Rolling Maruta

The Rolling Maruta (ローリング丸太), called as the Rolling Log on the G4 broadcast, was an obstacle featured in the First Stage, usually as the second obstacle.

It was firstly introduced in SASUKE 3, and instantly became one of the hardest obstacles in the stage, eliminating 41 competitors in that tournament. This obstacle and the Rope Climb helped decrease the First Stage clears from 34 (in SASUKE 2) to 13.

Competitors must straddle and cling to a log, 40 centimeters in diameter, before kicking the ground to begin its roll down a 15° decline track. The log had only two wooden bars to hold on to while the obstacle was spinning, which the log was notorious for either halting or coming off the track. It is worth pointing out that there was no support structure placed behind the red curved track during the obstacle's debut tournament, which caused it to bounce rather violently. Support scaffolding was added in the next tournament to counteract this.

The original version lasted from SASUKE 3 to SASUKE 12. After Urushihara Yuuji's kanzenseiha in SASUKE 24, it was brought out of retirement for SASUKE 25, but was replaced by the Hazard Swing in the next tournament.

The Rolling Maruta has eliminated some of the top competitors, such as Yamamoto Shingo and Nakata Daisuke.

In SASUKE 5, Yamada Katsumi almost failed on this obstacle, when at the end of the track, the log suddenly came off the track. However, he was thrown to the landing platform and managed to save himself.

Yamada Katsumi maruta — Yamada Katsumi barely missed touching the water, *Rolling Maruta*, SASUKE 5.

Vlcsnap-14728010-0 — Rolling Maruta, SASUKE 25

Competitors' Success Rate

All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found

SASUKE	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
3	22	63	34.92%
4	65	76	85.52%
5	77	96	80.20%
6	88	95	92.63%
7	79	90	87%
8	25	50	50%
9	24	32	75%
10	31	40	77.5%
11	24	75	32%
12	31	34	91.18%
25	40	47	85.11%
Total	506	698	72.49%

It was noted that 41 competitors failed there in SASUKE 3 and over 40 competitors failed there in SASUKE 11. Also, it was noted that 51 competitors failed the Jump Hang in SASUKE 6. Therefore, those competitors must have got past the Rolling Maruta.
In a special before SASUKE 15, the completion percentage was said to be (from SASUKE 5 to SASUKE 14, including the Sandan Rolling Maruta found below) 645 clears out of 965 attempts for a percentage of 66.8%. It was unknown how competitors did in each specific tournament. Therefore, these numbers were not included in the tables above or below.

Sandan Rolling Maruta

In order to usher in a new era in SASUKE 13, the creators of SASUKE modified the Rolling Maruta into the Sandan Rolling Maruta (三段ローリング丸太).

The difference was that there were two drops in the tracks, rather than a straight track as used by the original Rolling Maruta. In addition, wires are installed above the track, near the ending caps of the log so as to rectify issues frequently happened from the original version.

Even so, the log was also notorious for coming off the track, as happened to Ishimaru Kenjirō and Sudō Genki, both in SASUKE 13 or halting its spin midway. To alleviate the former issue, the ending caps of the log were widened so as to decrease the risk of derailment starting from SASUKE 14, and remained so for the return of the original version in SASUKE 25.

It was replaced with the Log Grip in SASUKE 18, after Nagano Makoto's kanzenseiha in SASUKE 17.

Competitors' Success Rate

All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found

SASUKE	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
13	30	40	75%
14	38	46	82.61%
15	21	26	80.77%
16	30	42	73.17%
17	42	48	89.74%
Total	154	192	80.21%

Rolling Log

The Rolling Log (ローリングログ) is a new version of the Rolling Maruta and the first obstacle in the Second Stage, replacing the Ring Slider from SASUKE 33.

This obstacle was designed and functioned similarly to the Rolling Log used since American Ninja Warrior 7, with a long and thinner log, and thicker railings for the log to roll down, with the exception being that there were ledges stretching throughout the log as handholds. In its debut, the poor weather conditions made this obstacle very difficult to attempt, due to the rain making the thicker track slick. As a result, this caused the log to get stuck too many times during test runs, forcing the producers to skip this obstacle, meaning that the competitors would start at the Salmon Ladder Nobori instead. In addition, this is the first and only obstacle that was skipped in SASUKE's history.

Competitors' Success Rate

All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found

SASUKE	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
37	0	0	N/A
Total	0	0	N/A

American Ninja Warrior Appearances

ANW4 Rolling Log — American Ninja Warrior 4's Rolling Log in Stage One

ANW5 Rolling Log — American Ninja Warrior 5's Rolling Log in Denver

ANW6 Rolling Log — American Ninja Warrior 6's Rolling Log in St. Louis

ANW7 Rolling Log — American Ninja Warrior 7's Rolling Log in Orlando

ANW8 Rolling Log — American Ninja Warrior 8's Rolling Log in Indianapolis

ANW9 Rolling Log — American Ninja Warrior 9's Rolling Log in Cleveland

The Rolling Maruta (called as the Rolling Log) appeared as the second obstacle on:

American Ninja Warrior 4 in Stage One,
American Ninja Warrior 5 in Denver,
American Ninja Warrior 6 in St. Louis,
American Ninja Warrior 7 in Orlando,
American Ninja Warrior 8 in Indianapolis, and
American Ninja Warrior 9 in Cleveland.

It was proven to be a tough obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 6, as it had took out competitors like Bill Westrick and Luis Moco. It was also responsible for disqualifying Ethan Swanson on his first season competing, as his toes narrowly skimmed the water at the end.

However, it was far more difficult, starting on American Ninja Warrior 7, as the log was thinner. It spun around 7-9 times before hitting the landing platform, rather than just 3-4 times on American Ninja Warrior 6. Most competitors had thus lost focus after the frantic rolling of the log, as many were shown to having refocus before the next obstacle. On American Ninja Warrior 7, it was revealed that the Rolling Log had taken out 21 competitors during Orlando qualifiers, including Grace Sims, Tyler Yamauchi, Brent Ruffin and Danny Adair. It later took out Kyle Johnson and Adam Williams in the city finals.

During American Ninja Warrior 7's Orlando qualifiers, two competitors used a very unusual way to complete the obstacle:

Jonathan Brown skipped the obstacle entirely, by jumping from the starting platform, directly to the landing platform, and
Bart Copeland attempted the obstacle by walking on the top of the log (in a similar fashion with the Balance Tank or Enchū Nori).

However, both of them were allowed to continue their run, before eventually failing on the same next obstacle, the Paddle Boards.

On American Ninja Warrior 8, the log was modified with block-shaped holes to hold on instead of ledges. Later, the same version would be used on American Ninja Warrior 9. Due to the obstacle's design, it was nearly impossible for the log to come off the track.

During its appearance on American Ninja Warrior 8's Indianapolis finals, it shockingly eliminated Lorin Ball, Kevin Hogan, Drew Knapp, and Dan Yager.

Only 10 competitors were eliminated by the obstacle during Cleveland qualifiers on American Ninja Warrior 9, including McKinley Pierce. It later wiped out Tori Clement, Mike Shuck, and Sean Noel during Cleveland finals.

Other Appearances

Ninja Warrior UK

NWUK3 Rolling Log — Ninja Warrior UK 3's Rolling Log

The Rolling Log appeared as the second obstacle during the finals' Stage 1 on Ninja Warrior UK 3, and then as the seventh obstacle during the finals' Stage 1 on Ninja Warrior UK 4 and Ninja Warrior UK 5, which was very similar to the Rolling Log from American Ninja Warrior 8.

SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia

SNWI Rolling Log — SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia's Rolling Log in Semifinal Stage 2

On SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia, the Rolling Log appeared as the second obstacle during Semifinal Stage 2, which was very similar to the one used from SASUKE 3 to SASUKE 12.

Australian Ninja Warrior

AusNW3 Rolling Log — Australian Ninja Warrior 3's Rolling Log

On Australian Ninja Warrior 3, the Rolling Log appeared as the second obstacle during the semifinals, which was very similar to the Rolling Log from American Ninja Warrior 8.