Hey STEEM, I am JEDI an AMERICAN NINJA WARRIOR.
I'm new here so here is a little bit about who I am. If you've ever wondered what it is like to compete on American Ninja Warrior, keep reading:
The whole ninja warrior experience for me continues to be phenomenal. It has opened so many doors for me that normally wouldn't be open, that it is actually mind blowing. So I feel an obligation to share as much of that energy as I can. As a competitor on the show I had a chance to see more then just the perspective of the TV show audience. I was privy to see things that as a viewer, I didn't know existed. Like for example, did you know that most of the ANW footage is recorded at night? Did you know that ANW will set up, and test obstacles over and over again to see examples of possible outcomes? There are so many crazy things that can happen when you mix reality TV and NINJA athletes.
I think it may be a good time to back up for a few minutes and explain how I got here....
The short version of the story is that my 6 year old son (at the time) inspired me to show him that "ANYTHING " is possible if you believe it.
The long version of the story would happen to go like this :
I witnessed my son (at age 4) fall down the steps several times. Not like sliding down the steps on his butt. Instead, more like falling head over heels and landing on his head at the bottom. I became horrified as a parent because (as I tried to explain to my 4 year old ) you can have an arm cut off and still live a quality of life, but as we all know, with enough head injuries you will most likely end up a vegetable. We started taking him to different activities that would help him learn more about movement and body awareness. We let him try sports, gymnastics and even tap dancing, and he hated all of them. Then we found Parkour. We started attending parkour and ninja classes and I quickly recognized that this was something that I not only wanted to do, but it was something I wanted to teach as well. After a few months of mingling with different athletes, we came across a few members of the hit TV show American Ninja Warrior. Jamie Rahn, better known as captain NBC on the show was training in the same gym that we were going to.
After we found out who he was, and that being on the show was an actual possibility, we started watching reruns of American ninja warrior on YouTube. In fact my son started watching several hours a day of all of the top athletes on the show. At some point it started to make me feel a little less like his dad because I was watching my son idolize these other grown men. He never looked at me and said dad you're not as cool as them, but I could tell that in the back of his mind he knew that I had never been on the show. To him, that held credibility. So I started building obstacles in my house to train for the opportunity to apply to the show. The application process is online and it is comprised of answering several questions in application form, and submitting a 2 - 3 minute video showcasing your personality and athletic ability.
I applied to season six of American ninja warrior with no reply. It wasn't until season 7 that I received the infamous (818) area code phone call inviting me to participate on the show. It had been 2-1/2 years at this point. Season 7 took place in Pittsburgh and I drove my entire family out to be with me for this experience.
I was sent several emails when I was in Pittsburgh explaining what the next few days were going to entail. I was asked to come to an address to participate in what is called B-roll one morning. B-roll is where the producers outlined potential stories for the show and they interview you on camera. Most of my B-roll interview included me talking about how important being a dad was to me and how clumsy my son was until we found parkour and eventually American ninja warrior. How we started training for it full-time. Once my son began to take these classes and interact with these athletes he no longer was as clumsy as he had been in the past. He had become extremely strong, confident, and aware of his surroundings. This meant that he no longer was falling down the stairs, walking into walls, or tripping over his own feet anymore. So at this point ANW had helped my son become less clumsy. Given me a goal and a life lesson to teach my son about how anything is possible if you believe and work hard, and gotten me into the best shape of my life at the age of 35. My son was part of my B-roll interview and he was so freaking cute. He wanted to get all dressed up for the producers and wear a little suit that he picked out by himself. Since my name is Jedidiah, and my friends call me Jedi, I wore what looked like a Star Wars cloak and a uniform with a medallion on my chest that said "Jedi".
The address the producers gave me in the email to go to the location where we were going to film had a little tag in the email that said "once you get to this address you will need to use your ninja skills to find the course location". What that actually meant was the address was 5 miles in the wrong direction, and I needed to find where they were holding the event. With the help of some of the locals I was able to narrow down the course to about an eighth of a mile and it was pretty difficult to find. In fact at some point I was driving on private property down an abandoned set of train tracks and I was waiting for armed guards to jump out and arrest me. Instead I found the greatest course ever aired on TV. I was finally standing in front of the obstacles that my son and I had seen time and time again on countless episodes of ANW. At this point there are several other Ninjas that were here as well waiting for their turn to have their B-roll interviews filmed. We were at an old steel mill that was no longer in operation but had some eclectic architecture that was to be used as the backdrop for the course. When it was our turn the producers took us for a small walk around to the back of the building where we were to be interviewed. In the application process online some of the questions they ask you regard to situations in your life that may have been difficult that you have overcome. I explained that my son was my biggest inspiration for being there. That all of the training up until this point was influenced by him watching other athletes on the show. That I wanted to show him that hard work and a believe in yourself attitude can get you anywhere in life. Our interview went great, but I was choked up a few times and I stopped the interview before I began to cry. I started to realize that the producers were looking for my tears because it was all part of the wow factor of the show. Watching people struggle and get upset and cry, and then eventually overcome that tough experience was all part of the American Ninja Warrior business model. I wanted to be known as a serious athlete even though I wear my heart on my sleeve, and had become a tiny bit emotional. All of this was overwhelming after all, I was standing in front of the producers of a TV show that I had been trying to get on for two and a half years. I started to realize how real everything was becoming. After the producers were done with us they gave us the instructions for the next day and sent us on our way. Tomorrow was the day I would step foot on the course and as nervous as I thought I may have been up till this point, I was actually really calm. They had us meet in a parking lot where we were to get on 2 separate buses. One was for the Ninjas and one was for the family members of the Ninjas. This was a little strange for me because I was leaving my wife with my three small children behind in a city that was unfamiliar to us and honestly, in not such a great area. Luckily for us one of the female Ninjas I trained with Trina ( Blue devil ninja) was there with her husband and kids, and so I asked my wife to stay with them for the trip. We all piled on the 2 buses and made the trip to the old abandoned steel mill.
It was still early that day and so what that meant was we would be waiting around for hours. After all, the show doesn't start filming until after it gets dark. It seems to be the best way for the producers to get consistent lighting. (And may secretly be a way to make sure us ninjas are tired when we step on the course ) ahhhh the conspiracy aspect. Well......maybe it has nothing to do with it, but for the record they are giving away a million dollars to anyone who can beat the course. In the season I participated in there were 2 winners. Geoff Britten and Issac Caldiero. Both men beat the course, but Issac beat it by like .03 tenths of a second faster then Geoff so he was awarded the prize. Both men are incredibly humble and willing to help anyone along in the sport.
Ok, back to the story. After getting off of the buses everyone was given a number and was checked in. The producers had a few words with us and then we were all pretty much corralled into this space with a few trusses that we could hang from, and do calisthenics on etc. A ninja warm up station of sorts. Of course my passion for climbing enticed me to want to be on top of these trusses to get a better view of the arena. So I climbed to the top and stood there with my cloak on in true Jedi form. 
Several hours would go by before any of us would take the stage. We did everything we could to stay warm. We also did everything we could to stay hydrated, well nourished, And even socially stimulated. Some of the ninjas enjoy visualization so they will sit there with headphones on and they will stare at the course while they are mentally mapping out their runs. After some time of hanging out we were instructed to all come alongside of the course so that we can get the official rules. This is the producers chance to explain to us how the obstacles were designed, and allow us to ask questions that would give us insight into how we can conquer each obstacle. It is at this time that we must make sure we know the rules down to the T. If we don't ask a question now, we will not be allowed to ask one later. So the producers lined all of us up along side of the course and began to explain the rules of each obstacle. After each obstacle is fully explained to us we are asked to raise our hands so that we can show the camera that we have fully understood what is expected of us.
Yes I said camera, there's a cameraman at this point filming us to make sure that they can later verify that everyone has acknowledged all of the rules, and had a chance to ask questions. After each obstacle was explained to us, we had a chance to see not only the city qualifying obstacles, but also the city final obstacles as well. Then we all went back to our positions in the Ninja corral. After a few hours it started to become dark enough that the producers were ready to start filming. With any ANW season there is something called a "walk on" competitor. These are Ninjas that have waited in line for weeks at a time for their shot on the course. Mainly because they were unable to get a call for the show, so they are camping out in the hopes of getting their shot come game day. ANW uses past competitors of the show and also new comers that didn't make the initial producers cuts a chance to test the obstacles. This does a few things, it allows the Ninjas to get an idea of what may be possible on the course. It also allows the producers a chance to see if their course design will hold up during game time.
This particular course had been tested by a few hundred people, however the first five walk on competitors destroyed the course. We were asked to come along side of the course again because the producers had something they wanted to tell us. We were instructed that they would be changing the obstacles to make them more difficult, since in their words "you guys have been obviously training for this". So just like that they reconstructed the obstacle course to make three of the obstacles harder. The next 20 some competitors fell. When it was my turn, I was standing at the base of the steps and I was imagining my run. I was so thrilled and filled with emotion to be there that I was overwhelmed with excitement. I must say I was still rather calm meaning I didn't have a lot of adrenaline pumping through my veins. As I walked up the steps, the fog machine surrounded me and all of the illumination of the spotlights made me look like a superhero walking through a cloud of smoke. Later I was told that I had "one of the most epic entrances ever in the history of ninja warrior." (Jessica Britten) Which, as a rookie made me very happy. So there I was standing there staring at the crowd to my left, a whole slew of camera men, women, and producers on my right with a million lights and cameras in my face. All I could think about was how proud my son was going to be of me because I was finally a real ninja. So with Joe "the weather man" filming me during my run with my camera phone I took on the greatest course ever to be put on TV. 
I got through the quintuple steps with no problem. I conquered the log drop as well. Despite how easy it looks on TV, I can assure you it is one of the most aggressive rides I've ever been on without a seat belt. The third obstacle to conquer on this course was what was called "snake crossing ", it was comprised of two separate sections of what look like balance beams.
Both balance beams were curved in the shape of an S. and each balance beam had dancing stones in between them that rocked and wiggled when you stepped on them. The balance beams themselves rotated and rocked side to side. I got past the first section of the balance beam with no trouble. When I went to advanced to the second section of balance beam I got three steps in, and the beam started to wobble on me. So I jumped to the platform that was in front of me. I actually grabbed onto the platform and held on, but my inexperienced understanding of the show made me think I was "out" for touching the side of the platform and not landed directly on top. So I just let go and dropped down to the bottom set of mats. Regardless of the fall, I got to take my place in the winners circle. The winners circle is a place where ninjas go when they are in the top 30 of all of the competitors. The top 30 competitors get to advance to the finals round. This is where most of my night was spent. This was also where most of my fondest memories will have been formed. You see, for the last 2-1/2 years my son had been idolizing all of these athletes and watching many, many, many hours of them on YouTube. This night however, he was standing in the winners circle with me surrounded by his heroes. I had him held high on my shoulders so that he could get a good view of the course.
After about an hour of standing in the winners circle one of the producers came up to me and several other ninjas and asked us to come with them. What we were about to find out was very interesting. Because when the producers changed the difficulty of the three obstacles, the snake crossing in particular had been tested, but had become broken without anyone being aware of it. So like I pointed out before, after the first five walk on competitors ran, the next 20 competitors fell, and 98 percent of them fell on the snake crossing which we were now finding out was broken. We were told that anyone that had made it past the first section of snake crossing will be given another shot at the course because they had made a mistake with the obstacle. It is my understanding that the only reason they realized that this even took place was because some of the biggest names in the sport were falling in the same spot. No one could understand why so many wonderful athletes had been failing at the same spot. So luckily for me, even though I had made a rookie mistake by letting go of the platform that I had jumped to, I was being told that I had a second chance at the course tomorrow. I was then again led back to the winners circle where I stayed for at least another half and hour before I was pushed out of the top 30. The next night was supposed to be filming for the city finals course which is the same basic course as the city qualifiers, with more obstacles added at the end. So instead of six total obstacles it then becomes 10. I was very disappointed I fell on something that involves balance. I am well known at my gym for being the guy who creates balance challenges regularly and has incredible balance. Even prior to stepping on stage I had some of the top athletes from the show consulting me on how I would walk across the balance beams of snake crossing. So it was difficult for me going home that night knowing that I had fallen on something that I should have easily beaten.
I was happy to know that there was a reason why everyone was falling, and the next morning I went out in search of anything that could potentially help me practice that obstacle. I was determined not to fall again when I got my final shot. Luckily at the hotel we were staying at I was able to find a couple of concrete pillars that had chain welded to them. I was able to simulate the obstacle that I had found the night before. I spent at least 45 minutes replicating that move over and over and over again until I was 100 percent confident that I would be OK later that night.
So fast forward to later that night. Again very similar structure from the day before. We met at the same parking lot to board 2 separate buses and made our way to the course. This was the night that the city finals would be filmed, however there were several of us that were going to get a second shot at the qualifying course. Confident in my ability to conquer the snake crossing because of all my previous practice, I was ready to take on the course. As I stepped foot on the course again I was excited to have a second shot at this course.
With my three wonderful kids and my beautiful wife walking alongside the course cheering me on I began to advance. Again I got through the quintuple steps with no problem. I beat the log drop again, but when I got to snake crossing this time I began to remember the night before, and I started to get nervous. I took my time and when I got to the center dancing stone I remembered my earlier practice and I quickly snapped out of it and got to the second portion of snake crossing. I was so excited that I finally beat it that I was calling to the crowd for cheers and applause. The next obstacle was one I had never seen before. It was an obstacle called the wind chimes. It looks like giant wind chimes and they are basically, for lack of a better description, giant pieces of PVC pipe that are covered in soft foam and you must traverse from one to the next. This particular obstacle took an enormous amount of energy away for me. With it being a static hold the entire time you're basically clenching every muscle in your entire body to make it through the obstacle. This is where I started to feel the real fatigue. And I also made a critical mistake earlier in the day. I carried my daughter around in the mall for two hours in my arms in her car seat. Not too smart for someone who was competing in an athletic competition later. The following obstacle was called the devil steps. This particular obstacle goes up about 20 feet and then back down again on the other side in what looks like an A-frame ladder. I did not make it past this point, because I was fatigued and had no more pull up power. In hindsight, I should have never carried my daughter around in the mall for hours before I went to compete on the show. Even with my run coming to an end, I still ended up top 32 out of 125 competitors. I know I could've done a little better had I taken the time aspect more seriously. I knew there was a time but I also felt like this was my five minutes of fame, my chance to play on one of the greatest courses ever constructed. Again I ended up in the winners circle, and had another chance to bring my son with me to hang out with all of his heroes.
My season ended in the qualifying round. Even though at this point I was soaking wet from the waist down and freezing cold you couldn't wipe the smile off of my face. I knew that my son was proud of me and so was the rest of my family.
I was happy to be part of this large community of wonderful athletes that call themselves ninjas. My run never officially got air time, so I am part of a group of ninjas that never had any TV play. That part doesn't really bother me. I must admit however that the air time I did get involved me doing a Pom Wonderful commercial for ANW and I really didn't like the product. I actually got more airtime on season eight hanging out in the audience than I did on season seven when I was actually on the course. But that's just how the show goes. Regardless of whether or not I got airtime on television, American Ninja Warrior has opened my eyes to the world of obstacle course racing. Working out in ways that are way more mentally stimulating then pumping iron or running on a treadmill. Playing like a kid again and feeling healthy and strong. I have gained more from ANW than I could ever give back in return. I even started a business called the Obstacle Training Academy. OTA is a mobile Ninja OCR experience. We bring the Ninja obstacles to the customer for birthday parties, fundraisers, corporate events etc.
we set up a ninja course, teach guest how to complete each obstacle, and then we run an entire ninja warrior style competition to end the party. So far we have helped raise more then $6000 for breast cancer awareness through "Ninja/Krav for a cure" and we've done several summer camps and birthday parties.
I know that I have found an outlet for a passion that burns deep inside me, and I can thank American ninja warrior for helping me pave the way for that success. Ultimately I can even thank my son for this journey because he was my original motivation for even applying to the show. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to step foot on the greatest televised obstacle course ever constructed. Wonder no more. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. 😊