Mr. Y and I have been watching a lot of TV since we've been stuck indoors for a couple of days due to the hurricane. One of the most interesting things we watched was American Ninja Warrior on G4. If you've never seen it, it's strangely fascinating. Basically this is a very serious version of Wipeout, and similar to parkour. These guys go through several stages and bootcamp to be one of the 10 people who go to Japan and compete on the world's craziest obstacle course called Mount Midoriyama. The obstacles include things like the Spider Jump, Rolling Escargot, and Half-Pipe Challenge. Thousands of people have tried, but only three people in the history of the obstacle course have finished all four stages, all three Japanese (the show that airs the tournament is called Sasuke in Japan). One drop means it's over for the competitor.
The people who compete in this competition are pretty much obsessed. Some built their own obstacle courses at home to practice. Others quit their jobs to train full time. A lot of them have jobs or background that would seem to gear towards this competition, like stuntmen or gymnasts. There are some contestants who come back year after year, like Brent Steffensen, Travis Furlanic, and David Campbell.
American Ninja Warrior is easily G4's highest rated show, and this year NBC aired the season finale. The American who finished all four stages would win a $500,000 endorsement contract with K-Swiss. Alas, no American finished the course again this year, so the endorsement contract remains unclaimed.
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