The rise of RJ Roman, American Ninja Warrior

Preparing for an athletic competition such as American Ninja Warrior is no easy task.

The extreme physical demand of having to throw yourself around obstacles — often flying through the air from one to another — and holding up your bodyweight by your fingertips seems impossible.

But impossibility for some is an opportunity for others.

“Before I started doing this, I wasn’t very active, and I didn’t really eat healthy — I wasn’t out of shape, but I wasn’t in shape,” said RJ Roman, head ninja master at Obstacle Ninja Academy, which sits on the edge of the Dr. Phillips community. “It’s something active that I thought was fun, so it kind of helped me be a healthier person. It’s just a good hobby and gave me something positive to do.”

That fire to do something positive is what led Roman — a native of Jacksonville and current Orlando resident — to reach the Las Vegas finals of American Ninja Warrior in June. He finished in 11th place.

The competition was a culmination of all the hard work he had completed over the course of the year, and despite the grandness of it all, Roman was more ready than he had ever been.

“I was way more excited than nervous, (because) I had already competed and seen what it was like,” Roman said. “Also, the night before I left for Las Vegas, the qualifying episode that I competed in aired and I wasn’t featured in it at all, so that kind of gave me more motivation to do well. I went into the finals with a different mindset than the qualifying — I was like an excited little kid in qualifying — while in the finals I was a lot more concentrated on actually competing than just having a chance at being on the show.”

American Ninja Warrior is a sports-entertainment competition that airs on NBC that has exploded in popularity since its premier in 2009. The competition sees athletes of all backgrounds compete in a series of obstacle courses that get more and more difficult as the athletes advance.

At the finals, Roman finished the first night of the finals in a little more than two minutes — finishing 11th — before going on to stage two the following night. Unfortunately on the second night, Roman made it to the fifth obstacle (called “Wingnut Alley”) before bowing out of the competition.

Although some would be disappointed to not finish, it should be noted that in the 10 years of the competition only four people ever have finished stage two — three in last year’s competition. Among the rookies competing, Roman made it the farthest.

TRAINING DAYS

Getting to the finals required constant practice and workouts to get into shape.

After what felt like a mountain of paperwork, as well as a short video to promote himself, Roman got a phone call from show producers, who told him he was getting the invite to the southeastern qualifier in Miami.

“There were a lot of nerves, especially because with it being my first year I wanted to make a name for myself,” Roman said. “I didn’t want to be another person who went out on the first or second obstacle. I wanted to do well.”

The two-day competition was grueling in multiple aspects. Roman got up to do interviews and B-roll at 7 a.m. before trying to relax a bit prior to his competition. And the way the program worked, he didn’t get to make his first run at the obstacle course until 4 a.m. the next morning. 

Unlike the finals — where the athletes know what obstacles they will face — Roman and the others went in clueless as to what they would have to deal with in qualifiers.

“We don’t have any time to prepare for what is there,” Roman said. “Sometimes, competitors will try to sneak a look at it before then, and then the night before try to train at a ninja gym — luckily there was one in Miami that we were able to replicate a couple of the obstacles.”

EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME

Getting the chance to compete on the highest level is an opportunity that Roman had been dreaming of since he first discovered ANW at age 17.

As a kid, he was active — climbing trees and other obstacles — before becoming a fan of parkour.

"The night before I left for Las Vegas, the qualifying episode that I competed in aired and I wasn’t featured in it at all, so that kind of gave me more motivation to do well."

— RJ Roman

“Parkour is getting from Point A to Point B in your own creative way, which is basically what American Ninja Warrior is — you’re getting from the start to the finish, just getting past the obstacles in front of you,” Roman said.

Roman found any means of practicing his sport. He made friends with a Jacksonville local named Chris Johnson, who had a course set up in his backyard to train, and competed in smaller tournaments.

The training and friendships are what led Roman to his current situation today as a competitor on both the local and national stage, as well as his role of head ninja master at ONA. It’s a job that goes just beyond his own time as an athlete in the sport he loves.

“What I like the most about the community … is that everyone is really helpful,” Roman said. “No one keeps their own ideas about the obstacles and techniques to themselves; they help everyone else get better. I just want to help all the kids get better — that’s our main goal as a gym. We’re trying to grow the sport.”