By Celeste Duthie
Despite never seeing the original Japanese Ninja Warrior, 16-year-old Upwey local Ash Campbell is making his Australian Ninja Warrior debut in the 2022 season.
This season is the first where 16 and 17-year-olds have been allowed to enter and Mr Campbell took his opportunity.
“I signed up for a kickboxing class with some roommates and at the time Ninja was really kind of taking off,” he said.
“The owners of the kickboxing club had a few obstacles set up in their front yard and just happened on that day we were giving it a go.
“I had a bit of a knack for it and I started doing it more regularly as gaining popularity and here we are now.”
His first attempt at the course will air on Monday 27 July at 7.30 on Channel 9.
Mr Campbell said the adrenaline rush started to kick in during the interviews before he competed and described the course as “intimidating,” as many other people would.
“Having everyone you know in the stands, cameras on you, basically just your moment,” he said.
“I think if I were to do it again I’d have a lot more knowledge on how to handle it, but in general it has given me a lot of strengths”
When asked how similar the experience of competing is when compared to what the public sees on television, Mr Campbell said it is completely different.
“I’d say, when you’re training in a gym, it’s much more a family environment, compared to going through a production team and stuff like that.”
We see many ninjas return repeatedly to compete in Australian Ninja Warrior and Mr Campbell thinks if he were to do it again, it would be far more straightforward.
“Right now I’m looking at where life takes me,” Mr Campbell said.
“I’ve been thinking about becoming a personal trainer, maybe I’ll go down that route.”
He also encouraged people to watch the new Ninja Warrior season.
