Ninja Warrior!
When I was young I was fascinated by all things Japanese, I dreamt of being a samurai and being served by a white faced geisha girl.It seems a fascinating country, robots are de rigeur and ginger haired people like me are apparently some sort of sex symbol! On the downside, tattoos are seen to be a sign of Yakuza membership so I might have to save up for a tattoo removal procedure first if I ever go there?
As I grew older the dark side appealed to me more, forget the samurais – I wanted to be a ninja warrior, clad in black and carrying out silent assassinations. Well, whilst I may never become the warrior of my dreams at least I can enjoy the modern equivalent thanks to the amazing Japanese tv programme ’Ninja Warrior’!
Ninja Warrior is a little like the popular show ’Total Wipeout'but taken to the nth degree, to an extreme level of craziness that would have Richard Hammond watching through his fingers. To cut it down to its basic ingredients Ninja Warrior consists of an assault course that a contestant must conquer to be crowned ’the ultimate Ninja Warrior’. In effect, there are a series of assault courses. Most contestants stumble on the fiendish first course, but a brave few make it to the second course. If they make it through the second course then, and only then, can they attempt to conquer the final section.
How hard can it be? Well take the expression ’very hard'add about a dozen more ’very’s and you begin to get the idea. The figures speak for themselves – since the show began in 1997 over 2000 contestants have taken part. Of these, less than 200 have made it through stage one and only two, yes two, contestants have conquered stage three and been crowned as a true ninja warrior. In some years there hasn’t been a single contestant that has made it through stage two. Can you imagine that, a show where year on year there isn’t a single winner? Where the elaborately designed final stage doesn’t even get used? That is a measure of how tough the show ’Ninja Warrior'is.
Which is of course what makes it such compulsive viewing! Some obstacles return year after year, such as the spider walk where contestants have to move through an undulating tunnel just by gripping the sheer sides with their hands and feet. The contestants include Japanese comedians, wrestlers, gymnasts, olympic athletes and ’ordinary'people. One of the shows legendary winners is a crab fisherman who has built his own miniature Ninja Warrior course to practise on.
Recent innovations in the show have seen a smattering of American contestants taking part, one of whom did remarkably well in making the final section, and a female version called ’Women of Ninja Warrior’.
I love this show, it is compulsive, brilliant viewing – it is in short the world’s greatest game show. And it is educational as well for it has taught me that, tattoos and all, I will never, ever have what it takes to become a ninja warrior!
Similar Posts:
No Dairy for This Moggie – is milk dangerous for cats? : We…
How To Groom Your Cat : Most of us think that cats are pretty…
Battlestar Galactica: My first boxset addiction. : I have for a…
Obsession with ‘Chicago’ : It is absolutely right to say…
Comments are closed!