Ninja Warriors In Fargo Put Their Endurance To The Test

Athletes have to finish the course in a designated amount of time

FARGO, N.D.- Four Star Ninja Academy hosted The Federation of International Ninja Athletics.

“So, today we’re doing the endurance course. The endurance covers twelve different obstacles. Eight of them are going to be upper body, or in the air ,” says Dustin Hjelmstad, the co-owner, Four Star Ninja Academy.

The academy opened July of last year. It was  a way to create a space where kids can have fun and be active.

“The whole background behind the idea is kinda of bringing fitness. A new spin to fitness. There’s a lot of wellness facilities, but not a lot of them are kid focused,” he says.

Jeremiah and his family come to the Academy four to five times a week.

For them, it’s a home away from home.

“They ask, they beg to come here, you know. You’d think they get tired, you know, some kids get tired of things. But, they want to come here everyday and try the new things they’re working on,” says Jeremiah Walter, Member, Four Star Ninja Academy.

The Academy designs new obstacle courses so kids stay constantly challenged and it doesn’t get boring.

“It is something that gets them. It sparks them enough. Like I said, with my kids it’s never boring here. You know, a lot of things, kids can throw aside but here. You always have the next step to move up to. And it’s just amazing,” Walter says.

They say their favorite part is seeing kids successfully complete a course after many tries.

“That is the best part of everything. There’s days were we will have some of our members that we’ve been coaching come in for open gym. And, I’ll be up in the front desk and they’ll come running in from the back gym yelling my name. They’ll be like Dustin, Dustin, Dustin. I finally landed this, I finally did this, and it makes me.  It just fill my heart with joy to see these kids get so excited about something and they’re so excited to tell me,” Hjelmstad says.