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Now all that has changed (at least for we Americans). With the uncertainty of future competitions in Japan, and the relative success of American Ninja Warrior the last couple of years here in America, the NBC/Comcast entertainment conglomerate has secured the rights to produce American Ninja Warrior as a standalone network program here in the U.S. No longer is American Ninja Warrior a feeder competition for Ninja Warrior Japan, but it is (for the time-being at least) its own bad self standing on its own bad own. Meaning that instead of having 10 Americans going to compete in Japan at Sasuke against the legendary Japanese group of competitors, there will be 100 Americans that will arise out of 6 regional competitions to compete in a new mega-course they are building in Las Vegas. That’s right, Vegas baby. The owners/producers of Ninja Warrior Japan are consulting on the building of the course, which is good news for American Ninja Warrior competitors who have pointed out that in recent U.S.-based competitions the quality of some of the obstacles was lacking. Whether it will be an exact replica of Mt. Midoriyama is unclear, but I believe most expectations are that it will be very similar, and will certainly be composed of many of the iconic obstacles we all love and fear like the Salmon Ladder, the Warped Wall, and the Ultimate Cliffhanger.

So 6 regional competitions going down in 3 cities (LA, Dallas, Miami), each with reportedly 125 runners, will happen throughout March to pick the top 100 guys to compete in Las Vegas on this new course reportedly on April 21-22. I believe that there will be some coverage of these regional competitions on G4 before they (for certain) show the 100 person final in Las Vegas over several weeks on NBC this summer. This is supposedly NBC’s competitor for ABC’s very popular Wipeout (although the surest way to see an American Ninja Warrior competitor go apoplectic is to ask them if their competition is similar to Wipeout).

This is a major shift in the structure and identity of American Ninja Warrior. It now stands alone, and is no longer the cable network feeder program for Ninja Warrior Japan, but its own bad self (did I say that already?). Competitors and fans have mixed emotions about this, with much loyalty and love being reserved for the original Japanese competition. While I myself am saddened at what is an increasing likelihood that Ninja Warrior Japan will “go away” at some point, I’m glad that there is a strengthened competition here in America that could keep the spirit alive even as the Mother Ship goes into retirement.

For those of you seeking to compete in American Ninja Warrior 4, go to this page on G4 to learn about the application process. Below are the locations of the regional competitions, the submission dates for the videos, and the estimated competition dates for those locations (they will confirm and narrow these dates soon).

LOS ANGELES (Northwest and Southwest Regions) – Video Submission by Feb. 14th, Competition Window is March 1-5

DALLAS (Midwest and South-Central Regions) – Video Submission by Feb. 27th, Competition Window is March 14-18

MIAMI (Northeast and Southeast Regions) – Video Submission by March 8th, Competition Window is March 27 – April 1

This year a new casting company is handling American Ninja Warrior, and they are well aware of how badly the previous casting company handled their competitor pool, and it appears they are working hard to be more professional and considerate this year (last year many submission videos were lost and they only notified us 3 weeks before the competition that we had been accepted to compete). The new casting company seemed genuinely enthusiastic about working on American Ninja Warrior, and we’re happy to have them!

Rumor also has it that NBC will be more involved than ever, so there is a possibility that more of ANW will be shown on NBC beyond the final stage in Sasuke Japan. No details here…but anything that further promotes ANW and increases the possibility that it will live a long healthy life is welcome!

Click LIKE or re-tweet if you are happy to hear that news that there will be another American Ninja Warrior in the future! Yippee!

I immediately “started” my training for American Ninja Warrior 4 the day I got back from Venice Beach at ANW3 back in May. I took a bit of a break this summer, or at least slowed down, for a couple of months when my training buddy Ron fractured his foot and I coincidentally also had a crazy spike in my job work, but I am back on the horse trying to get faster, strong, and smarter for whenever ANW4 goes down. With the popularity of ANW3 on G4 and then the big airing of the season finale on NBC, I expect a huge surge in applications to compete for ANW4, which means my submission video to get accepted has to be better than ever. I’m already mentally working on it…more to come in the future.

And for training, how am I going to prepare? I plan on continuing with my core training of rock-climbing and parkour, with some yoga and strength-training support. I also hope to get more time working on actual obstacles, which no doubt is a big differentiator between the top guys with courses in their back yards and “leisure competitors” like myself who train but don’t have a warped wall or salmon ladder in their back yard! I might have access to a couple of courses from guys I know here in New Mexico, and plan to take a trip or two up to train with the hard-core APEX guys at Boulder. Overall my training is similar to previous years…lots of grip and upper body strength combined with the intuitive speed and approach of the parkour demons (that’s my goal, at least), and then throw in more obstacle-specific work wherever I can.

Who knows if ANW4 will happen later in 2011, if the networks decide that they want to send Team America to the very next Sasuke (which happens twice a year), or it will happen in the summer of 2012 for the ‘standard’ once-a-year trip that ANW has offered so far in its three seasons. In any case, when it happens is out of my hands…the only thing I can control is whether I’m getting ready for it whenever it does down! As always, thanks for your support readers, it means a lot.

This is total speculation on my part…but I have to believe that it also means that there is an increased likelihood of American Ninja Warrior 4 going down later this year in 2011 in order to send Team America to the very next Sasuke in Japan. Remember ANW has only been happening once a year, while Sasuke happens twice a year, and with Sasuke ratings flagging in Japan they may need an infusion of new interest and NBC licensing money to even run another one.

Tonight the finale of this past American Ninja Warrior competition where the top ten Americans go to Japan to compete in the world’s toughest obstacle course airs on NBC in primetime. Although I didn’t make it that far, a couple good friends did, and it is a surprisingly compelling piece of television to watch them pursue their dreams to be the first American (and only 4th person ever) to complete this insane multi-stage course. These competitors dream and train hard for this, so their achievement of even getting to run in Ninja Warrior Japan (Sasuke) is something to be celebrated, and their attempts to push the boundaries of what they can do on the course is something to be admired and applauded.

Here’s a great article in today’s USA Today that talks more about this competition. Both articles like this one and the premier of American Ninja Warrior on network TV tonight represent a broadening interest in and exposure to this great competition and its amazing competitors. Below are some more articles from media sources about the competition tonight, although some are just glamorized TV listings. The USA Today article is probably the “best” article in terms of coverage and mainstream exposure:

Chicago Tribune
Times Reporter
NBC Philadelphia
LA Times