ANW Compound

Makoto Nagano 長野 誠 mentally prepares to run the Sasuke obstacle course.

Makoto Nagano 長野 誠  is a legend.  He is one of three people in the entire world to complete Japanese obstacle course at Mount Midoriyama.  Known in Japan as ‘Sasuke‘, we here in America were exposed to the program known as Ninja Warrior.  It is a series of obstacles that defeat leagues of athletes who don’t know that meaning of the word QUIT.   I remember watching Naganosan scale the last rope climb and slam his palm on the button to win.  Stunned doesn’t really describe what I felt.  This 40+ year old fisherman didn’t seem to get tired.  Gravity had no effect on him.  It was nothing short of fantastic.

The best way to motivate an American is to tell him (her) that he can’t do something.  Enter American Ninja Warrior.  As of this publication, no American has ever conquered  Mt. Midoriyama, but that hasn’t stopped a hard corps group of athletes from trying.  Now in it’s seventh season, the popular television program is gaining traction among enthusiasts in the US.  They come from a diverse round of calisthenic backgrounds, such as  rock climbing, gymnastics, parkour, freestyle running, crossfit, and even more obscure disciplines.

Cory Dzbinski is one of the handful of individuals who has accepted the challenge.   A life long athlete, Cory was an American competitor on Season 6.  He personally built and trains at The ANW Compound in Oceanside, CA.  A few of the obstacles at the ANWC include the salmon ladder, rolling log, rumbling dice and many many more.  Each of the obstacles is challenging and many are built to the exact specifications of ANW rules. A few are even more difficult.

Cory Dzbinski leaps from the rope to the salmon ladder.

On Saturday April, 25th, nineteen able athletes gathered to compete on three courses designed by Cory.  It was a cloudy day in Oceanside. While they flung their bodies through the air, clung by their fingers and walked balance beams, I mostly drank coffee and ate hotdogs.  But everyone who knows me,  knows how delicate and sensitive I am. Sarcasm people.  Check out this sweet montage with a vintage Chris Lougeay heavy metal track, circa 2005.

One of the contestants at ANWC this day was Navy Instructor Dane Walker (PO1, E-6).  Dane has been serving  in the USN for over eleven years.  When he went to compete this weekend his Captain didn’t even know what was going on.   I asked him if his officers were cool with Dane’s Ninja Warrior pursuit, the answer was enthusiastically , ‘YES!’.  In his own words:

“The COC (Chain of Command) fully supports me coming out here and competing.  They call me the Ginga’ Ninja.”

Dane Walker leaps for the salmon ladder.

Unfortunately, Dane’s run of the day ended at the second round.  Dane made the best of the remainder of the afternoon staying properly hydrated with a six pack of beer and cheering on his fellow competitors.

Jessie Graff

Girls kick ass.  Need any proof, look no further.  Jessie Graff soon ran the gauntlet of the ANWC obstacle course.  Not only did she finish all twelve of the obstacles, she made it look easy.    Watch this.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.

An awkward silence hushed the nearly all male crowd as she moved through the course.  At first I thought it was just kind of a post puberty crush that kept the guys quiet.  Then afterwards, they all wanted to take pics with her.  A little weird I thought, but no big deal.   After watching Jessie’s great run, I knew she would be great to have on the blog.  So I scarfed a cold and burned hot dog off off the portable electric grill and walked over to say hello.  I found later that I had dripped ketchup all over my pants.  I’m just smooth like that.

Later I found out why the guys acted the way they did.  Jessie Graff is kinda’ a big deal.  She is an in demand stunt woman for major Hollywood blockbusters.  I’m talking the big stuff.  Her resume reads like a must have list on Pirate Bay.  Some of the movies she’s worked on include, Batman – The Dark Knight, X-men: First Class, Iron Man 2, Transformers 2, Live Free or Die Hard, and the list goes on.  Yet, you would have never known from the casual conversation. We mostly talked about her trapeze work and what’s it like being the one of the two women in the contest that day.  If you haven’t checked it out already, go find out what happens when a chicken gives you a bad coupon.

Lastly, I gotta throw a huge shout out to Mike Confer from the The Mud Running and Obstacle Course gym.  I left the lights on in my truck when I got to ANWC.  Mike was kind enough (and prepared with jumper cables) to help me jump start the old black Montero.  If you need some motivation to get off the couch, take a butt kicking training lesson with the former US Marine.  For classes and training availability visit, www.MROCtraining.com.

Do you have anything you would like me to check out?  Leave a comment below and I’ll try to feature it on the blog.  Please subscribe to my Youtube channel and thanks for reading.

CONTACT