Ninja Warrior
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Ninja Warrior is a Japanese game show that my sons got me hooked on. I found it absorbing and creative (who says Asians are not creative?), so I vegged out for a weekend watching a Ninja Warrior marathon on the G4 channel. Called Sasuke in Japan after a ninja in stories called Saratobi Sasuke, the game is a brutal obstacle course in four stages. Contestants win four million yen if they complete all four stages. Here is some examples of the first stage, and if you can believe it, not the hardest!
The show is fascinating for a number of reasons. First, it’s incredibly difficult — out of 22 contests in the past 12 years, the entire four stage course has only been completed twice. The contestants seem to have a lot of camaraderie as they are competing against the course far more than against each other. Second, there is a mix of serious and non-serious contestants (including actors, comedians, and just plain eccentric folks), which leads to those painful and humiliating collisions and falls that Japanese game shows seem to love. To complete the courses, a combination of balance, agility, and above all, a fantastic strength weight ratio is required. As a result, some of the best contestants, which are have been from all over the world, are Olympic level athletes like gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm, and decathlete Paul Terek. Third, G4 thankfully doesn’t dub the show, which preserves the tone set by the Japanese play by play announcers. I dislike the dubbed versions of Iron Chef, and while some may like it, to me, the dubbing really detracts from the original show.
Ninja Warrior surprised me in a number of ways; despite having Olympic level athletes from around the world, the only two men who have completed all four stages have backgrounds as Japanese fishermen. In a way, that’s not surprising, as fisherman do a lot of pulling – pulling in nets, pulling down ropes, pulling up anchors – which builds the biceps, lats, and hand strength critical for finishing the third stage. I was also surprised at the number of professional and high level Asian athletes; who says Asians aren’t athletic? A final surprise was how long the show has lasted — it’s gone on for 12 years, with contests done twice a year.
While Ninja Warrior doesn’t exclude women, there is a women-only version called Kunoichi, named for female Ninjas. G4 TV also runs a contest called American Ninja Challege, where the finalists go onto compete on Sasuke in Japan. You can see all of three competitions on G4 TV.
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8 Comments to “Ninja Warrior”
markthomas wrote:
great to see some athletic and strong asians representing.
Posted on 23-Jun-09 at 6:12 pm | Permalink
Ben Hwang wrote:
Viking Obstacle Challenge, that was done by ESPN also came out of Sasuke. And the first time it was won, it was a lot easier than the second time around. Nagano rocks socks in this family. haha.
Also, one thing to note is that all the winners were actually shorter men. If you watch the entire 4 stages, there is so much upper body strength involvement that the more you weigh, the worse it is for you. That's why a couple Marines have conquered the first stage easily but couldn't last through. I think the third was the closest any American military ever got. It's not that they can't handle it, but at 6+, even if you're cut, you have a lot of body weight to support by the end.
Love the show. Too bad they don't do it in the States. Outside of the legal waivers, it would be really sweet.
Posted on 23-Jun-09 at 8:21 pm | Permalink
moye wrote:
Yay G4!
Posted on 24-Jun-09 at 11:00 am | Permalink
moye wrote:
G4 does have the American Ninja Challenge, which is a similar obstacle course here in LA. The winner of that one gets sent to compete in the actual Ninja Warrior course in Japan.
But the American TV show equivalent would be Wipeout.
Posted on 24-Jun-09 at 11:02 am | Permalink
Ben Hwang wrote:
Wipeout is more like MXC (which I find the dub entirely bad) which is actually Takeshi's Castle.
Posted on 24-Jun-09 at 11:10 am | Permalink
jeffat8asians wrote:
It goes back to that strength/weight ratio – you have to be very strong relative to your body weight. I recall seeing one show where the announcer claimed that one competitor who was doing well had a 3% body fat. I'd only have to cut my body fat percentage to one eighth of what is now to get there. Okay, maybe less than one eighth.
Bruce Lee also ran around with single digit body fat percentage.
And yes, Makoto Nagano does rock.
Posted on 24-Jun-09 at 1:30 pm | Permalink
Ben Hwang wrote:
Yeah. That guy pretty much constistently makes it to the 3rd/4th stage. But ever since they've put in that ladder, it's been a killer.
Posted on 24-Jun-09 at 1:36 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » So why do Asians love stereotypes of themselves? wrote:
[...] have to take what was given to us. So next time you get ready to write a blog post about Asians as ninjas or Asian men who can’t get with white women, first think about how you want to be seen as an [...]
Posted on 06-Jul-09 at 12:07 pm | Permalink
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