Rolling Maruta

The Rolling Maruta (ローリング丸太), or the "Rolling Log" on the G4 broadcast, was an obstacle featured in the First Stage, usually as the second obstacle. It was first introduced in SASUKE 3 and instantly became one of the hardest obstacles in the stage, eliminating 41 people that day. In its first tournament, it and the Rope Climb helped decrease the First Stage clears from 34 to 13. The function of the obstacle was that the competitor must straddle and cling to a log 40 centimeters in diameter before kicking the ground to begin its roll down a 15° decline. The competitor would only have two wooden bars to hold on to while the obstacle was spinning which the log was notorious for either halting or coming off the tracks. The original version lasted from SASUKE 3 to SASUKE 12. After Urushihara Yuuji's kanzenseiha, it was brought out of retirement for SASUKE 25, but was replaced by the Hazard Swing in the following tournament. It has eliminated some of the top contenders, such as Yamamoto Shingo and Nakata Daisuke.

Competitors' Success Rate

• All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found

SASUKE	Clears	Attempts	Percentage
3	22	63	34.92%
4	46	57	80.70%
5	31	50	62%
6	63	70	90%
7	29	38	76.32%
8	25	31	80.65%
9	24	32	75%
10	31	40	77.5%
11	35	75	46.67%
12	31	34	91.18%
25	40	47	85.11%
ANW 4	94	98	95.91%
Total	376	537	74.66%

• It was noted that 41 people failed there in SASUKE 3 and over 40 people failed there in SASUKE 11. Also, it was noted that 51 people failed the Jump Hang in SASUKE 6; therefore, those people must have passed 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 is unknown how competitors did in each specific tournament; therefore, these numbers are not included in the tables above or below.

American Ninja Warrior

The Rolling Maruta also appeared in American Ninja Warrior 4, where it was the 2nd obstacle in Stage 1 of Vegas. In ANW 5, it appeared in Denver as the second obstacle, and appeared as the second obstacle in St. Louis (American Ninja Warrior 6) , Orlando (American Ninja Warrior 7) and Indianapolis (American Ninja Warrior 8). It proved to be a tough obstacle in ANW 6 as it had took out competitors like Bill Wsetrick and Luis Moco. However, it was far more difficult in ANW 7 and 8, as the log was thinner, it spun around 7-9 times before hitting the landing platform, rather than just 2-3 times in ANW 6. Most competitors had thus lost focus after the frantic rolling of the log, as many were shown to having to refocus before the next obstacle. In ANW7, it was revealed it had taken out a total of 24 competitors (22 in qualifying, 2 in the finals).

Sandan Rolling Maruta

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

The difference is that there are now two drops in the tracks rather than a straight track as used by the original Rolling Maruta. The log was also notorious for coming off the tracks or halting its spin midway. It was replaced with the Log Grip in SASUKE 18 after Nagano Makoto's Kanzenseiha.

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%