Sasuke 20! Part 2

Well, Sasuke 20 is over and it was nothing short of amazing. Most of the Ninja Warrior all-stars showed up for this epic event. Olympic athlete Shunsuke Nagasake was absent due to his training for the Beijing games, Government worker Bunpei Shiratori was absent as well...I'm not sure where he was, Comedian turned athlete Kinnikun Nakayama was absent as well but the rest of the big guns were all present. Yamada, Nagano, Akiyama, Takeda, Yamamoto, Yamada(yes, i meant to type Yamada twice...there are two Yamada's) Iketani...all showed up. Trampolinist Daisuke Nakata was absent as well but due to his injuries from a hit and run a few years back, its understandable.

Shunsuke Nagasake wasn't able to make it to the event but he was able to train the 3 American G4 viewers who won the American Ninja contest...one of whom got farther than any other competitor...he made it to the Cliff Hanger in Stage 3. Grand Champion Makoto Nagano made it to Stage 2 but lost his grip on the updated Chain Reaction...the first obstacle in Stage 2. Levi had to go to Stage 3 alone.

Out of the 100 competitors only 3 made it to stage 2 and one of those made it to stage 3. Unfortunately, all of the All-Stars except Nagano were taken out in the first round. Japan's most famous Firefighter..Toshihiro Takeda was thwarted by the warped wall, Katsumi Yamada lost his grip on the Spider Jump, Superstar Shingo Yamamoto mis-judged his landing on the half pipe attack, 1st Grand Champion Kazuhiko Akiyama lost his grip on the half pipe attack and as for Yasushi Yamada...i just cant remember how he was taken out.

Along with the all-stars there were the usual faces...Hang Glider man, Mr. Octopus, the guy that makes the plastic models, the rather rotund comedian Choshu, garbageman Shinji Kobayashi...all taken out within the first few obstacles. For those of you who missed it, Sasuke 20 will air again today starting at 4pm EST on G4TV.

Usually the Sasuke tournaments are every 6 months so I believe Sasuke 21 will be in September, and I cant wait.

Mr. Sasuke, Katsumi Yamada has dedicated his entire life to Ninja Warrior, he has built a replica training course at his home where the rest of the all-stars join him to train. No man has suffered the heartbreak that Yamada has. He has made it to the final stages quite a few times but has never gone all the way although he was the favorite for several years in a row. Katsumi Yamada is what Ninja Warrior is all about. The man has heart, spirit, drive...everything. I really hope he will make it to the top of Mt. Midoriyama one day. His best friend, all-star and Grand Champion Makoto Nagano constantly pushes Yamada to train harder so that he can one day enjoy the view from the top of the giant metal tower.

here's hoping that all the all-stars show up for Sasuke 21.