An avid practitioner of freerunning, Levi Meeuwenberg debuts Sunday on the Ninja Warrior show.
The 2004 Traverse City St. Francis High School graduate, who now lives in Ann Arbor, traveled to Tokyo in March to compete in the series' four obstacle courses. Meeuwenberg's immersion in hybrid sport-art of freerunning — where he uses the environment as an obstacle course, taxing his physical, mental and aesthetic skills — served him well during the competition.
Meeuwenberg previously showcased his freerunning skills by performing in Madonna's Confessions tour in Europe two years ago, in K-Swiss commercials, for Mercedes Benz and at the 2007 Taurus World Stunt Awards.
"I would say it was more a mental than a physical [challenge] but definitely a lot of physical aspects," said Meeuwenberg of the Ninja Warrior series. "It was really clear to me watching hundreds of contestants that those who were nervous faltered because of their mindset."
"Over time, doing what I do [in freerunning] it trains the mind so you keep away interruptions so you focus on what you need to do," he added.
Known as the Sasuke television series in Japan, the physically challenging and wildly popular Ninja Warrior series pits contestants against four obstacle courses. Each course has multiple events and contestants are timed, with most washing out as they go through the course.
The G4 network broadcasts will follow the progress of Meeuwenberg, one of three Americans out of 100 athletes making this quest. This is the 20th competition for the Sasuke series, which debuted in 1997.
The first stage of events in Ninja Warrior includes 36 challenges, whose daunting names ranging from barrel climb, spinning wall and balance bridge to bridge of blades, jumping spider and Tarzan rope. The second and third stages ramp up the difficulty even more. No contestant has made it to the final stage since 2006.
Despite the difficulty, the cutthroat maneuverings and shady dealings of other competitive series such as Survivor are minimized. Ninja Warrior contestants bond through the process of sharing an arduous quest and respect each other's skill and approach.
"Even though it's a competition, it's not about rivalry," said Meeuwenberg, who has made freerunning a career. "It's more camaraderie: we're all here attacking this course together."
Veterans of the challenge served as mentors during the five days he was in Tokyo, including one 16-hour day for taping the show.
"Especially the all-stars, who are pretty renown, they gave us a lot of advice," he added.
Meeuwenberg qualified to go to Japan based on his prowess in the American Ninja Challenge series also on the G4 network. Held in March, he connected with that series after seeing an invitation on a Web site soliciting videos. The G4 network inaugurated the American Ninja Challenge in the fall of 2007 and sent two winners to the 19th competition in Japan.
Sending in a tape of himself freerunning, Meeuwenberg was selected for American Ninja Warrior and then made the cut for Japan. Now back home in Ann Arbor with the American debut of the show days away, Meeuwenberg is already contemplating another try at Ninja Warrior.
"When I first entered to be in it, I was just doing it for fun," he recalled. "But it's also something that now that I've done it, if I get to go back I'll make it my goal to complete it. In 20 seasons only two people have completed it."
The first segment of Ninja Warrior will air as part of Ninja Fest 2 on the G4 network this Sunday evening from 8 p.m. until midnight. Check your local cable or satellite guide for channel. For more information on the program, see the Web site www.g4tv.com/ninjawarrior.
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