Page 18 - Demo

18 || FITNESS MAGAZINE || OCTOBER 2015 you want to feel when you leave and everything you learn while you are having fun training is applicable to scenarios you may encounter in real life.I was fortunate enough to work under a Master Craftsman and Engineer, Mike Timmons, for 9 months at Alpha Warrior before the company changed direction resulting in me leaving the business. Here, we built obstacles that took thousands of hours to design, fabricate, build and test prior to athletes using them at the big day of the event. The most amazing part was seeing how much people actually enjoyed the obstacles the Crew had created; straining, grunting, truly working hard, overcoming fear, and tapping into adrenaline that leads up to the epic feeling of accomplishment. I knew that the knowledge and experience I gained there, plus the passion to create couldn%u2019t go to waste and my dad had the %u201cobstacle bug%u201d just as much as I did. Ninja Obstacles looked easy on TV, and we realized that they were not when my dad decided to build a Salmon Ladder over a year prior to the business being conceived. For weeks my dad and I went to war with the Salmon Ladder trying to become efficient enough to make it to the top without falling. After countless times hitting the crash pad it became something we could do multiple times in a row. Even though it looked easy, the strength and focus had to be there every single time. This is where our slogan comes from, %u201cStay Strong - Stay Focused%u201d, and it became the only thought on our minds when we approached obstacles. Inspired by the pure challenge of the obstacle my dad had built, Vance Yarter - age 53, decided he would train to be on the 5th season of American Ninja Warrior and his submission video was accepted placing him in the Denver City Qualifier. That year he fell on a version of the Spinning Bridge which only poured gasoline on the fire in his quest to conquer Midoriyama, which is the final event consisting of 4 grueling stages. Truly inspired by my dad%u2019s drive and determination I decided that I would try out with him the next year, just a few months after starting the business. To our surprise, both fell on the same obstacle in season 6 which again was a spinning bridge type obstacle. Obstacles will expose your weakness and for us it was balance.2 weeks after I left Alpha Warrior my dad and I speculated on the idea of a facility that encapsulated the sport of Obstacle Racing in a safe, fun, no pressure environment. We wanted to