The Swinging Blades is an obstacle, firstly introduced as the second obstacle in Stage One on American Ninja Warrior 13, replacing the Spin Your Wheels from its most recent appearance.
The obstacle featured two angled ledges that would swing once the competitors hung on. Competitors must use their momentum to traverse sideways from the first ledge to the second ledge, and then made the dismount to an angled pad. This obstacle eliminated a few top competitors, some by failing to make the transfer between the trampoline to the first blade like Cameron Baumgartner, Brett Hernandez Strong, and Casey Rothschild, or failing to make the grip on the first blade, like Brittney Durant and Heather Weissinger.
The obstacle was replaced by the Three Ring Circus in American Ninja Warrior 14.
Other Appearances[]
Australian Ninja Warrior[]
The Swinging Blades made its first appearance outside American Ninja Warrior on Australian Ninja Warrior 6, with it being the second obstacle of Heat 1 and Heat 4 and renamed as the Eagles Claw. Unlike on American Ninja Warrior 13, however, there was an elevated runway as a medium to make it to the first blade instead of a trampoline. The blades also featured a motif of an eagle on both blades because of the name change. Both blades weigh 100 kilograms (220.46 pounds). Contestants must make a 2.8m leap to the first board, then a 1m transition to the left to the second, then dismount.
It proved to be brutal in both heats, with it becoming the cut-off to advancing to the Semis in Heat 4, the only time the second obstacle was the cut-off in Australian Ninja Warrior 6.
During the Grand Final, the Eagles Claw re-appeared as the second obstacle but with some modifications. There was only one claw this time around, and the Launchpad from the Launchpad to Trapeze/Bag was used as the medium to get up to the claw.
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
In Ninja Warrior Germany 7, the Swinging Blades, locally called Schwingende Klingen, appeared as the second obstacle in the Semi-finals. This time, there were two notable differences compared to the original Swinging Blades obstacle in American Ninja Warrior 13:
- The trampoline was removed, requiring competitors to jump directly to the first blade.
- Competitors would have to perform a jump transition to the right in order to transfer to the second blade.
It was proven to be somewhat easy as out of 89 attempts, it knocked out eleven ninjas including Astrid Sibon.
In Ninja Warrior Germany 8, the Swinging Blades appeared as the second obstacle in the First Stage. This time, both blades were installed at different inclinations compared to the ones used on the Ninja Warrior Germany 7 iteration. And while the first blade of this obstacle was installed at a greater angle, the second blade was installed at a gentler angle.
Even though this obstacle proved to be quite easy, with 35 out of the 37 competitors who attempted the obstacle clearing it, it still caused arguably one of the greatest shocks in the history of Ninja Warrior Germany, namely the fail of Moritz Hans (which on the other hand marked the first time he had failed a First Stage since Ninja Warrior Germany 1). Hans failed the dismount from the second blade to the landing platform after he built up too little swing.
Ninja Israel[]
On Ninja Warrior Israel 5, the Swinging Blades, locally called המטרונום (literally The Metronome) appeared as the second obstacle in the Finals' Stage One, which was very similar to the one used in Ninja Warrior Germany 7 (since the trampoline was removed), except that competitors would make a jump transition to the left to transfer to the second blade just like American Ninja Warrior 13's version. The obstacle was very easy, as it eliminated only one out of 18 competitors who attempted it.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the NBC/RTL/Keshet 12 broadcast and external information found.
American Ninja Warrior[]
ANW | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
ANW13 | 62 | 67 | 92.54% |
Total | 62 | 67 | 92.54% |
Ninja Warrior Germany[]
NWG | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
NWG7 | 78 | 89 | 87.64% |
NWG8 | 35 | 37 | 94.59% |
Total | 113 | 126 | 89.68% |
Ninja Israel[]
NWI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
---|---|---|---|
NWI5 | 17 | 18 | 94.44% |
Total | 17 | 18 | 94.44% |