The CCNWTC Fall Invite is upon us! Possibly the West Coasts largest Ninja Warrior Event.

In 1 week we will be starting our last Seasonal Invite event of this year. With an estimated 40+ competing ninjas over a Full 4 Stage (all near/full scale obstacles) competition! We are guessing from what we have seen at other Ninja Warrior events on this side of the US that this is probably the largest event on the West Coast not associated with the tv show "American Ninja Warrior" by NBC/G4.

I am super excited and a little scared haha but we are going to have a blast. I feel so blessed to have an amazing course to where I can hold events like this for all my ninja buddies and help bring new people into it as well. So let me give you the download on the event if you didn't know.

IT's STREAMING LIVE!
That's right we got a Ustream account and will be streaming the stages live via this link:  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ccnwtc
Follow it! Bookmark it!
We may even do a ninja breakfast broadcast from Batter Up Pancakes haha

If you couldn't see it before here are the complete event details below:
CCNWTC Fall Invite Event Details - PDF View
If you have been training for Ninja Warrior and wish to sign up you better hurry! Read the ALL of the event packet and if it looks good to you email me at ccnwtc@gmail.com and I will give you the registration link.
NOTE: Registration closes at midnight, October 22nd, 2013

We have some amazing sponsors and one new one!
Our Course Sponsors are:

FTF Fitness
Hylete Performance Apparel (use promo code: PBHXTNRGK  for 25% off)
PepsiCo
So iLL Holds
Les Schwab Tire Center
Hard Driven Apparel and Screen Printing

Our event sponsors are:
FTF Fitness
Hylete Performance Apparel
PepsiCo
Batter Up Pancakes
Sweet River Bar and Grill
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Convex Photography

As you may have guessed it So iLL Holds is our newest course sponsor. These guys are amazing and have been in business for 11yrs. They own a state of the art climbing gym(Climb So iLL) with full member services like 24hr climbing. As well they make some amazing and unique and durable holds that are pretty ill (see what I did their ;)) Make sure to check out their website and consider them for your next or first climbing hold purchase, they are really cool company.  I find that they are perfect fit with the CCNWTC as we both like black and green haha and we both like to be different and unique. Enjoy the video below.

So iLL: Holds Everywhere from So iLL on Vimeo.

And here we go!

Referring to our next big build and not The Dark Knight of course. This has been in the plans for quite sometime and a lot of request have come in for us to build this obstacle since June and they ran the Vegas finals for the show. As you may have seen ALOT of ninjas were taken out by this beast. Some say it was too hard....but honestly if it wasn't hard why would should we not train for it.

Truthfully since year 1 ANW has tried building the Spider Jump, being renamed the Spider Walk. Cause it was literally a walk through. Pretty darn easy obstacle and the American version has been pretty weak compared to Sasuke's original Spider Jump obstacle. This year, I think they got it right! Even the year before they were generous and put the trampoline fairly close to the opening and now they got it right!! I've also been hearing from the testers and my other ninja buddies that they made it a bit harder as well and made the inside width harder.

So be pre-paired to get your training on, through multiple sketches, comparisons, and pieces of paper I got down our first scaled draft sketch of the Spider Climb. This will be a 1 on 1 scale of the show. An will also be the courses single largest and most expensive obstacle to build. With an estimate of just over $1,500 in materials.


We are working hard and looking for a Veteran Sponsor, for this build which would make this obstalce possible. Our goal is to have it built in time for our next Seasonal Open Invite in October. Whish us luck. Their will be a build package for this obstacle a few weeks after it is finished for any company/ backyard ninja that wants to build a full scale one.

Central California's Ninja Warrior Stage 3 aka "the Gauntlet"

Solid foundation

So I've been really busy this past week and will be into the next 2 as I continue to construct and build our Ninja Warriors Stage 3 section. Known as the Gauntlet. Its coming along and on schedule. I've put myself through hell working on construction by myself as I resurrect this beast! 19 feet long and 39 feet wide from 10-12'ft high.

Tomorrow I should be finishing up the last bits. Adding a few more pieces of lumber and concreting in 6 posts. I already have all/most of the materials to install and build the Rumbling Dice. I will be working on that and plan on going out Tuesday/Wednesday to make a large purchase for most of the materials I need to build these obstacles. Most of which will range from 12 to 20'ft long and be hanging from the rafters. Here is a few photos and video we released over the past week on our Facebook. If you haven't already like our page and get updates faster!

1,580lbs of concrete for our supporting posts

I think I'll it the sanctuary!

A mans tools for getting through 2ft of hard-pan

Its THIS big!

Starting the day off with a refreshed beginning

Almost their! Raising the left wing.

Angled beams for support of the 16' arms

This video talks about design and how things will be laid out. Not interesting if your not into that.

Cool view of some of the crazy things I did to build this.
A short video about recent progress and a funny challenge to ANW6

The Assembly of a Interchangeable Salmon Ladder. The IC-SL

As you see I released another video series. This time on the construction of a Salmon ladder that can easily change gaps and distances between rungs with no effort. Its an awesome design and an idea/ feature presented from the Koi Ladder.
The series runs 20m long. If you want to see the finished product and aren't interested in the construction just skip to the 4th video.


I was however presented with quite a challenge though. After my first mini test I knew the spacers in the design were weak and would need reinforcing. So I thought up a faceplate design and tested that as you will see in the 4th video. It was good for a little while but couldn't withstand the brutal impact and the ladder itself started to split and crack.
So are we going to trash it?! Nope no need. We have an excellent design just not a strong enough materials. If it was built from composite wood decking it be fine and good. Cost a bit more to make but wouldn't still keep with the original design.
or
You can make it out of wood but would have to ad pins through the rungs and sidewalls of the ladder. This is so the pin takes the force of the inplace and not the weak wood. Which is undoubtedly less stronger then metal. You just give up a little of the design having to remove and insert a pit every time you wish to switch or move rungs. Hopefully end of this week, beginning of next I will have the two blueprints up and available to use.

In the meantime were working on a new obstacle that is massive! and will devour most of are lumber. That and pre-pairing to support all our ninjas in Vegas. Finals are coming up this June 21st!

The Interchangeable Salmon Ladder begins: Part 2

So a few days later I put a little paint on to make it stand out and go to install this new little beast for its first test runs and make sure it can stand the abuse.

Things I like about this design so far.

1. It can be carried and transported, each beam weighs about 12-15lbs(w rungs) so if you want to take it to a friends and strap/screw it down you can.
2. The rungs are straight forward and simple to construct, therefore easier to replace if broken.
3. Varied gap distances can be changed in a matter of seconds weather you want to make a 6", 12", 18" or 36" gap! :o

It was about 90+ degrees out when I first test the ICSL. All rungs were set to a 12" gap. An the bar felt about 100 degrees hot on touching it. If you watch the video you see after the my first leap I fail me second this is due to a flaw in the current design.

The 4" spaces inbetween rungs were splitting due to the pressure when swinging, leaping, and landing on the . rung.  This was causing the  rungs to slip and actually drop about 1-2" and sliding out. Not good! So I've come up with a new modification to add to the design to make it stronger and hopefully should do the trick. I will need to cut all new rungs though :/ Thank God they are all fairly easy to make though unlike the Koi Rungs.

Barrel Roll is Complete

Barrel Roll Walk Through/ Progression/ Testing

Surprising enough this is what I think is the first true full size Barrel Roll I've seen built. If you can find another I would love to see it. Just place the link in the comments below. Heres a walk through and basic explanation of it. Its not 100% complete in this video yet.

In this video I have two clips of my testing the Barrel Roll. One without the new 6ft walk out platform and the second clip with the new platform. I added this in cause the total length of the rolling barrel would be too long and speed would be to great towards the end. Now you have about 16ft of rolling space.


 Today was a recover and maintenance day. Thad came and new arrival Tyler Perry came to help with week whacking and moving wood and debris off the ground. We were clearing out about 20ft in all directions and racking all of it up. Alot of work about 3hrs in we called it a day(finished about 90%) and here in this video is some fun things that ensued soon after ;)

Pre-pairing for Denver Region in American Ninja Warrior

So its about two weeks out till Denver, CO has their turn at the ANW5. Normally I wouldn't be able to make this kind of trip but with some help from the people in my life and the CrossFit box I work out of, they are helping raise money for my trip and I do not want to disappoint! So Denver has a different elevation, a bit higher than where I'm use to coming from Central California. How is the best way to train and pre-pair my body for that elevation? Here it is...

 At higher elevation there is less pressure. Less pressure to force the oxygen into your lungs and system so the build up of acid in your muscles will be quicker. You will feel more tired and wont be able to perform as long as your use too. Plus the course takes about 1 to 2 minutes to complete. So I'm going to give you a few tips here on how to help charge your system for the course.

Condition:

There are many great ways to do conditioning. CrossFit being one of them, but I'm not here to tote for CrossFit. The best way to get your body conditioned, in a short amount of time is to help reduce the speed at which the acid begins to build by doing Interval Training.

• Running or rowing: 1 minute on, 1 minute off. For 6 to 10 rounds. Give your MAX effort for that 1 minute and then rest 1 minute. If you can do this well without getting tired to much (or without seeing a decrease in your average round) decrease your rest time by 10-15 seconds. 
• For more specific training I suggest going TABATA. This type of training can be applied to pullups, bar holds, box jumps, and any other type of movement you can perform on the course. *TABATA is a very specific format of working out. 20s of max effort work, followed by 10s of rest, do 8 rounds of that one movement and then move to the next. Usually you see TABATA is grouped with 4 movements* 
• Here is a workout I called "TABATA Bing" that you can try.
  Post your total # of reps in the comments:
       Rowing (count total meters)
       Pullups(kipping allowed)
       Back Squats at 95lbs
       Deadlift Hold w/ Fat Bar at 155lbs (count only seconds held. after bar drops do not pick it back up till        your next set)

 This type of conditioning will help train your body for that 1-2 minutes of running the course. Keeping your muscles from tiring too soon, cramping up, and keeping your heart rate down. PLUS drink lots of water!!

Eating:

We all know diet is a huge part of how we perform! I just wanted to let you on to a recent scientific study found about Spinach.  It is more of super food than we actually knew, no its not all the iron in it! An also Creatine is a big part of buffering your system to prevent muscle fatigue.

• Researches have found that eating a minimum of 3 cups(or about 300g) a day for 3 days can increase your cells ability to take in oxygen by 3-5% which is massive in such a short period of time! Translated it will allow you to take in less oxygen for the same results and you will become not as tired as quickly during physical activity.
• Here is an article written about the study if you want to read more into it: http://www.naturalnews.com/031427_spinach_muscles.html this link also contains some of the original study sources.
• Creatine Monohydrate, one of the most research supplements out there and proven. What it can do for you will increase that amount of times you can give your max effort. More explosive jumps, longer grip hold, and so on.
• Take 5 grams twice a day. Morning and night or 30 minutes before a workout and with a post workout shake.
  If you keep this up your system should have a larger amount of stored creatine needed to help give you an extra edge.

How does Canam Productions for American Ninja Warrior choose submission?

I know I wondered this when I thought I put out a killer video for this season 5 of ANW. I talked to one of the casting agents at Canam and asked, "Why was my video not chosen? Was there something wrong or didn't include? Is there something I should be marketing myself more towards?" and this is the response I got.

Paraphrasing here: "Jason we looked through every single video and for your region there was alot. Somewhere around 2000 and yours was up there among the best we picked. You had a really good video so we picked it among others and then we gave it to the producer. The producer looks over the videos and tells us which ones he wants. I'm sorry" I asked if they knew what kind of things he looks for. I just got a blank answer and saying that they don't really know.

So I was sorta shocked to hear that my video was held very high, felt honored to but didn't get picked. But as was said its a two step process. The main casting agents(Canam) do simply that cast out for potential contestants for the show. However it is not their decision who gets on, it is fully up to the Producer and whatever personality or skills hes looking for to qualify those top 100+ invites to the show.
Honestly I should have already known this seeing its exactly how it works in the walk on spots. They film around and the producers picks who he would like out of the line.

After I talked about this I asked if there was any possibly way I could get an invite to Denver? I was told it would be a really hard region to get an invite in but I did have a good video. Its just the producer rejected my video once what will keep him from doing it again? So they put my video in at the pot of videos for the Denver region. From what I was just told today Canam is finishing their call backs next week. I'll hang on tight and see if it all comes through. If not?
Its alright, I'm going to go for a walk on too so lets see how this all plays out!
Train hard my friends and if your not already from that region or high of elevation start conditioning and acclimating yourself to that environment.
PS: Elevation masks wont help. They will simply allow you to burn more calories because your taking in less oxygen. You need to increase oxygen intake not decrease it!