00:00Well, boys, we're back again for season 18.
00:04What changes to the format can viewers expect this season?
00:09Well, the biggest one, I think, is that in the regional finals,
00:12well, we're going back to, we've done regions in the past,
00:15but now we've got west, central, and east.
00:16But the regional finals, we now have a, we've had head-to-head,
00:19now we have head-to-head-to-head, the triple-header race course.
00:22And we've got to say, this was the most electric new edition we've had in a long time.
00:25It really is. It's the evolution of the show.
00:27This is where Ninja is.
00:28You know, you think about some of the other sports, like the NFL.
00:31They've evolved as the game has evolved.
00:33It used to be a longer, more drawn-out show and sport
00:37where you get to see the ninja and the obstacles.
00:39Now you get to see the ninjas, the obstacles against ninjas,
00:42and you get to see how fast-paced it is.
00:44And so with this new format, you're going to see something
00:47that looks a little bit Olympic-y.
00:50Olympic-y. See what I did there?
00:52And the ninjas, you know, they know that the show is getting ready to go to the Olympics.
00:56You like that, Olympic-y? I just made that word up.
00:58I just made that word up.
01:00But we're getting ready to go to the Olympics.
01:01We got a new Akbar as a new Josiah witness.
01:03Olympic-y.
01:04Josiah Papel really stands out this episode,
01:07not just because he got the fastest time of the night.
01:09Who are some other ninjas we should keep our eye on this season?
01:12Jesse Graff?
01:13Yeah.
01:14Jesse Graff running in heels.
01:16Like, we've seen ninjas like Donovan Matoyer running a full-on suit.
01:21You know what I mean?
01:21Call him the classy ninja.
01:23But Jesse Graff running in heels, just changing up.
01:26These ninjas, they got some little quirky things that they do,
01:29but it works, and they're so athletic.
01:31I ask and dare anyone to go out there and try to run a ninja course in heels.
01:35That's crazy.
01:36It is crazy.
01:38I'm really looking forward to the Milers being back out there again,
01:40the ninja kids to me.
01:42I mean, we saw them.
01:43We met them back on Ninja Junior so long ago,
01:45and the thing I love is that they have an entire empire as ninja kids
01:50where their image is being on these athletes and being these martial artists.
01:53And then they come on our show, and they put that all at stake there.
01:58If they fell on the first obstacle, everyone would go,
02:00I guess they're not really ninja kids.
02:01But their performance last season was so good.
02:03They're back again this year, and I just give them so much credit.
02:07It was like Stephen Amell when he came on as Arrow and crushed the course.
02:10That's someone else.
02:11How good it is when you risk your athletic identity,
02:14when you risk your image, and they did it.
02:17That's why I'm so impressed with the ninja kids.
02:19Glad to see them back.
02:19Yeah, that's the real talk, though, because the identity part is,
02:22especially if you've built your brand on that,
02:24like it's nerve-wracking to go, man, if I mess up, like that's it,
02:28I lose my cred, and nobody wants to lose their street cred on one obstacle.
02:31You know, I want to get into one of the first new obstacles we see this season,
02:35which is the roller bag.
02:37Brand-new obstacle, roller bags.
02:40Ninjas need to pull out the handle on the first suitcase and swing over to the second.
02:45What do you think about that obstacle is so diabolical?
02:48The fact that TSA couldn't even check those luggage in.
02:52I mean, it was that entire obstacle course.
02:57I don't know.
02:58It was just one that, first off, the design was great on it.
03:00You know, it was really cool.
03:01I think, secondly, is that the ninjas stepped up to it, even though it was challenging.
03:06It was even challenging to look at, but the ninjas, they weren't afraid about it.
03:10They just wanted to come out and compete.
03:11I felt like extracting the handle and then having to lachee with it.
03:15I thought, because, again, one of the greatest challenges is that they've never done it before.
03:20And even as you see people going through, you're like, well, you know, how much pull is it going to
03:24take on this?
03:25How much does it sap me when I get thrown?
03:27And I just think that one of the things we see with our great ninjas is you have to have
03:31insane problem-solving abilities.
03:33In the middle of a run, when your forearms aren't responding to figure out, all right, this is the movement
03:39I need to do,
03:39and to be able to place it.
03:41Because a lot of people say, it's one thing when you're down looking at an obstacle.
03:44When you get on it, sometimes you're like, oh, this is way different than I thought it was going to
03:48be.
03:48That's when you go, oh, sha-na-na.
03:51Sha-na-na.
03:52And I love that Cowboy Ninja Lance was miked up during his run on the course.
03:58Any concerns here on Diamond Best?
04:00Well, hopefully, uh, diamonds are a cowboy's best friend.
04:03Okay.
04:04All right.
04:05I don't know how he's going to run in them jeans.
04:08Woo!
04:08If you could mic up any other ninja, who would it be and why?
04:12Uh, for me, it would be the flyboy ninja, uh, Isaiah Thomas.
04:16Uh, he, I love him because he's got a lot of personality.
04:19He's not afraid to put his emotions and his thoughts out there.
04:23You know, I'll still never forget his first buzzer.
04:26I'm him.
04:27I'm him.
04:28And, but it was cool to see that, that, you know, this season we added that element to it.
04:33You see that a lot in the NFL, you know, miked up, and you get to hear those ninjas' thoughts.
04:37Yeah.
04:38As they're going through the obstacles.
04:40Uh, so if we could do that for another ninja, it would, for me, be Isaiah.
04:43I love Taylor Johnson, um, because she is very vocal, but we don't need to mic her up.
04:48We hear her anyway.
04:49Yeah.
04:49With her, you know, he hitting all the woos and cheers.
04:53I, I, I think it's always fascinating, though, to, to hear a ninja going through, you think of Daniel Gill
04:57or Jesse Graff, for them to take us through their approach on a course.
05:01Because if I were out there, I'd be like, oh, God, I'm tired.
05:03Oh, God.
05:04That would be all I would say.
05:05It was mentioned in the episode that Caden Lebsack and Katie Bone are dating.
05:10Ooh, juicy.
05:11Well, it made me feel very old because I remember them for their American Ninja Warrior Junior days.
05:17Yeah.
05:18What's it like to watch these kids grow into adults over the years?
05:22Well, for me, you know, I've seen this with my own kids, you know, like, you know, they were just
05:27small and then, boom, they're teenagers.
05:29When I look at these ninjas, it goes, wow, A, makes me feel old, but B, I'm going, yo, this
05:33is so cool that we get to kind of grow with these ninjas and see it.
05:37So it does, in a different kind of way, feels like, kind of like father figures, like, oh, look at
05:42them, they're dating now.
05:43Oh, such a good couple.
05:45It was really cool to see them go from Ninja Junior to the big show.
05:49And I just think it's such a special breed, which is why it's been so great that they found each
05:54other.
05:54And this community, I think, has led to so much positivity that's come out of it.
05:59But it used to be like, oh, we met on the school playground.
06:01No, we met in Ninja.
06:02We met on Ninja.
06:03I think we've had more marriages than that other dating show has that's on in the summer with roses.
06:08But it's true.
06:09I think we have.
06:10We've had quite a few marriages.
06:11Probably more babies, too.
06:12We're going to see some incredible match-ups on the triple header for sure.
06:16But if you could curate your dream triple header match-ups, who would they be and why?
06:21I would love to see the Beckstrand family, all the kids, like Luke Bailey and Kai going head to head
06:27to head.
06:27Because, you know, that's what they're doing every day is pushing each other.
06:31I think, you know, I'd love to see, like, Isaac Caldero and Vance Walker.
06:35You're going way back.
06:36Yeah, and, you know, and Flex LeBrec.
06:38Flex LeBrec, yeah.
06:38I think Flex, to me, Flex LeBrec, I think her intensity, she was the most intense ninja I'd ever seen.
06:45And the one who I think physically she was gifted, but I think mentally she was as tough as anyone
06:50who's been on the course.
06:50Yeah, I love that.
06:52I'm going to go Taylor Johnson.
06:54I'm going to go Flip Rodriguez in his prime and R.J. Roman.
06:58Oh, in his prime?
07:00What does that mean?
07:01Well, in his prime, he's, you know, he's still in his prime.
07:05You know, in his younger, Flip, Flip, I had your back, man.
07:10But a younger Flip, he's a little bit more calculated now, which I understand.
07:15Like, this, when you, with more wisdom or age, it comes with wisdom, but there was a reckless.
07:20You're digging yourself out of this hole.
07:22There was a reckless Flip Rodriguez who would just go lightning fast.
07:26The best man.
07:26And then you have R.J. Roman and you put those three, I think that would make a really, really
07:31good tripleheader.
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