From newbie to all-star ninja? No problem! If you have the motivation and the strength, you can learn the technical tricks at sport.de. Ninja athlete Christian Balkheimer explains in his tutorials what is important with the obstacles. In part 4 of the series, he devotes himself to the current trend in ninja sport: connecting.
Anyone who follows the current Allstars relay will have noticed the speed-heavy format: the athletes are increasingly trying to complete obstacles without intermediate turns and to combine the individual elements in one movement if possible.
What is behind this trend? How do you learn to connect and what should you pay attention to? Christian Balkheimer gives the answers! In the video tutorial, the veteran has some professional tips ready.
The professional
“Super Mario Ninja” knows what he’s talking about. Balkheimer is one of the permanent guests at Ninja Warrior Germany. He has appeared in every season so far and has made it to the finals several times. He can also be seen in the current Allstars season, you can see his skills on Sunday in the fifth preliminary round (8:15 p.m. on RTL, RTL+ and im sport.de-live ticker) experience.
He not only prepares for the TV shows in various ninja competitions, but also trains in his own hall, the Free.Ground Academy.
In the first three sport.de tutorials, he has also already given step-by-step instructions ladder to heaven, the Chaos Balls as well as the Turntable and the plank aisle explained.
The connect
The aim of connecting is to complete an obstacle as efficiently as possible in one go. The ninjas not only want to save time, but also strength by keeping the hanging time in the obstacle to a minimum and doing without intermediate turns. Accordingly, the connect is considered the supreme discipline in ninja sport.
But it is also clear that whoever completes the obstacle in this way runs a higher risk of falling into the water early, for example because the momentum is not sufficient. Accordingly, connecting is seen less frequently in the regular NWG relays, because the safe route to the buzzer often leads through an intermediate turn.
The technique differs from obstacle to obstacle. Christian Balkheimer explains the basics in the video tutorial. Prerequisites are safe swinging at an obstacle and a sufficient jump distance.
fun facts
Allstars not only invites you to connect because of the duel format. The ninjas are allowed to test the obstacles here in advance and can try out before their runs whether they can complete an obstacle without intermediate turns.
Where the word “connect” falls, the “Full Send” cry is not far in the ninja community. What does that mean? To take full risk, for example to try the Connect and go full throttle.
Among others “Clucky Luke” (click and click), Sandro Scheibler (swinging wing) and René Casselly (bungee flight, among others) have already made spectacular connects in the show. Christian Balkheimer himself did the last one on the vaulting bar.
Christian Balkheimer (video) and Maike Falkenberg