American Ninja Warrior

American Ninja Warrior was the first season of Ninja Warrior's international format in the United States, which preceded the four previous American Ninja Challenge events and was served as the American qualifiers for SASUKE 23. For this season, Blair Herter served as the host and Alison Haislip served as the co-host. The season premiered on December 12th, 2009.

Qualifying
In qualifying, competitors would face 6 obstacles and no time limit to complete the course. The 30 fastest competitors who completed the course would advance to semifinal. If less than 30 competitors completed the course, the competitors who got the furthest and fastest round the course would advance to semifinal.

Obstacles
① ^Quintuple Steps

② ^Rope Swing

③ ^Barrel Roll

④ ^Spider Wall

⑤ ^Pipe Slider

⑥ ^Warped Wall

^ - New Obstacle in American Ninja Warrior Course

Semifinal
In semifinal, competitors would face 9 obstacles (in which the first 6 obstacles were the same as in qualifying) and no time limit to complete the course. The 15 fastest competitors who completed the course would advance to finals. If less than 15 competitors completed the course, the competitors who got the furthest and fastest round the course would advance to finals.

Obstacles
① Quintuple Steps

② Rope Swing

③ Barrel Roll

④ Spider Wall

⑤ Pipe Slider

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ ^Tarzan Swing

⑧ ^Jumping Bars

⑨ ^Cargo Climb

^ - New Obstacle in American Ninja Warrior Course

Competition Format
The competition worked as followed:
 * Competitors would face 2 training challenges:
 * In the first challenge, competitors must move 10 blocks (arranged in a pyramid structure) from one side to another (50 feet in distance) and arrange those blocks just like at the starting line (the pyramid structure), Competitors were only allowed to bring up to 2 blocks at the time. Also, competitors were strapped to a bungee cord, with a big tire attached at the end of the bungee cord.
 * The second challenge consisted of 3 obstacles. Firstly, competitors must crawl under the cargo net. Secondly, competitors must bring a heavy barrel above their head and walked across 2 logs (if they fell, they must start the obstacle all over again). Thirdly, competitors must run through the tires (if they missed one of the tires or touched the tires with their hand, they must start the obstacle all over again). And finally, competitors must run to the finish line.
 * The finishing time from each challenge would be combined, and the 10 competitors with the fastest overall time would qualify to SASUKE 23.
 * The training challenges were held in a beach area in California and supervised by 2 American Olympians, who had competed in SASUKE before: Paul Anthony Terek and Henry Cejudo.

Mount Midoriyama (SASUKE 23)
Notes: The obstacles' name used here was based on the name used during G4's broadcast.

Obstacles
① Twelve Timbers

② Curtain Slider

③ Log Grip

④ Jumping Spider

⑤ Half Pipe Attack

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ Slider Jump

⑧ Final Climb (Tarzan Rope + Rope Ladder fusion)

Time limit: 120 seconds.

Obstacles
① Downhill Jump

② Salmon Ladder

③ Stick Slider

④ Unstable Bridge

⑤ Metal Spin

⑥ Wall Lift

Time limit: 70 seconds.

Obstacles
① Arm Rings

② Globe Grasp

③ Devil Steps

④ Cliff Hanger

⑤ Jumping Bars

⑥ Ascending Climb

⑦ Spider Flip

⑧ Final Ring

Obstacles
① Heavenly Ladder (13 meters)

② G-Rope (10 meters)

Time limit: 40 seconds.