American Ninja Challenge

Did You Know?

• Levi Meeuwenberg cleared the improvised course in 45 seconds, followed by Brian Orosco at 1:12 and Russelis Perry at 1:16.
• The fourth and final Ninja Challenge contest winner was David Campbell, who competed in Sasuke 22.

Episodes

G4's Attack of the Show, hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn, put out a call for aspiring ninjas to submit videos showcasing their skills. Hundreds responded, and from those entries, three finalists were picked. After a series of American competitions, two winners emerged: Colin Bell from Michigan and Brett Sims from South Carolina, who earned a trip to Japan for the Ninja Warrior Sasuke tournament. Meanwhile, a separate round of video submissions led to six finalists being chosen. This group included Russelis Perry, known as "Blackie Chan," from Colorado Springs; martial artist Joe Simonsen of West Islip, New York; freerunner Brian Orosco from San Francisco; Rick Seedman of New York City; freerunner Levi Meeuwenburg from Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Mark Witmer from Minneapolis.

These six competitors headed to a US Navy training camp to tackle a marine obstacle course. Through one-on-one challenges, half of them were eliminated. The remaining three—Levi, Brian, and Russelis—then faced an improvised course built from some of Ninja Warrior's toughest new obstacles. Levi finished first with a time of 45 seconds, Brian followed at 1:12, and Russelis took third at 1:16. In Japan, Levi and Brian were joined by former finalist Brett Sims to attempt the course at Midoriyama.

Before leaving for Japan, Levi and Brian trained with Paul Terek, a U.S. Olympic athlete and Ninja Warrior veteran who had reached the third stage in past competitions. Paul coached them on strategies and tactics for conquering the trickier obstacles. Once in Japan, they immersed themselves in the culture and shared a dinner with Ninja Warrior all-stars. Among those at the table was Makoto Nagano, winner of the 17th tournament, along with gas station manager Shingo Yamamoto and firefighter Toshihiro Takeda, who holds the record for reaching the third stage more times than any other competitor.