NinjaDay and My Four Year Ninjaversary

So four years ago in late June was the first time I was introduced to the TV show American Ninja Warrior. My cousin Ryan showed me a video of Kacy Catanzaro who was the first woman to complete a city finals course at the Dallas City Finals in 2014. He said a new ninja gym just recently opened up where he was in Philadelphia. A few months later I found out one did exist in Miami, and I started training for 30 days for a friend's birthday party before we tried out the course there. 

Over these 4 years I've had a lot of great experiences. I was able to pass many of the obstacles the same day I tried them out, so in 2016 I submitted my first video. Later that year I competed in my first local competition and did well on the first stage, but fell early during the second stage. 

In 2017 I received a call from casting after I highlighted ninja training had helped me overcome health problems like a collapsed lung in my video, but I didn't get THE call. I was still able become more involved in the community by training with other local ninjas, attending the Daytona Beach testing and taping, and joining in on other events like obstacle races. 

In 2018 we saw the show come to my hometown of Miami, which also happened to be the same weekend as the South Beach Triathlon that I completed with my cousin. At a local competition I broke the wingnut obstacle by pulling it right off of its base, which gave me a head ninja injury (ninjury) with 6 stitches and a staple in the head.  I decided to take a break on training for a bit. 

This year I missed the taping of the show in the Southeast region, but I'm looking forward to a new gym near me and I even put up a few obstacles in my back yard to have my daughters start their own training. 

So even though December 5th may be the official International Ninja Day, I'm still celebrating my 4 year anniversary since discovering Ninja Warrior (Ninjaversary) with pride, and honor all my fellow ninjas with a proper warrior bow. I'm looking forward to hearing from other fellow ninjas and their stories on our Facebook group.