American Ninja Warrior

Cafe Society
802

I guess I’ve lost track of what point you’re making. We didn’t see many actual time-outs. That certainly doesn’t mean (imho) that the time limit doesn’t matter, because part of what made everyone fall off is knowing that there was a time limit. Clearly there wouldn’t be a 100% completion rate without one, but if ninjas could do every obstacle as slowly and methodically as they wanted, obviously more of them would have completed the course than did.
Should it have been, say, 30 seconds shorter, so that a bunch of the competitors we saw make it fairly comfortably would have been scrambling barely up the cargo net? Well, I bet a bunch of them then would have fallen off earlier being under even greater time pressure.

I do agree that it feels like there were more up-the-cargo-net-timeouts in some previous seasons, which suggests that in earlier seasons stage 1 was easier-to-complete-but-not-easy-to-complete-at-top-speed, but… not sure why you think that was better, unless you really like the drama.

I mean, there are a few levels we could judge him on:
(a) How good a ninja is he, right now
(b) How good a ninja career has he had, overall
(c) Is he making reasonable life decisions

I’d say the answers are:
(a) incredibly good but not ultra-elite-might-win-it-all
(b) one of the handful of very best ever, first ballot hall of fame, and (crucially) continuing to improve it as he still makes deep runs
(c) beats the fuck out of me, but I don’t see any reason why not

Sure there might be a point in the future where his body just can’t support his ambition and we watch all of his short and pathetic runs while wincing because we hope he doesn’t break anything permanently… but he’s FAR from that point right now.

803

Yeah, I agree. My opinion on the matter: you shouldn’t put time-consuming obstacles like tetherball in stage 1. The time limit should have been shorter, and the obstacles should all have been designed for you to be able to get through them quickly.

804

Quick wrapup of what I can be bothered to care about in the rest of Stage 1:

Christopher “Wide Load” Harding Jones (timed out on Fly Hooks) - A remarkable season for the high school graduate. He actually would’ve had a puncher’s chance if his hair didn’t keep getting in his face on Fly Hooks. He’ll learn. Hopefully. My main concern is being locked into a dead parent Acceptable Story and a monotonous chant that goes on even after his run freaking ends. Remember, at 18 loves and hatreds turn on a dime, and I can very see him getting absolutely sick of something he embraced one season ago. All I want is for NBC to respect his wishes, whatever they are.

Vance Walker (out on Jumping Spider) - :astonished: Yikes, yikes, yikes. Zero buzzers, zero bucks. I was dead serious when I said he’d contend for a truckload of lances, and to see him go out like this is shocking. I’m at a complete loss to explain how he could’ve fallen so far so fast. I will be watching his next season closely; one more setback like this and I can very easily see him saying the heck with it and taking up a real sport in college.

Levi Enright (out on Dipping Birds) - He went out in this exact same spot last week, proving that the Safety Pass is not going to solve all your problems. :wink:

Abby Clark (timed out on Dipping Birds) - Uncommon to see a profile in the middle of the run, and highly uncommon for it to be this meaningful. Her great bogeyman has been the Stage 1 Warped Wall. I am please to report that, despite coming up way short on her first crack, she got it. Going forward, this should be the story of the top women (especially now that all the team events are toast), just how much far they can go here.

And that means…she and Katie Bone tie for top women’s finisher! :partying_face: Way to go! I know it doesn’t pay anything, but to take the crown once held by the likes of Jessie Graff and Jesse Labreck, especially at such a young age, is an amazing achievement. Gods, I feel like someone should be making a big deal out of this!

Did Eyes really say that 25 contestants made it to Stage 2? It seemed a lot fewer than that.

On to Stage 2 (most of it, anyway):

“Stage 2 curse”. :roll_eyes::angry: All right, I suppose don’t need to hash again how insulting this “curse” nonsense is to Red Sox fans who watched one of the most elite franchises in the history of baseball suffer an utterly mind-blowing 86 years of championship futility (including the infamous 1986 meltdown which was straight out of a goddam Simpsons episode). Much worse is the implication that repeatedly going out in Stage 2 is this great failing. As if you keep at it enough years, you must eventually get it, and if you don’t, you suck. Look…there have been a lot of great golfers who never won the US Open. Read the biography of Sam Snead sometime, heck, read up on Phil Mickelson. There have been a lot of multiple yusho winners who never even sniffed yokozuna. Like Konishiki; maybe you heard of him? Getting over the hump is hard, and there are a hundred things that can prevent it, and for a lot of people it just wasn’t meant to be. That’s not a “curse”, that’s LIFE. Geez.

With four minutes, it’s pretty obvious that the Stage 2 timer is just to keep everyone honest. Nobody at all timed out this week, although there were a couple of close calls. I think we just have to accept that ANW has made a complete break from its Sasuke roots and NBC has no reason to ever go back.

Quick recap of the finishers.

David - Well, that certainly was a blistering pace! :laughing: Seriously, anyone know what was up with his right hand? I’m very glad that he finally slew the beast; he’s had to go through hell to get here and deserves something nice to happen in his life. Unfortunately, it looks like he’s trapped in a “Peter Principle” situation, where reaching the next echelon just means that he becomes the small fish all over again. Unless that hand thing heals real fast, I see no reason to expect anything other than a quick exit. At this point I really think he should forget about lances and find something in his life other than ninja that can bring him happiness.

R.J. Roman - Focused. Serious. Intense. And damn strong. I think he’d be a very deserving lancer, and he has as much a chance of anyone of taking it. (Did I mention that he quietly poses at the end of his runs, no screwball antics or screaming into the camera whatsoever? I feel that’s a very important point in his favor. :slightly_smiling_face:)

Jay “Ooh” Lewis - Good lord, it’s The Aggravation That Will Not Die. I’m not quite sure this deep run is worth having that hellspawned nickname pounded into my skull with a freaking steam cannon every goddam second he’s on the screen. I’m going to have to mute all of his runs for possibly his entire career, and I really hate that because it’s 100% not his fault. Nothing would be more awesome than if one day he finally puts his foot down and demands that everyone call him by a nickname he chose for himself or no nickname at all. (I’d be totally willing to give up “Ooh” if that happened! :grin:)

Josiah Pippel - Good kid. Rocked on ANWJ. Tentatively pulling for him.

Kaden “Hundred” Lebsack - Kaden “Hundred” Lebsack! :grin: Awesome, rocks, favorite, repeat, you get the drill. More to say in the finale.

Matt D’Amico - :astonished: Damn, that was fast!

Ethan Bartnicki - Good kid! :slightly_smiling_face:

Josh Levin - What the bloody hell do I call it if not a damn comeback? :man_shrugging: Another “cursed” contestant who managed to make Eyes and Bodge shut up about it for a few more days. Might have a good shot at the lance. It’s been that kind of year.

Still a bit left to cover in Stage 2 (we still haven’t seen Josiah Singleton’s second-chance run, for one). We’re on a slow pace for naffies this year, especially given that there were only 60+ qualifiers. Makes me think that the finale is going to be big somehow. Hope springs eternal.

Tidbits: Wow, a 50-year-old won the design challenge? That’s a big surprise, especially now. I cannot stress enough just how unbelievably freaking good these ninjas are now. There was a time when this year’s Stage 2 would’ve gobbled them up, and now we have eight finishers and aren’t done yet. I was pulling for the 37-year-old Tyler Yamauchi, as with Joe Moravsky out he was pretty much the last hope for the oldschool crowd. He’s yet another “cursed” ninja, and this time he wasn’t that close. (I’m pretty sure he went down on Hornet’s Nest…sorry if I’m mistaken; I was fast-forwarding through a lot of stuff.) I knew the youth movement was inevitable, but I want to see at least one grizzled veteran make it, darnit. And as for Jackson Twait, however weird he may be, I seriously have to commend him for not forcing anyone else to gulp down unreasonable amounts of spicy condiments. I wasn’t sure anyone had that kind of restraint on this show anymore. :slightly_smiling_face:

The wind of my soul - Thanks for agreeing with me! :+1: Seriously, I feel like I’ve been under fire on this site a bit lately. You’re right, it totally has the look of a semis or Stage 2 task; dunno what it’s doing on Stage 1.

805

I mean, I disagree with your takes from time, but I certainly appreciate you continuing to post them and kick off the discussions.

I think of the “veterans”, by far the one with the best chance to win is Josh Levin, depending on whether he counts as a veteran. Super-happy to see Flip finally make stage 3, although much as he’s my favorite ninja I don’t think he’s super likely to beat it, blister or no.

I also have no idea why you object to Jay Lewis’s nickname. Frankly, it seems like exactly what a nickname should be… not offensive or rude or swagger-y or anything, flows nicely off the tongue.

(And yeah, seems like there must be a few more stage 2 runs next week, as we also didn’t see the heavily-promoted “Gnarly” Nate Hansen.)

806

It wasn’t just this thread, there was some…stuff on “Vince McMahon steps down from WWE”. Every time something like that happens I get on edge for a few days. (It happened before in that Assassin’s Creed Origins discussion, and go ahead and dig that up if you like, because I sure as hell won’t.) Thanks for your concern, and it’s cool, I’m fine now. :ok_hand: (I’ll take my sweet time going back the person-in-1985 thread…)

My problem with Lewis’ nickname is simple: Repetition. Repetition, repetition, repetition. Endless. Pounding. Crushing. Same deal with Tiana Webberley (that’s exactly where I got “Tdium” from) and to a lesser extent Neil Craver. If I had to hear “Captain NBC” or “The Weatherman” or “The Classy Ninja” fifteen goddam times a minute, I’d react exactly the same.

807

I think he’s going to win, if not this year then soon (as long as NBC doesn’t cancel the show). You can tell who the elites are by how much they struggle with a course and how tired they are when they complete it, and even among the teens, Josiah stands out.

I’m going to be so nervous for his run. Remember how he fell on dragonback in the semifinals? He had plenty of stamina to complete the course, but his downfall was a technical mistake that he couldn’t correct quickly enough. Likewise, he should have the stamina to complete stage 3, but if he makes a technical mistake it’s game over. But man, do I want to see him take on stage 4. He’s a likeable guy (I love how when he completed stage 2 he just ran around yelling AAAAHHH as opposed to let’s go), and don’t we all want to see a grown up beat the teens?

808

Wow, a lot of stage 3 finishers but none could climb the rope in time.

Brian

809

It really puts into perspective how impressive the three guys were who managed to do it in under 30 seconds.

810

I thought this was an interesting season. A changing of the guards in some senses.
Winners:
-Flip Rodriguez, who finally broke his curse and went further than any other ninja of his generation. I didn’t expect him to beat stage 3. I don’t know if he expected to beat stage 3. But he was a massive highlight this season
-Kaden Lebsack, with arguably the most impressive feat in ANW history. Two straight seasons (and his entire career so far) without hitting the water. Two straight seasons as Last Ninja Standing.
-RJ Roman, really locking himself in as one of the sport’s elite
-Teens in general, for obvious reasons
-Nate Hansen. Even though he came up short (rimshot) on stage 3, his run was gripping. He is nothing but guts.
-Stage 4. It’s simple. It’s straightforward. It should be easy to prepare for. But… it kicked everyone’s ass. (I actually assumed that back when Caldiero and Britten beat it it must have been a shorter rope or longer time limit. But I went back and watched, and it was the same. 75 feet and 30 seconds.)

Both a winner and a loser:
-Josh Levin. Broke his stage 2 curse, cruised through stage 3, and then, after all that talk about how he’s a world class speed climber, apparently never bothered practicing climbing a rope
-Obstacle design. Lots of interesting new obstacles this year. But… lots of parts of courses (particularly in Vegas) which were full retreads from last year.

Losers:
-Female competitors. Worst season for women in a LONG time. No semifinals buzzers. No stage 1 buzzers. Frankly, no one particularly close on either. Very few walls beaten.
-The old guard. Go back just two years and look at all the top names. How many of those names did anything this year?
-Stage 3. It was just too easy. Or maybe the top ninjas are just too good. 5/9 ninjas should not be beating stage 3.

811

@MaxtheVool I think that’s an excellent summary of the highs and lows of the season. Only thing I would add is the disappointment of not having any of the big names in Vegas this season. For anyone who’s been watching this show for a while, the most recognizable names and top athletes would be Drew Dreschel, Daniel Gil, Joe Moravsky, Jessie Graff, and Jesse Labreck. It royally sucked to have the entire top tier missing.

(I’m scared someone’s going to misconstrue that comment as me defending Drew. Please don’t read too much into it. All I’m saying is that he was fun to watch, and people looked forward to seeing his runs.)

ETA: Actually, after posting this comment, I see “the old guard” listed under losers. Now I feel like my whole post is redundant, but I don’t see any option to delete a post after you make it, so I guess it’s going to stay. Sorry.

812

I wonder how much time do they get between Stage 3 and 4, and between climbs? Seems interesting that each climber was faster than the last, but I’m wondering if it’s just have more time to rest since stage 3.

813

I’m guessing it was learning from watching the climbs ahead of them that let them tweak a little extra speed out of it. In terms of how much rest between stage 3 and stage 4, Lebsack ran stage 3 last, so he had the least rest of all.

814

One thing I really noticed was how the announcers kept stress what a killer that “blind grab” at the end of one obstacle was, even though I think there was only ONE person who failed there. If a contestant got to that obstacle, they seemed pretty much assured of finishing it.

I guess all the ninjas figured out a way to practice and master that between last season and this.

815

Feeling a bit run down lately, so it took a while for me to get back to this. First, replying to Max’s season summary.

David: Total agreement, although that’s almost certainly his ceiling and now he gets to start asking himself if that’s good enough.
Hundred, Roman, new generation: Duh. :+1:
Hansen: Agreed. I wasn’t paying any special attention to him, but by any metric he had a stellar season.
Stage 4: It is what it is (and that’s what makes Sasuke so special). I should note that Caldiero, Britten, and Dreschel were all in peak physical form, while the teenagers still have some growing up to do. If they keep up their skills into their college years (big if, as I already mentioned), it’s only a matter of time.
Levin: One of the harsh lessons of reality TV is that expectations almost always end up punching you in the face. I’ve decided to be glad for what he accomplished and being an inspiration to others, and if he stuffed up on the last and hardest step, he wasn’t the first and definitely won’t be the last.
Obstacle design: Whatevs. I’d like to see a junior event (not ANWJ, something akin to Division 3 football) where things like Jump Hang and Devil Steps and Body Prop would actually be challenging again. Otherwise, no dog in this fight.
Women: They got old and banged up. That’s really all there is to it. Frankly it’s a small miracle we saw Jessie Graff at all this year. As for the new crop of phenoms like Abby Clark and Katie Bone, give them time, for crying out loud. Maybe they develop into the next superstars, maybe they don’t. No expectations!
Old guard: All right, here’s the magic word, one which you must never, ever forget. “Editing”. NBC shows who they want to show. A contestant has to get to stage 3 to be assured of getting any airtime whatsoever, and even then there’s a small chance that his stage 3 run is going to get chopped down. I’m certain at least some the old guard was there (Covid more than likely thinned their numbers a fair amount), you just didn’t see them.
Stage 3: I’ll get to this in a bit.

And now…mmmmmmmmmmm…

I just wasn’t able to get passionate about the final day. I didn’t find it tired or anything…well, okay, the cliches and leitmotifs and “Million! MILLION!” flapdoodle were outrageously tired, but that’s nothing new. Mainly I felt that everything that needed to be said I already said in previous weeks, and the conclusion was just all the stuff I already said continuing to hold out.

It didn’t help that 11 contestants completed stage 2 and 5 of them conquered stage 3 (none of whom looked to be in serious trouble at any point). One of the great things about stage 3 was that there was no guarantee of anyone finishing, that it could all end right there, possibly very quickly. You got a real sense of which ninjas were great, which were pretty good, and which were just lucky. There was none of that this time. There was so much time left after the conclusion of stage 2 I just knew there had to be a stage 4, possibly a pretty packed one (which it was). There was a 3WA and an ondacorsrainao, either of which would’ve been utterly unthinkable a few years ago. Other than David and maybe one guy who got bumrushed in stage 2 (This too!), everyone looked like he could possibly make it. No no-result (And this!), hell, David, hand injury and all, made it as far as Ultimate Cliffhanger before giving out. It was a very workmanlike, by-the-book trip to Midoriyama…not the ANW I remember, and certainly not the one I became a big fan of.

The one thing that really grabbed me about this season…and here I’ll try not to repeat myself too much…is just how much dedication these athletes have. We’ve reached the point where training for months isn’t a sign of a fanatic, it’s practically required. Some, like “The Boss”, have been training their butts off before the first time they ever stepped on a Junior course. We’re now regularly seeing athletes who put just as much work into this as they would for an actual sport. It startles me, especially given how limited and low-paying this still is. I don’t even know what to make of it.

Aw, heck, I’ll just cover stage 4…

1:43 Mount Midoriyama, where an unprecedented 5 contestants have made it to the final test. Quick recap of Kaden Lebsack coming up well short but still claiming a resounding lance, for which I’ve honored him with the nickname “Hundred”.

1:44 Final thoughts from the fateful five and…you know how a common sign of aging is how police officers keep looking younger? That’s what I feel about this show and stage 3 completers.

All right, because this is the first time we’ve had multiple competitors here with a lance at stake, it’s going to be handled a little differently. Each gets 30 seconds for a shot at the million, but even if he doesn’t make it he gets to keep going to the buzzer. (There’s going to be the usual irritating timer wonkery which I will not waste your time explaining.) If no one qualifies for the ultimate prize, the fastest time takes the lance.

1:45 Josh Levin steps up, looking as powerful as ever. (Damn, it’s weird for him to be the “old” guy.) Simply making it to stage 3 was a triumph for him, much less 4; I can’t imagine the thoughts that must be racing through his mind now. He’s up. He’s…not very fast. He gets really slow at the 60’ mark. Final time, 54.19. The expression “worst of the best” comes to mind.

Zuri Hall jumps right in with the “so close” crap. :roll_eyes:

1:47 RJ Roman already nailed a Mega Wall, so it will be marginally less crushing if he doesn’t triumph. Highly, ahem, creative edit (:angry:) makes it hard to see how close he didn’t come, but his 44.60 still easily beats Levin. He looked as indomitable as Ozzy Osbourne from start to finish. This truly was a breakout year for him, and the fact that he’s not going to suffer The Place Of Eternal Torment (second) just makes it even sweeter. :slightly_smiling_face:

1:49 Josiah Pippel. Man, it seems like just yesterday when he was getting turned into roadkill by the Block C playoffs. He nailed a buzzer in both quallies and semis, which at this point is almost a requisite to make it this far. Can’t keep it up the whole distance, but still in at an impressive 37.97. There’s now absolutely no doubt that he’s the real deal, and doing so much better than Vance Walker has to be a huge boost to his confidence. Another young buck who will have some big decisions to make in college.

1:55 Ooh, it’s Ooh! Bodge mentions his “ideal strength-to-weight ratio”, which means that NBC is desperately trying to get this seen as a real sport for whatever dumb reason. :woman_shrugging: He thinks a million would be a very good start to his college career, which I agree with mainly because he won’t have to deal with knuckledraggers constantly ripping on him for wanting some help dealing with ruinous student loan debt. He’s up! He’s fast! He’s really fast! He’s…slowing down. And slowing down some more. He’s going to have to hustle to beat Pippel’s time. He’s going to…he whiffs on the buzzer! :astonished: Second swipe…it’s…IN TIME! 37.19!

“The good news for now…” So in other words, the lowest he can finish is second! You freaking suck, Hall. :rage:

1:57 Hundred. “I’m going to make sure that what happened last year doesn’t happen again. I’ve been training hard this past year and I think I’m ready for it.” Holy…he’s doing insipid sports cliches? This kid is serious! :grin: Still not quite fast enough for the grand 1M, but he still has a shot at Ooh’s mark. He’s hustling…it’s going to be close…it’s going to be close…it’s…36.77! Ladies and gentlemen, meet your back to back lancer. :partying_face:

OKAY, TIME OUT - Geez, how would you like to be Geoff Britten now? That’s 5 reminders that he would be a million dollars richer if he hadn’t happened to compete on the one singular mono lone ichi season that had literally the one person in the entire goddam universe better than him (coupled, of course, with reality TV having the same sense of justice as Warner Brothers :rage:). Now every season promises to give the knife several more good, hard twists. :cry: Goddammit.

Wow. Seriously, I’m running out of things to say about Kaden Lebsack. I was there for his debut in ANWJ2, where NBC decided it would be a cool idea match him up against charging juggernaut Blake Feero in his very first fricking match, come all the way back to win his block (which, I remind you, wouldn’t have been possible in ANWJ1 or ANWJ3), only to have his worst-to-first bid cut short by Vance Walker at the height of his Roadrunner-esque invincibility. Here are the hard numbers: 2 ANWs, 0 splashdowns, 10 buzzers, 2 lances. He is having the kind of crushing, monstrous early dominance that defined the careers of Jeff Gordon, Evander Holyfield, and Shaquille O’Neal. And the scariest part? He’s only 16. He’s going to get stronger, faster, and tougher. I’m not going to make any brazen predictions (No hypocrisy here! :wink:), but there’s no longer any shred of doubt that he’s the star of the show, and right now the only question is how far he’ll take this wild ride.

Normally this is the part where I break out the back-pats and hugs for Jay Lewis, but it really could’ve gone either way. He was in refuse-to-lose mode all season. He’ll be back. (If he finishes second again, well…banish the thought, I’m having enough misery in my life as it is.)

Family thingy next Monday. I’ll be right there with an exhausting play-by-play recap if I feel like it.

816

That’s not what I’m getting at. It’s not like we don’t know what happened to, say, Jamie Rahn because he kept getting while-we-were-awayed. Rather, the vast majority of heavy hitting/big name vets from just a few years ago just didn’t matter, for one reason or another:
Daniel Gil, Jake Murray, Eskimo Ninja, “Kid” Ohwadi - didn’t compete (Gil due to being an antivax moron, not sure about others)
Najee - was looking strong, then couldn’t compete in Vegas due to covid protocols
Weatherman - same (although was looking a bit shakier)
Jamie Rahn, Lance Pekus, Adam Rayl, Sean Bryant, Jesse and Jessie - disappointing early falls

Obviously Flip was the big success story among vets, followed by Ethan Swanson (respectable fall late on stage 2) and David Campbell (still making deep runs on stage 1 at age 44).

817

Don’t forget Tyler Yamauchi.

818

Well…all right? :man_shrugging: I already mentioned how a lot of old main eventers just left with zero fanfare. Brent Steffensen, Brian Arnold, Noah Kaufman, the Wilczewski brothers, Travis Rosen, Paul Kasemir, Jon Alexis Jr., Isaac Caldiero. Heck, I’m amazed Rahn is still around. They get old, they decline, they move on. Why does this need to get pointed out? It’s like harping on how Matt Iseman is an overpaid useless blithering mindless shill or how there are way too many droning cult-level chants. At some point you just gotta deal. (I’m trying, I’m trying! :wink:)

One thing I hadn’t considered re. young phenoms going to college: If he’s spending several hours daily training for ninja, that means he’s not playing competitive baseball or basketball or lacrosse or soccer, and therefore won’t be switching to it in college. These sports require knowledge of offensive and defensive schemes, transitions, coordination, team chemistry, field sense, quick reactions to changing situations, and the ability to get berated by a loud, angry man without crying or punching him, all of which take time to develop. There’s no chance of someone with zero experience getting accepted onto a college team. If he does split time with a mainstream sport, the most likely scenarios are 1. he gets on a team, whereupon his new commitments means he’ll never do ninja on a high level again, 2. he doesn’t get on a team but continues playing on a recreational level (intramurals, backlot, etc.), potentially becoming a ninja gym owner or coach but not a contender, or 3. he doesn’t get on a team, loses interest, and eventually gets a real job like everyone else.

In other words, while NIL or the lack of it may make a difference at the lower levels, we can look forward to most, if not all, of the high school ANW stars remaining so in college, meaning that the number of fresh young faces on the final day is only going to increase. It’s just like the Americas Cup or mixed martial arts, where a breakthrough development changed it on a fundamental level and it’s never going back.

819

“Who?”
Seriously, one of the things I noticed about the finale was the lack of a particular three-word phrase used about any of the competitors, past or present - “American Ninja Warrior.” Supposedly, that title belongs to the three competitors who finished Stage 4 within the time limit - Britten, Caldiero, and (oh, did I say “three”, my mistake, there were only two, Daniel Gil didn’t make it in time in Season 11 and there was nobody else in Stage 4 that year, that’s ANW’s and NBC’s story and they’re sticking to it). Maybe I’m just being paranoid, and they’re not retconning the title to apply to just million-dollar winners now.

As for the climbs themselves, was I the only one caught off-guard by some of those camera angles? In at least two of the climbs, it looked like they had reached 50 feet, only to cut to a camera angle that showed that they had barely reached 40.

820

Yeah that view from below is very misleading.

821

I’m sort of reminded of the period when Olga Korbut hit women’s gymnastics in the Olympics. There used to be actual WOMEN gymnasts, like Ludmilla Tur-something I’ve forgotten, who were known for their gracefulness and dance abilities, and used to do lots of twists on the horizontal bars and so forth. Women, with waists and breasts, full sized people, grown ups who had gone past puberty, you know?

And then it became a sport for adolescent girls who could do flip after flip and the women vanished as competitors.

That’s the sort of change that seems to be happening. Ninja is becoming a sport for teenaged boys who have reached nearly full strength but not full grown heavy boned skeletons and size. Plus they are subsidized by parents and so can devote the four hours a day or so to practice while food/clothes/housing/whatever magickly appears without them having to ‘waste’ time with jobs and other responsibilities.

I doubt this change will ever reverse.