

So many interesting stories every year. I personally love "Grandpa Ninja" and the Harlem Globtrotter.

 

I've honestly never heard of "Irish Stepdancing." Sounds interesting. I know how badly stress and desire to win can cripple you. Had similar issues in tap dancing, jazz dance and competitive swimming when I was younger. Sometimes just trying to relax and stay calm can cause enough stress to throw you off.

[siniri]

So I'm watching the "run-up" show before the competition starts, and I am so stoked for the actual show to start. I can't wait to see a woman completely clear the course. It's going to happen this year, I can feel it. Plus I want to see all of my favorites.

[Nubisbully]

I have it set to record. I put "record new episodes only" and it had around ten scheduled today from last year. I'm excited as well, and was actually thinking earlier about a woman making it through. Last year there were a few who got close, but that wall is killer, regardless of gender.

 

Hopefully the weather holds out and doesn't ruin too many runs.

[siniri]

Well, they had the usual issues with condensation on the course (maybe they shouldn't host it so late at night outdoors in a coastal city...). They had some new obstacles, and they made two of the most competitive women go very very early (one first), so they got to show the others what not to do on a new obstacle (because later competitors get to watch the earlier runs). So frustrating. It's almost like they don't want the women to succeed. The course gets harder every year; I don't know if we'll ever have an American Ninja Warrior (though we came so close last year).

 

They also seem to give a free pass to Olympic and professional athletes, and I'm a little sick of seeing them fail on the first or second obstacle because they assume their athleticism in their sport will carry them through the ANW course. (I'm not referring to everyone --a lot of them train for ANW -- but I think they should have to prove they want it as much as all the other athletes. There are just too many people training specifically for it who aren't even given a shot for the spots to be wasted on people who don't take it seriously.)

 

Several of the walk-ons and rookies were amazing tonight. It was a good episode. Only a few surprises. Can't wait to see the other cities.

 

I was surprised I didn't see Jesse La Flair and some of the guys he trains with there -- maybe they'll compete in another city, but I know he's in L.A. now, and unless the fifth city they added is in California, it seems silly to travel to compete. Unless there's a rule about veterans competing in the same city each year or something. They didn't even mention him in the preview show, but they couldn't mention everyone. *shrugs* Guess I'll just have to wait and see.

[Nubisbully]

I didn't get a chance to watch it until tonight but I agree. Some aspects were very disappointing. Loved two of the walk-ons, very surprised how well they did.

 

I'm glad that the couple of veterans that ran it, did well. I can't believe after all the trouble last year, that they made it even harder this year. Out of the 30 moving on to the regional finales, a dozen or so actually finished the course?? So much different from the first year I watched, where people were getting cut because they were a fraction of a second behind someone else.

 

I was also very shocked at all the Olympians. Last year there were a few MMA fighters, professional basketball player and stunt people but this year... several Olympians from other countries as well as the US. It annoyed me that they let the professional Luger through. If she deserved it fine, but in her sport, they don't use their arms much. It's their thighs that are very powerful and in ANW you really need incredible arm strength and endurance (as well as finger strength) to do well.

 

I didn't hear which additional area of the country they added auditions too, so that should be interesting. I thought this course was hard until I saw previews of the other cities. If they don't reel it in soon, they're going to be known as not even giving a fair shot and I think it will hurt their tryouts and the interest in actually competing. There's no reason to make it so impossible and dangerous.

 

I was glad to see that a woman makes it up the wall next week! I just hope it isn't Steffenson's girlfriend.. I'm so bitter about her still.

 

Two years ago there was a (Japanese?) student who was amazing, but last year he was absent, so I was happy to see he made it through with a pretty good time. Rock climbing still seems to be one of the most helpful talents to get you through (second to parkour.)

 

I'm stoked for the season, although I didn't realize they were all going to be two hours... stayed up waaaay too late trying to finish it.

[siniri]

I didn't see that a woman will make it up the wall next week. I thought they showed a woman making it up a practice wall... Anyway, I can't wait for Monday's episode either way. Still hoping to see some of my other favorites. (I thought that several veterans failed -- one fell off on the spinning log, and what's-his-name and his twin fell off at the same spot on the Monkey Pegs -- or did they make it through anyway?

 

Jesse La Flair's kickstarter is fully funded (with an hour to spare), so I'm excited to meet him... a year from now.

[Nubisbully]

I'm a bit jealous that he gets to go all around the world and meet adoring fans, not sure how interested I'd be in actually meeting any of them.

 

Did you see last night's qualifiers? Not going to spoil it if not. I'm just a bit shocked, though I suspect you'll be happy about several of the happenings.

 

I think the twins went through? So few actually beat the course that I'm not exactly sure how far back you could fail and still go through.

[siniri]

Yeah, last night's was pretty awesome. My housemate came in and was like, "Wait, people get through without even finishing the course on the first round now? That's crazy!" I agree; they've really made it insanely hard. That ring toss would have been difficult enough with just the first two parts (or even just the first part) -- it just seemed insanely long and difficult for a first round obstacle.

 

I think it's okay to "spoil" here... so I'm going to, and not tag it. This is your warning...

 

It was awesome to see a woman finish. I know some aren't a fan of hers, but I don't think it's really fair to blame her for the performance of someone else. He looked tired, even before he made the mistake. I'm not sure if he was just having an "off" night or what. Sometimes you're just not feeling it. Or maybe his training is focusing too much on raw strength instead of strength-endurance? *shrugs*

 

I like to see people do well. I was glad to see Sam Sann finish -- when they said he reinjured his ankle, I was like "please, no!" Thank goodness it didn't look too bad. That shoulder injury looked awful, though -- she's going to have a lot of physical therapy. I hope it heals completely.

 

My housemate cracked me up. He thought he could do the ring toss. I can almost guarantee he can't even do a single pull-up. When you can't even appreciate how hard an obstacle is, you're obviously not in good enough shape for it. (I'm not saying I am, either, but I have no delusions that I am.) I wish there were public-access fitness obstacle courses for adults. I train at my local elementary school playground, but the monkeybars are relatively close together, and they don't go uphill.