Wall Lifting

Wall Lifting (ウォールリフティング), called Wall Lift in English broadcasts, has been the final obstacle of Second Stage since the first tournament except on three tournaments, being SASUKE 18 (replaced by Shoulder Walk), SASUKE 28, and 29 (both replaced by Passing Wall), marking it the obstacle with most appearance in SASUKE. It also is the only obstacle which used Latin-scripted English alphabet for its naming, as it was named WALL LIFTING and WALL LIFTING RUN in the first three tournaments. Nevertheless, Katakana naming was ultimately adopted for the obstacle which still stands today.

Its function is simple: competitors must lift three walls of increasing weight that are 2.4 metres apart and dash towards the goal (pressing a red button since SASUKE 8) before the time runs out. The weight of the three walls are 30 kg (66 lbs), 40 kg (88 lbs), and 50 kg (110 lbs), respectively. However, the heavy weights combined with competitors rushing to finish the stage usually lead to time outs.

Development
For the first seven tournaments, competitors just needed to walk or dash through the open gates in order to clear Second Stage. If the competitors fail to do so, the gates will close, signifying a failure.

However, starting SASUKE 8, a button was added, requiring competitors to press it in order to stop the clock, open the gates, and move on. If competitors went through the gates without pressing the button, they would be disqualified, as what Paul Hamm did in SASUKE 14.

After Levi Meeuwenberg injured his foot in SASUKE 20, the walls were raised approximately 50 cm off the ground, whereas in prior tournaments, the walls were raised in variable heights off the ground. This made the obstacle slightly easier, as competitors could reach under the walls instead of lifting them from the sides. The walls would eventually be lowered to their pre-SASUKE 20 height variables in SASUKE 32.

Passing Wall that was used to replace this obstacle in SASUKE 28 and 29 was a modification of the obstacle, where the second wall had to be pushed apart instead of being lifted up.

From SASUKE 30 onwards, due to it being attempted after Backstream, it caused problems for competitors as they had to raise the walls with wet hands, making it slippery.

In some instances, due to high humidity, the walls would not go down when the competitors lifted them. This happened on two occasions, in SASUKE 3 (during Ōmori Akira's run, where wall #2 and #3 were stuck midway) and in SASUKE 31 (during Drew Drechsel's run, where wall #3 was stuck all the way up). This, combining with trying to prevent injury occured to Levi Meeuwenberg from happening again, prompting the production to install a counterweight mechanism starting from SASUKE 32 that would allow the walls used to drop down instantly to drop slower, albeit making things easier for competitors as they could had more time to dive below the walls.

Visual Design

 * For the first 12 SASUKE tournaments, the walls ware painted with black and yellow stripes, with the numbers "1", "2", and "3".
 * From SASUKE 13 to SASUKE 17, the walls were repainted with black and silver stripes, with the Roman numerals "I", "II", and "III".
 * From SASUKE 19 to SASUKE 27, the numbers and stripes were removed and replaced with plain wooden walls.
 * From SASUKE 30 to SASUKE 34, the walls were changed back to metal and painted silver with the currently used Japanese daiji numerals (Accounting numbers) "壱", "弐", and "参", though that was firstly used on Passing Wall.
 * In SASUKE 35, the walls were still silver, but had a yellow outline and the daiji numerals were replaced with the numbering system used during the first 12 SASUKE tournaments, albeit the numbers were relocated to the lower right corner of the walls as opposed to the center in the previous designs. Black outline was added on the design of the walls in SASUKE 36.

KUNOICHI Appearance
Wall Lifting (ウォールリフティング) appeared in KUNOICHI 10 as the fifth and final obstacle of the BLUE Stage (Second Stage). The weight of the walls were toned down to 10 kg (22 lbs), 15 kg (33 lbs), and 20 kg (44 lbs), respectively, in order to make the obstacle easier for women. In addition, screen walls were added on the top of the walls to prevent competitors from skipping the walls.

Coincidentally, its first appearance has the same completion rate as its first appearance in SASUKE, as three out of four competitors completed the obstacle in KUNOICHI 10, for a 75% completion rate. While in SASUKE 1, six out of eight competitors completed the obstacle, also a 75% completion rate.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found.

American Ninja Warrior
On American Ninja Warrior 4, the Wall Lifting (simply called the Wall Lift) appeared as the sixth obstacle in Northeast and Southeast regions (because of that, the number of obstacles during Northeast and Southeast region qualifiers and finals was seven and ten respectively, rather than six and nine in the other four regions), with the walls weighing less than SASUKE's Second Stage version (45 lbs, 55 lbs, and 65 lbs, i.e. roughly 20kg, 25kg, and 30kg). Since the region qualifiers and finals didn't have a time limit to complete the course, the obstacle served as both time and energy wasters for the competitors.

Furthermore, the Wall Lift appeared as the sixth and final obstacle in Stage Two from American Ninja Warrior 4 to American Ninja Warrior 7, with the walls weighing the same as their SASUKE version, albeit with an alternate counterweight-based system and the walls being raised, to prevent what happened to Levi Meeuwenberg in SASUKE 20 from happening again.

On American Ninja Warrior 8, due to the zero knockout rate, the obstacle was replaced with the Wall Flip.

Ninja Warrior UK
The Wall Lift appeared as the fifth obstacle in the finals' Stage 2 from Ninja Warrior UK until Ninja Warrior UK 5. On Ninja Warrior UK, only Timothy Shieff was able to reach the obstacle, but his time ran out while lifting the third wall. On Ninja Warrior UK 2, the obstacle was unattempted. On Ninja Warrior UK 3, the obstacle was finally completed by Cain Clarke and Jonny Urszuly, with both of them becoming the first two competitors to advance to Stage 3.

From Ninja Warrior UK 3 to Ninja Warrior UK 5, the walls were made of Plexiglas (similar to the Wall Lift on American Ninja Warrior 7).

Australian Ninja Warrior
A same version of the Wall Lift from American Ninja Warrior 7 appeared:
 * as the fifth and final obstacle of timed portion in Stage Two on Australian Ninja Warrior,
 * as the eighth and final obstacle in Stage Two on Australian Ninja Warrior 2, and
 * as the sixth and final obstacle in Stage Two on Australian Ninja Warrior 3 and Australian Ninja Warrior 4 (with the first, second, and third walls being toned down to 20, 30, and 40 kg respectively).

During the first two seasons, the obstacle was unattempted. On Australian Ninja Warrior 3, five competitors were able to reach and complete the obstacle within the time limit and advance to Stage Three.

Ninja Warrior Poland
The Ściany Herkulesa (Ninja Warrior Poland's official name for the Wall Lift) appeared as the fifth obstacle of the first part of Stage Two in every season of Ninja Warrior Poland.

During this season, only Jakub Zawistowski managed to completed the obstacle in time while Ivan Kohut timed out on the third wall.

In Ninja Warrior Poland 2 and Ninja Warrior Poland 3, every competitor who attempted the obstacle managed to complete the obstacle within the time limit.

During Ninja Warrior Poland 4, a unusual rule violation occurred on the obstacle when Wojciech Borkowski was disqualified on the obstacle for touching the floor using his hands while navigating the walls. This violation would never seen in other international formats as competitors were still allowed to crawl on the floor in those competitions.

On Ninja Warrior Poland 5, both competitors who made it to Stage Two overcame this obstacle in time as per the rules.

Ninja Warrior Germany
The Hebebrücken (Ninja Warrior Germany's official name for the Wall Lift) appeared as the fifth obstacle of Stage Two in first two seasons of Ninja Warrior Germany.

During the first season, no one has managed to get to this obstacle.

In Ninja Warrior Germany 2, three competitors managed to reach this obstacle, and each of them completed it within the time limit.

The obstacle was replaced by Wall Flip in the next season.

SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia


The Wall Lift appeared as the sixth obstacle of Stage Two in SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia. Compared to its other appearances, a pulley system was present on the right side of the walls with sandbags as weights and operated by the production staff as a manual counter-weight.

The obstacle served as both time and energy wasters for the competitors.

KUNOICHI
For Wall Lifting used in KUNOICHI, the obstacle featured transparent walls with blue and yellow borders, and had increasing amounts of foam ball within them as the weight, along with the numerical scheme used in the Wall Lifting's pre-SASUKE 13 color scheme.

American Ninja Warrior

 * During American Ninja Warrior 4's Northeast and Southeast region qualifiers and finals, the walls were painted plain red.
 * On American Ninja Warrior 4 and American Ninja Warrior 5, the walls were colored with red and white stripes.
 * On American Ninja Warrior 6 and American Ninja Warrior 7, the walls were changed with transparent walls, made entirely from Plexiglas.

Ninja Warrior UK

 * On the first two seasons of Ninja Warrior UK, the walls were colored with black and white stripes.
 * From Ninja Warrior UK 3 to Ninja Warrior UK 5, the walls were made of Plexiglas (similar to the Wall Lift on American Ninja Warrior 7).

Australian Ninja Warrior

 * From Australian Ninja Warrior to Australian Ninja Warrior 3, the walls were made of Plexiglas (similar to the Wall Lift on American Ninja Warrior 7).

Ninja Warrior Poland

 * In Ninja Warrior Poland, the walls were transparent. The numerals indicating their weights were colored in white placing at the middle, framed with red edges.

SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia

 * In SASUKE Ninja Warrior Mongolia, the walls were painted silver. The numerals indicating their weights were colored in yellow placing at the top right, with the logo placed at the middle of the wall.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the NBC broadcast and external information found.

ウォールリフティング 芝麻開門