Illustration by Todd Detwiler
Are you a fan of American Ninja Warrior? The show offers fiendishly difficult sets of obstacles that competitors must climb over, under, and through; rare is the contestant who reaches the end of a course. Think you have what it takes to compete? Check out Kor Komplex in St. Charles. Owner Brendan O’Neill has re-created the obstacles from the show so gym rats can practice in hopes of qualifying. People are driving in from all over the Midwest to train, O’Neill says, and more than a dozen locals are actively working to become bona fide Ninja Warriors. Here are some of the obstacles.
Jump Hang: This one doesn’t look so tough. You bounce off the trampoline, grab the cargo net, and climb down. The rub is that when you’re near the net’s bottom, you can’t let any part of your body touch the ground. That takes serious abs.
Devil Steps: You climb up the underside of steps, using just your hands. It looks easy—if you’re a monkey.
Unstable Bridge: This obstacle consists of two suspended doors that you have to traverse hand over hand while hanging from them. As if that isn’t hard enough, the second door is hung by chains mounted in its center, making it even more unstable than the first.
Cannonball Alley: You have to swing from hanging ball to hanging ball, grasping only the tops of the orbs. It requires incredible grip strength.
Warped Wall: This might be the signature obstacle of American Ninja Warrior. You must take a run at a curved wall, hope that momentum propels you all the way up, grab the top edge, and heave yourself over. On the show, you get three tries before disqualification.
Double Salmon Ladder: Often considered the toughest obstacle of them all, this one requires you to fling a bar up into the “ladder,” consisting of pairs of grooves, do a chin-up, fling the bar up to the next notch, do a chin-up, and so on. If you can make it to the top, you then fling the bar across empty air and do another Salmon Ladder. If you’re not a gymnast before you attempt this, you are when you finish.
