Second Stage (SASUKE Vietnam)

In all five seasons of SASUKE Vietnam, the Second Stage, locally called Vòng 2 (literally Round 2 in Vietnamese), also referred to as Stage 2 similar to most International SASUKE/Ninja Warrior shows, always serves as the second of four "full" courses in SASUKE Vietnam. As of present, SASUKE Vietnam included five different Second Stages, with all of them sharing one singular goal; to press the button at the top of the final obstacle in order to advance to the next stage, the Third Stage.

On the first three SASUKE Vietnam seasons, the Second Stage tested speed and precision with elements of upper-body and grip strength, similar to SASUKE. On SASUKE Vietnam 4 and SASUKE Vietnam 5, the Second Stage was shifted from a speed-based course to one that was more upper-body intensive, similar to American Ninja Warrior.

Overview

Stage Two is far more brutal than Stage One- while it has originally been a test of speed, precision, and some upper body, it has since switched to upper body and endurance, with timing still being a necessity. More recently, explosiveness and precision have become crucial to clearing the course. In the past, no one single group of people have had the advantage, whether that be parkour athletes, gymnasts, or even rock climbers. Competitors needed to be skilled in all areas of athletics: no single physical ability- speed, upper-body, endurance, or even grip strength- could allow one to beat the course. Rather, someone had to be well-rounded to beat the brutal stage that tested everything. Even as the focus switched to upper body and endurance, the dynamic obstacles meant that people who were gifted in all areas of athletics could clear. However, the advantage has been granted to people who have easy access to a ninja gym.

Similar to SASUKE and American Ninja Warrior, the stage consists of 6 obstacles (5 obstacles in SASUKE Vietnam 4), all built over a huge pool of water with only mats resting on metal trusses offering respite. However, competitors must face all Stage Two obstacles from left to right just like the Second Stage/Stage Two in most international SASUKE/Ninja Warrior formats.

Format overview

SASUKE Vietnam 1 and SASUKE Vietnam 2

On the first two seasons of SASUKE Vietnam, competitors must face 6 obstacles with 100 seconds (1:40) time limit. Competitors who cleared all 6 obstacles in Second Stage before the time expires were advanced to the Third Stage.

SASUKE Vietnam 3 and SASUKE Vietnam 4

On SASUKE Vietnam 3 and SASUKE Vietnam 4, due to the First Stage have time limit, competitors must face 6 obstacles (5 obstacles in the fourth season) in the Second Stage with no time limit. Competitors who cleared all obstacles in Second Stage were advanced to the Third Stage.

SASUKE Vietnam 5

On SASUKE Vietnam 5, following the traditional format in SASUKE and most of international SASUKE/Ninja Warrior formats that both the First Stage and Second Stage have time limit instead of only the First or Second Stage have time limit, competitors must face 6 obstacles with 180 seconds (3 minutes) for male competitors, or no time limit for female competitors. Competitors who cleared all 6 obstacles in Second Stage (before the time expires for male competitors) were advanced to the Third Stage.

Course layout

SASUKE Vietnam 1

On the first SASUKE Vietnam season, the Second Stage featured 6 obstacles in total, which were all from SASUKE. This is the course layout of the Second Stage:

• The first obstacle was a sliding track obstacle, in this case Cross Slider.
• The second and third obstacle were upper-body strength obstacles, in this case Salmon Ladder and Unstable Bridge.
• The fourth obstacle was a balance based obstacle, in this case Goren Hammer.
• The fifth obstacle was a curved wall obstacle with rope, adding transitions as time went on, in this case Half-Pipe Attack.
• The sixth obstacle was the double variant of the iconic Warped Wall, in this case Double Warped Wall. This making SASUKE Vietnam was the first international SASUKE/Ninja Warrior format that the iconic Warped Wall (including the variant) appeared in a different stage rather than the First Stage.

SASUKE Vietnam 2 and SASUKE Vietnam 3

On SASUKE Vietnam 2 and SASUKE Vietnam 3, albeit no new obstacles in the Second Stage (the only change of obstacle was the Cross Bridge in the First Stage was moved to the Second Stage), there was several changes for the course layout:

• The balance based obstacle, in this case Cross Bridge was moved as the second obstacle.
• The curved wall obstacle with rope, Half-Pipe Attack was moved as the third obstacle.
• Two upper-body strength obstacles, in this case Salmon Ladder and Unstable Bridge was moved as the fourth and fifth obstacle.

SASUKE Vietnam 4

On SASUKE Vietnam 4, due to this season saw the debut of new era, the Second Stage finally have major changes after three seasons, including three new upper-body strength obstacles from American Ninja Warrior after three seasons used most obstacles from SASUKE since this stage was shifted from a speed-based course to one that was more upper-body intensive, such as:

• The balance-based obstacle Cross Bridge was replaced by Rope Jungle, which was a upper-body strength obstacle.
• The curved wall obstacle with rope, Half-Pipe Attack was replaced by Roulette Row, which was a combination of a jump-strength and upper-body strength obstacle.
• The Unstable Bridge was replaced by Rope Swing, which was a rope obstacle.
• Both Salmon Ladder and Rope Swing were counted and combined as a obstacle, known as Salmon Ladder with Rope, resulted the number of obstacles in Second Stage were reduced to 5.

SASUKE Vietnam 5

On SASUKE Vietnam 5, just like the second and third season of SASUKE Vietnam, albert no new obstacles in the Second Stage (the only change of obstacles was several obstacles from the First Stage and Third Stage in several previous seasons was moved to the Second Stage), there was several changes for the course layout:

• The Rope Jungle was replaced by Tick Tock, which was a swing-strength obstacle.
• The Salmon Ladder with Rope, this time simply known Salmon Ladder since the Rope Swing this time was a part of this obstacle was moved as the third obstacle.
• The Floating Boards (which previously as the second obstacle in the Third Stage on two previous seasons) was moved as the fourth obstacle in the Second Stage.
• The Double Warped Wall was replaced by Circle Slider (which was a combination of the jump-strength and sliding track obstacle) and Rope Ladder (which was a climbing obstacle), resulted the number of obstacles in Second Stage were increased to 6 once again.

Second Stage obstacle overview

By English

SASUKE Vietnam	Obstacles								Time Limit
1	Cross Slider	Salmon Ladder	+	Unstable Bridge	Goren Hammer		Half-Pipe Attack	Double Warped Wall	100.0
2	Cross Slider	Cross Bridge		Half-Pipe Attack	Salmon Ladder	+	Unstable Bridge	Double Warped Wall	100.0
3	Cross Slider	Cross Bridge		Half-Pipe Attack	Salmon Ladder	+	Unstable Bridge	Double Warped Wall	No time limit
4	Cross Slider	Rope Jungle		Roulette Row	Salmon Ladder with Rope			Double Warped Wall	No time limit
5	Cross Slider	Tick Tock		Salmon Ladder (with Rope Swing)	Floating Boards		Circle Slider	Rope Ladder	180.0 (Male) No time limit (Female)

By Vietnamese

SASUKE Vietnam	Obstacles								Time Limit
1	Cú Trượt Gian Nan	Thang Cá Hồi	+	Cầu Treo	Tránh Búa Qua Cầu		Bật Tường Đu Dây Qua Hào Nước	Tường Cong	100.0
2	Cú Trượt Gian Nan	Cầu Chữ X		Bật Tường Đu Dây Qua Hào Nước	Thang Cá Hồi	+	Cầu Treo	Tường Cong	100.0
3	Cú Trượt Gian Nan	Cầu Chữ X		Bật Tường Đu Dây	Thang Cá Hồi	+	Cầu Treo	Tường Cong	No time limit
4	Cú Trượt Gian Nan	Hãy Chọn Dây Đúng		Chiếc Nón Diệu Kỳ	Thang Cá Hồi - Đu Dây			Tường Cong	No time limit
5	Cú Trượt Gian Nan	Ôm Trụ		Thang Cá Hồi	Ván Treo		Trượt Vòng	Bám Lưới	180.0 (Male) No time limit (Female)

Trivia

• According to a VTV newspaper article on the behind-the-scenes of SASUKE Vietnam 2, the production staff were against adding the Wall Lifting obstacle to the Second Stage, as it was considered too dangerous for Vietnamese competitors. Consequently, SASUKE Vietnam became the second international SASUKE Ninja Warrior format to exclude the Wall Lifting from the Second Stage for its entire run, following Ninja Warrior Türkiye.
• To date, SASUKE Vietnam holds the record for the most competitors to clear the Second Stage in a single season of any international SASUKE Ninja Warrior show, with 38 competitors cleared the Second Stage in SASUKE Vietnam 2.
• The no time limit rule, which was used during SASUKE Vietnam 3 and SASUKE Vietnam 4 was later used for the first part of the Finals' Stage Two in Ninja Warrior France 8.