Real-life ninjas were secret agents and irregular warriors for hire in Japan roughly 400 to 500 years ago. They became a fixture of legend and folklore, with all sorts of outlandish powers attributed to them: invisibility, flight, shapeshifting, walking on water, you name it. The ninja legend lives on today, not only in Japan but in popular culture around the world.
One of those pieces of pop culture is “American Ninja Warrior,” a televised sporting competition where the “ninjas” have to navigate increasingly difficult obstacle courses. The obstacles are a test of all-around abilities: speed, agility, strength, and grip. Contestants have to be at least 19 years old and in good physical health. Events are held in several cities to narrow down the field. Of the thousands of people who try out, only 30 make it to the city finals.
The age requirement is a problem for a 5-year-old girl named Lylah who absolutely loves Ninja Warrior and dreams of appearing on the show. She enjoys keeping active and getting plenty of exercise, but until recently, the local playgrounds and jungle gyms were as close as she could get to living her dream. But then her dad had a great idea: build an American-Ninja-style obstacle course in the backyard!
As you’ll see in the video posted below, Lylah has gotten pretty good. Wearing her “girls are superstars” shirt, she makes her way across the quintuple steps, along with the balance beam (“no scaredy-cats this time”), and on to the teeter log. A large crowd was assembled to cheer her on, of course. Lylah made it up the cargo climb with incredible speed and then dashed from the roof of one shed to the other. She did the zip line one-handed before tackling the very difficult hanging steps. Then it was over the “log things” and up the warp wall. She hit the buzzer, finishing the course in an impressive 2 minutes 23 seconds.
Let us know what you thought of this backyard fun in the comments section below the video. Be sure to like and share!
