Everyone Loves Ninjas

As mentioned when I brought up the revival of American Gladiators, there is a Japanese competition show that would put Nitro, Gemini, Zap, Blaze, and without a doubt Malibu to shame. I'm talking about Sasuke, or, as televised in the U.S. on G4, Ninja Warrior.

The competition has no "gladiators," or any human obstacles. It consists of 4 stages, each stage having a different obstacle course, which progressively become more difficult. The first two stages have timed courses and they both have some tough obstacles. The third stage, if a competitor even makes it that far, is very difficult. It pretty much tests your upper body strength to the limit of what is humanly possible. From watching the show multiple times, the obstacle that a lot of contestants fail at is a very skinny ledge, which only has enough room for you to grab with your fingertips and scale across it, not to mention the middle section which is raised about a foot.

The very few who make it to the 4th stage have 30 seconds to get up the "spider climb" and then climb up a long rope, and the total height of both reaches about 74 feet. You can imagine the limited number of people who complete that. Here is a compilation of the 4 stages, all of which were completed by Makoto Nagano, a Japanese fisherman (and my hero). Long video but well worth the view...