American Ninja Warrior 2

American Ninja Warrior 2 was the second season of American Ninja Warrior, which was served as the American qualifiers for SASUKE 26. For this season, Matt Iseman replaced Blair Herter as the host, Jimmy Smith replaced Alison Haislip as the co-host, and Alison Haislip returned on her second season as the sideline reporter instead of the co-host. The season premiered on December 8th, 2010.

During the taping of qualifying and semifinal (both in Venice Beach), three top SASUKE competitors were invited by G4 as special guests and signed autographs to the fans: All of them also attempted the qualifying course, with both Urushihara Yuuji and Okuyama Yoshiyuki could complete the course, while Nagano Makoto failed at the Jumping Bars.
 * SASUKE 17 champion Nagano Makoto,
 * SASUKE 24 champion Urushihara Yuuji, and
 * SASUKE 24 finalist Okuyama Yoshiyuki.

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 ^Quad Steps

② Rope Swing

③ ^Bridge of Blades

④ Spider Jump

⑤ Jumping Bars

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 Boot Camp finals. If less than 15 competitors completed the course, the competitors who got the furthest and fastest round the course would advance to Boot Camp finals.

Obstacles
① Quad Steps

② Rope Swing

③ Bridge of Blades

④ Spider Jump

⑤ Jumping Bars

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ ^Salmon Ladder

⑧ ^Circle Slider

⑨ Cargo Net

^ - New Obstacle in American Ninja Warrior Course

Competitors
Boot Camp finals was held in a remote mountain area in California. 15 competitors who advanced to Boot Camp finals were divided into three teams: Red Dragons, White Tigers, and Blue Monkeys. Each team consisted of 5 competitors, with the first competitor to represent each team was one of the top 3 competitors during semifinal (Travis Furlanic for Red Dragons, Levi Meeuwenberg for White Tigers, and Adam Truesdell for Blue Monkeys). Then, each of them would select the other 4 members for his respective team by drawing system.


 * Travis Furlanic
 * David Campbell
 * Thomas Hall
 * Brent Steffensen
 * Paul Kasemir


 * Levi Meeuwenberg
 * Adam Laplante
 * Rich King
 * Ryan Cousins
 * Shane Daniels


 * Adam Truesdell
 * Patrick Cusic
 * Brian Orosco
 * Evan Dollard
 * Dorian Cedars

Competition Format
There were 3 rounds used during Boot Camp finals:
 * Pressure Challenge
 * The Pressure Challenge consisted of an obstacle, in which each team must send one member to compete.
 * The competitor who had the worst performance would earn punishment for the entire members of his respective team.
 * The punishment consisted of bringing heavy objects to the Team Relay course, which would reduce the team's training time and energy for the Team Relay.
 * Team Relay
 * The Team Relay consisted of an obstacle course, just like in SASUKE.
 * Each competitor would run the course by bringing an heavy object (which was usually brought by the losing team from the Pressure Challenge) to the obstacle, and then attempting the obstacle. After that, he must repeat those two processes to the next obstacle, and then brought that object to the finish line.
 * Each obstacle had a maximum number of attempts to complete the obstacle. If the competitor failed to complete an obstacle within the allowed number of attempts, he would receive a time penalty added to his Team Relay time. The amount of time penalty for each obstacle may differed for each day of Boot Camp finals.
 * At the end of Team Relay, the completion time for each competitor (including the time penalty) would be accumulated among the other members of his respective team. The team who completed the Team Relay course in the slowest time must elect 2 of their members to face the Heavenly Ropes.
 * The number of obstacles faced by the competitors during the Team Relay may differed for each day of Boot Camp finals.
 * Heavenly Ropes
 * The Heavenly Ropes consisted of a side-to-side Rope Climb, with a bell at the top of each rope.
 * Each competitor must climb up the rope, in order to reach and ring the bell. Whoever did this in the fastest time (or made the highest, in case of none of the competitors could reach and ring the bell) would continue the competition, while the loser would be eliminated from the competition.

Those 3 rounds were used during the first 3 days of Boot Camp finals, except on the fourth and final day, in which:
 * There was no Pressure Challenge (as well as no punishment), so the teams would be more focused on the Team Relay.
 * At the end of the Team Relay, the team who completed the Team Relay course in the fastest time (including the time penalty) would send all of their members to represent Team America in SASUKE 26, while the two losing teams must elect 2 members each from their respective team to face the Heavenly Ropes.
 * At the end of the Heavenly Ropes, the 2 competitors who reached and rang the bell in the fastest time (or made the highest, in case of less than 2 competitors could reach and ring the bell) would represent Team America in SASUKE 26, while the losers would be eliminated from the competition.
 * The 2 losing teams whose members didn't face the Heavenly Ropes would automatically represent Team America in SASUKE 26.

Pressure Challenge
The Pressure Challenge's obstacle for the first day of Boot Camp finals was called the Jungle Ropes, which consisted of a series of hanging ropes. Each competitor from his respective team must swing across a series of hanging ropes from the starting platform to reach the landing platform, without touching the ground below. The competitor who reached the landing platform (or swung across the fewest number of ropes, in case of less than 2 competitors could reach the landing platform) in the slowest time would earn punishment for the entire member of his respective team, in which each member of the losing team must bring a pair of buckets of water from one side of mountain area to the training ground (Team Relay course).

Team Relay
The Team Relay's obstacles for the first day of Boot Camp finals were the:
 * Cliffhanger
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 1
 * Time penalty: 2 minutes
 * Warped Wall
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 2
 * Time penalty: 30 seconds

Each competitor must also bring a boulder to the obstacle before attempting the obstacle.

Heavenly Ropes
Since White Tigers lost on the Team Relay, they must elect 2 of their members to face the Heavenly Ropes, which were Ryan Cousins and Adam Laplante.

Pressure Challenge
The Pressure Challenge's obstacle for the second day of Boot Camp finals consisted of a wooden wall with a bar at the top of the wall and a hanging rope at the top of the bar. Each competitor from his respective team must climb up the rope, then reached the bar, created a human flag position, and tried to maintain that position for as long as possible. As soon as the competitor started the human flag position, the time would start. If the competitor's feet touched the wall or fell to the safety mat below, the time would stop. Each competitor was given 3 attempts to create and maintain the human flag position, but only the attempt with the longest time was counted. The competitor who maintain the human flag position in the shortest time would earn punishment for the entire member of his respective team, in which each member of the losing team must bring a pair of hay bales from one side of mountain area to the training ground (Team Relay course).

Team Relay
The Team Relay's obstacles for the second day of Boot Camp finals were the:
 * Balance Tank (SASUKE 10-17 version)
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 2
 * Time penalty: 1 minute
 * Slider Jump
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 2
 * Time penalty: 30 seconds

Each competitor must also bring a yoke of sandbags to the obstacle before attempting the obstacle.

Heavenly Ropes
Since Blue Monkeys lost on the Team Relay, they must elect 2 of their members to face the Heavenly Ropes. However, they could only choose one member (Patrick Cusic), due to team's solidarity reason. Therefore, the team who won the Team Relay (Red Dragons) must choose one of the other member of Blue Monkeys to face the Heavenly Ropes, which was Dorian Cedars.

Pressure Challenge
The Pressure Challenge's obstacle for the third day of Boot Camp finals was called the Pendulum Swing, which consisted of two poles, a log at the middle of both poles, and a hanging rope. Each competitor from his respective team would start by standing at the top of the log, grabbed a rope, and swung it to hit from pole to pole with one feet back and forth, without touching the ground below, using both feet to hit the poles, or missing the poles. The competitor who hit the poles in the fewest number of times would earn punishment for the entire member of his respective team, in which each member of the losing team must sew a poles into 5 small pieces. Then, they must bring those pieces from one side of mountain area to the training ground (Team Relay course).

Team Relay
The Team Relay's obstacles for the third day of Boot Camp finals were the:
 * Double Salmon Ladder and Circle Slider (counted as one obstacle)
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 2
 * Time penalty: 1 minute
 * Warped Wall
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 2
 * Time penalty: 30 seconds

Each competitor must also bring a piece of log (which was brought by Red Dragons, due to losing at the Pressure Challenge) to the obstacle before attempting the obstacle.

Heavenly Ropes
Since Red Dragons lost on the Team Relay, they must elect 2 of their members to face the Heavenly Ropes, which were Travis Furlanic and Thomas Hall.

Team Relay
The Team Relay's obstacles for the fourth and final day of Boot Camp finals were the:
 * Cliffhanger
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 1
 * Time penalty: 2 minutes
 * Slider Jump
 * Number of maximum attempts allowed: 2
 * Time penalty: 30 seconds

Each competitor must also bring a cart of rocks to the obstacle before attempting the obstacle.

Heavenly Ropes
Since White Tigers and Blue Monkeys lost on the Team Relay, each team must elect 2 of their members to face the Heavenly Ropes, which were Rich King and Adam Laplante (White Tigers), and Adam Truesdell and Evan Dollard (Blue Monkeys).

Mount Midoriyama (SASUKE 26)
Prior to competing in SASUKE 26, Levi Meeuwenberg injured his wrist and had to forfeit his position in the tournament. Levi then passed on his chance to his White Tigers teammate, Adam Laplante. Despite this setback, Levi attended SASUKE 26 as a sideline spectator and morale boost for the American competitors.

On this season, one competitor who could achieve total victory would receive the cash prize of US$250,000. Also, American competitors' run in this tournament was aired on December 23rd, 2010 (10 days before the official airdate of SASUKE 26).

Notes: The obstacles' name used here was based on the name used during G4's broadcast.

Obstacles
① Step Slider

② Hazard Swing

③ Rolling Escargot

④ Jumping Spider

⑤ Half Pipe Attack

⑥ Warped Wall

⑦ Giant Swing

⑧ Final Climb (Tarzan Rope + Rope Ladder fusion)

Time limit: 130 seconds.

Obstacles
① Slider Drop

② Double Salmon Ladder

③ Unstable Bridge

④ Balance Tank

⑤ Metal Spin

⑥ Wall Lift

Time limit: 95 seconds.

Obstacles
① Roulette Cylinder

② Doorknob Grasper

③ Cycle Road

④ Ultimate Cliffhanger

⑤ Swing Circle

⑥ Bungee Rope Climb

⑦ Flying Bar

Obstacles
① Rope Climb (20 meters)

Time limit: 40 seconds.