Category: Skills

Warped Wall and Salmon Ladder

 

At its core, American Ninja Warrior is a sport obsessed with obstacles. There are two obstacles that are synonymous with American Ninja Warrior: the Warped Wall and the Salmon Ladder.

Warped Wall

Have you ever tried to run up a wall? What if that wall was curved and fourteen and a half feet tall? That is the challenge that every ninja faces in the city and city finals courses.

The Warped Wall spells the end of many smaller competitors’ runs. On the opposite end of the spectrum, taller competitors generally handle the Warped Wall with relative ease.

To test the limits of the athletes, ANW holds the American Ninja Warrior: All Star Challenge. In the second edition of this challenge, there were five competitors: Jon Alexis Jr., Jesse Labreck, Najee Richardson, Flip Rodriguez, and Joe Moravsky.

All five of them completed the seventeen foot wall, even the Jesse “Flex” Labreck. On the eighteen foot wall, Flex Labreck got her fingertips above the edge but couldn’t keep her grip and was eliminated. While all of the remaining four managed to climb the eighteen and a half foot wall, only Jon Alexis Jr., who is six and a half feet tall and nicknamed “The Giant,” could climb the nineteen foot wall.

While these exceptional athletes make the Warped Wall look easy, the obstacle is extremely challenging.

Salmon Ladder

Most people hate pull ups. Now, imagine each pull-up requiring enough power to elevate the pull up bar an entire foot. Exhausting, right?

As if the Salmon Ladder was not already difficult enough, the course designers made this the seventh obstacle of every City Finals course, directly after the Warped Wall. Quickly, however, this obstacle proved to be too easy. Generally, when a new obstacle in ANW proves to be difficult or a ninja-killer, the entire community trains relentlessly towards defeating this obstacle. Now, being able to finish the Salmon Ladder is expected of most ninjas.

As the ninjas evolved, so did the course. During Stage Two from ANW4 through ANW7, competitors would face the Double Salmon Ladder. The Double Salmon Ladder forces competitors to turn at the top of a normal Salmon Ladder, launch with the bar across a gap, and climb a second Salmon Ladder. When this obstacle became too easy, the Double Salmon Ladder was replaced by the Down-Up Salmon Ladder, where the competitors would climb down the wall, launch across a gap, and then climb up the wall on the other side. Again, this obstacle proved too easy and was replaced in ANW9 by the Criss Cross Salmon ladder, requiring ninjas to launch across the gap twice on the way to the next obstacle.

Similar to the modified Warped Wall, ninjas faced a modified Salmon Ladder with thirty-five rungs (any higher would be a safety hazard) in the skills challenge. Amazingly, Karsten Williams managed to climb all thirty-five rungs, with New York firefighter Mike Bernardo climbing thirty-four.

Both of these obstacles, the Warped Wall and the Salmon Ladder, are staples of American Ninja Warrior. It is safe to say they will be a mainstay of the competition for years to come.

 

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<http://sasukepedia.wikia.com/wiki/Salmon_Ladder>

Grip Strength

 

Get a grip!

 

Most times, this phrase has a negative connotation. Having a grip, however, is one of the most important skills for a ninja to have. A strong grip is the difference between finishing the course and falling into the water.

 

While grip strength seems like something that wouldn’t matter that much, it is an extremely important skill. There is a reason that most serious ninjas have a grip strength area in their home or yard.

Grip strength is a constant necessity – even on the front half of courses, which tend to focus on mobility. Obstacles like the Giant Log Grip attempt to jolt the ninja off of the obstacle with sudden, seemingly random falls. With obstacles like these, ninjas utilize their entire body to supplement their finger strength.

The real test of finger strength begins in the back of the course on obstacles like Cannonball Run. From personal experience, hand grips like these are considerably harder than they look. Some ninjas, like Kevin Bull, have found creative ways around these obstacles.

 

Kevin Bull versus Cannonball Alley (2:35 for the fun part)

The ultimate challenge of grip strength on American Ninja Warrior is the Ultimate Cliffhanger. Trying to explain the obstacle will not do it justice. Instead, watch Drew Dreschel, probably the most naturally skilled athlete currently in ANW.

If all of this sounds crazy, that is because it is. What is really crazy, however, is the toughest obstacle in the ninja universe, SASUKE or ANW, the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger. The Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, which was introduced in SASUKE 32, removes the second swing from the Ultimate Cliffhanger. Don’t mistake this as the creators of the obstacle going soft. Instead, the designers made the first ledge, again six feet behind the competitor, inverted. You may ask, could this get any harder? Well, I have a surprise for you. The third and final ledge that the athletes must swing is constantly moving. Yes, the obstacles moves up and down, just in case the entire obstacle was not hard enough. Only Drew Drechsel (SASUKE 32) and Morimoto Yusuke (SASUKE 34) have completed this obstacle successfully.

 

Drew Dreschel defeating the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger (Start at 0:45)

American Ninja Warrior creates obstacles that push athletes to their physical and mental limits. Though it may be forgotten by some, grip strength is one of these limits that athletes must work to push past. With obstacles like the Giant Log Grip, Cannonball Run, and variations of the Cliffhanger, ninjas must train their grip strength extensively.