Being a ninja made Danika Michelsen better at homework.
No, the 11-year-old didn’t have to threaten her teacher with a shuriken.
Going to the gym to hone her ninja skills like climbing a spider wall or swinging herself from bar to bar high above the floor is Michelsen’s reward for getting her school assignments done on time.
And those skills have earned her a trip to Minnesota, where she’ll join about 35 of her teammates from the Momentum Ninja Training Centre in Port Coquitlam who’ve qualified to compete at the Ultimate Ninja Athletic Association’s world championships in Prior Lake, July 26 to 28.
Danika said her journey to becoming a ninja warrior started when she accompanied her mom to Momentum on professional development days off school and got a chance to try some of the obstacles. She said the skills of climbing, swinging and balancing on the various apparatus felt like a natural progression from the monkey bars in the park near her home.
It also exercised her brain, Danika said, as she had to plot her own ways to conquer those obstacles and some of the fears they sparked, like scaling the 13-foot-high “warped wall” that curves gently outward, leaving her suspended above the floor.
Danika said it took her several months of trying before she was finally able to ascend the wall successfully last April — “an exciting moment.”
That kind of resolve and fortitude are some of the skills instructor Michael Chow hopes ninjas young and old learn at the gym that used to be known as VanCity OCR before he took it over last year.
The team he’s taking to Minnesota ranges in age from eight to over 40 and each athlete has had to learn to overcome their limitations, whether real or perceived.
“We teach full body awareness and how to get through an environment,” Chow said.
To qualify to be amongst the approximately 1,200 athletes expected to compete at the worlds, the ninjas had to achieve top placings at regional meets held at Momentum or as far away as Calgary, Portland and Spokane.
Ten-year-old Sophia Augustine had only been a ninja warrior for a month when she finished third at her first competition last October. She said she always enjoyed climbing and hanging upside down from monkey bars in the park, and watching American Ninja Warrior on TV showed her she could take her frolicking to the next level.
Sophia said learning how to conquer her trepidations on some of the gym’s apparatus has given her confidence.
Jaden Miki, 15, said his love for parkour led him to becoming a ninja as he’s been able to incorporate some of the moves he learned in that sport to propel himself along built environments like ledges, walls and rocks. He said plotting his routes through, up, over and around the 10 to 15 obstacles that must be traversed in six minutes at a competitive event is an much fun as actually executing the moves.
“I find it a mental challenge,” said Jaden, who’s heading to his second world championship. “I have to believe in the skills I have.”
Brandon Beauchesne, another instructor at Momentum who’s also competing in Minnesota, said each ninja is ultimately responsible for their own success.
“We present them the opportunity to improve,” he said. “They may not be athletic but they can do it if they want it.”
