August 28, 2025 • 22 mins
Since we last saw Kai, he's graduated high school, completed a lifelong dream and earned his EMT and Fire certifications and is currently researching which department he will join.Had a perfect season 16 other than timing out on the rope. Has only fallen twice in 3 seasons. He felt like he worked his whole life trying to get to that moment and he wasn't ready for it.Has been called the fastest ninja on the planet. Has had the fastest time on every qualifying course he's run and the fastest time in his last 2 semis. He took 1st place on Stage 2 in S16.Continues to make history with family. Kai and his Dad were the 1st father & son to hit buzzers together (ANW13). He and Luke were the first brothers to beat stage 1 together (ANW16)Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and uses an insulin pump. He can't run with it... but it helps maintain his blood sugar without taking 5-6 shots each day.ANW History:ANW Jr. S1 Champion, S2 Finalist3x ANW Veteran and 3x FinalistANW 13 - Stage 2ANW 15 - Stage 1AMW 16 - Stage 4
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Kai. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm doing good.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
How are you absolutely fantastic? Has it sunk in yet
or is it still a fantasy come true?
Speaker 3 (00:08):
I mean it's sinking in a little bit more now
than in the moment, especially now that it's been on
TV and I'm allowed to tell other people. So definitely
kind of it was fun, definitely reliving it that moment.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
How long is the recovery period? Because I'm a martial
artist third degree black belt, and when we went to tournaments,
it was always the second or third day after that
moment that it really hit the body hard. What about you?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
So for me, especially running as many times I did
in that one night, yeah, it was kind of That
very next day was pretty taxing, especially just on my
upper body, my lads, all those those pulling muscles from
all those explosive movements. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
See, I mean, I'm glad that you brought that up
about the number of times that you ran that night,
because it seemed like you would get done with the
race and boom you were onto the next one. You
were onto the next one.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, So there was a little bit of time in between,
especially because they're pulling us for interviews talking about our
next race is than our next competitors, and then also
taking those b roll and kind of hero shots with
with our next run or our next race, and so
there's there's a little bit of time in between, especially
since they have to run all the other races as well,
(01:16):
But definitely it was it was that sweet, that sweet
amount of time where your your body's able to cool
off and you have to warm up again, which for me,
I would prefer, honestly, you know, if those races were
closer back to back to back.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I was going to ask you about that, because that
adrenaline rush. Man, once set, adrenaline disappears, I mean, you've
got to figure out where again, You're not going to
red bullet. You've got to do something, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
So that's that's definitely a challenge.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So what do you do in between the matches when
you know who you're up against? Because in between my
matches I would go and get a conversation with the
person that I was going to take on. But I
was there basically to read their breathing style. Were they
breathing from their chest or were they breathing from what
we call the dongeon or the lower part of the stomach.
Do you do the same thing.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I definitely do something similar.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
I go back and I watched their previous run, the
run that got them into.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The spot in the bracket that they were in, and.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I kind of see what they did differently than myself
competing on that same course because I'm able to kind
of compare movements and know exactly what I'm getting into.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
One of the things that I've noticed about about American
ninja is the fact that this has become a true profession.
I wish it would be recognized as the sport that
it is and not just something that we watch on
national TV.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I mean originally started as a TV show, kind of
a contest to see these these average Joe's putting in
a little bit of work to see who really was
the best. But it's definitely grown from that into a
full blown sport where there's leagues for it, there's professions,
there's jobs, coaches, everything like that.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, and you guys don't have like a farm league either.
I mean, you know, like Baseball and even the NBA,
you know they have those farm leagues. But the thing
is is that, I mean, you guys are there to
learn quickly and then to grow and looking at everybody's path,
I mean there are people there that have been there
several different times.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Oh yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
So then how do you deal with that? Do you
keep that constant connection with them to study their personal growth?
Because hey, the competition is coming up.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, and I think that the biggest thing with that
has got to be a social media. Everybody wants to
post about what they're working on and some of the
cool moves that are new for everybody. And so what's
nice about that is somebody across the country might post
about what they're working on, and that gives kind of
an opportunity for me and some others that I train
with to see what others are capable of and what
(03:45):
might be popping up in some of our next competitions,
and so we can be ready for that.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Is it all about the rush or the push? Two
completely different things.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I would think it's about the push, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, I'm mentally getting to that place though. It's like
you can't think about it. You've just got to be
able to have that muscle memory. In fact, my master
and martial arts told me there's no such thing as
muscle memory. What is your belief in that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
My belief is, I guess in the sport of ninja,
I think there is a deferent muscle memory aspect to it,
especially as I have taken time off before and coming
back to it, you kind of it's ninja worry is one.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Of those things. It's all technique based.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You could have somebody who's super strong but has no
technique and so they're not able to get through obstacles
as easier, as quickly or even at all.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And so I feel like.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
There's not necessarily muscle memory, I guess, but more of
a technique basis, and you can you can build upon
that muscle strength from there.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So when you're in that big match, are you using
your your your peripheral vision to see where they are
or is it I don't care where they are, I've
just got to make sure I get down there.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
So the only couple of races in that whole competition
where I was able to see where my opponent was
at in relation to myself. We're in that round of
eight and that round of four where I was racing
my brother.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I got a little bit behind, so I was able
to see him actually in front of.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Me, which not a not a great feeling, especially knowing
I have to play catchup from that point on. But
then the other time was against Isaiah Thomas Flyboy. While
while we were we both got hung up on the
rings and taking that backswing, I had a little bit
of time to glance over my shoulder and see where
he was at, and to see that we're kind of
at that same point.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I knew I had to step it up from there.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
So do you guys feel like that you're like the
Manning family in the NFL? I mean, you got I
mean you family is involved in this in a huge way.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I mean kind of the sports kind of enveloped our
entire family, the way that we train sometimes, the way
we travel. A lot of the times we're traveling just
for competitions and we kind of make a vacation out
of it, as well as being able to take that
time at the gym as not just training time, but
also family time.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
How much do you train inside that gem word? I
mean it's like, I mean, cause you've got to be
paying attention to every single thing that you do, because
if you have too much mass, that's going to slow
you down.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, and so I definitely think there's a sweet spot.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I think I've kind of maxed out that size to
strength ratio as far as Ninja goes, I feel like
any bigger and it might be a little harder my joints,
a little more mask going through, might get a little
more exhaust and more pumped. And on the complete flip side,
it's just crazy in this sport that you can compare
somebody like me who's one hundred and eighty five pounds
(06:35):
to my brother who's one hundred and forty pounds, yet
we can run very similar times on the courses.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
You brought up your joints. Okay, that's one of the
things that I did not understand when I was in
the martial arts world, and that is is that kicking
another human body, kicking the body bag and doing the
things that we do. And you've got to go through
the same thing too. Are you thinking about your future
when those joints finally look at you in the mirror
and say, oh my god, I can't. You should have
thought about me when you were younger.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I think I think the biggest one for me
is it's got to be shoulders. So the shoulders from
swinging around on all those bars and hanging and doing
all those explosive movements definitely takes a toll on your shoulders,
I would say most. But at the same time I
feel like, hopefully at least that might bring a little
(07:22):
bit of strength in the shoulders that I can kind
of stay stay pretty active and mobile with my shoulders
and not not get too behind you fly.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So I got to ask this question, do you study
the path of a bird? Because the way that you fly,
it's almost like you know what your weight is doing
and how you're going to get it to you know,
to stay up there in the air.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
So I mean, really, the bulk of the studying that
I do is that time spent in the gym where
I can I can set up a certain specific move
or set of moves, and I can do that over
and over and over again. So exactly when when there's
something similar to that in a competition, that I know
exactly how how my body is going to be moving
(08:07):
with that. And that's kind of the way ninja works
is you show up not knowing what course you're going
to be running on, what obstacles are going to be.
You just have to know techniques and styles of obstacles
and be able to be proficient in whatever they might
throw at you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
How many different courses are there.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So there's countless amounts of combinations of courses. I guess
this season is specific. We ran on four different combinations
of courses, so our qualifying was a little bit different
than our semi finals, which was a little bit different
than our quarterfinals, and that was also different than our finals.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Do you get practice time on these things?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Nope?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So usually when I when I competed on season one
of End Up Junior back when I was twelve years old,
they gave us some practice time on that. So we
had the day before competition we were able to test
every obstacle individually and then one full course run through
as well. And then that changes when you get into
(09:14):
the adult show, the regular and w they don't let
you practice on anything.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's that you show up.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
They'll walk you through how the course is supposed to run,
how the obstacles are going to move, and then they'll
have a one of their testers run through the course
and show you how every obstacle is going to work.
But hands on experience, that very first run is the
extent of what you have experience wise on.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
That course, Please do not move. There's more with Kai
bek Strand next, the winner of American Ninja Warrior. We're
back with Kai Beckstrand. It all came down to you
and Noah, how do you keep your body in control
and don't jump the gun before you take off?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
So, I feel like with the training I was a
to in previous races, I was able to realize after
they started that countdown behind you, because you can't see
you're just waiting for that Dan yep. But I was
able to kind of look at the crowd and get
an idea of their facial expressions for when the when
(10:18):
it was counting down, the ready set go, and I
was able to kind of base my my start off
of the crowd's reaction.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So you live off that energy, don't you. Can you
hear the crowd when you're running, So.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I can hear the crowd when I'm going up to
the starting block getting ready all the way up until
that final go. As soon as I hear that go,
I'm on the course and that's all I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I'm not thinking about anything else.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I'm listening to the way the obstacles are moving the
sounds that they're making, but as far as crowd goes,
I can't hear a single thing.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Wow, how do you deal with the cold? Because I
can see when you guys are breathing that that's not
a ninety degree day out there or a ninety degree night.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, so it was a little bit chillier than years past,
just because of the timing that they're filming at, but
it wasn't too It wasn't too bad going into it,
especially where it was a little bit earlier in the night,
and I was able to kind of build up that
adrenaline early on and just staying warm in between courses,
(11:22):
because you definitely come off the course a little bit warm,
and it's just it's just about keeping that warmth. And
the interview rooms are pretty warm, so that definitely helps
when they're pulling you in between runs. But yeah, so
just kind of just kind of staying in that warm,
ready to go mindset.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I want listeners to really go in and study the
histories that you guys have, and what I mean by
that is is that you're real people that just happened
to beyond American Ninja Warrior, and you've got real jobs,
You've got real ambitions, I mean, and that to me
is what makes this show, you know, more incredible and
more of a connection.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I mean especially more so in the early earlier seasons
than now. But yeah, so we kind of get to
that point where a lot of these fifteen and sixteen
year old competitors on these newer seasons Ninja Warriors pretty
much all they do at this point in time. So
definitely tougher to find stories or kind of anything about that.
(12:21):
But where I've kind of had this ambition to be
a firefighter for as long as I have, I'm constantly
working towards SAT.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So, now, do you use VR goggles at all in
your training to where you put yourself in a situation
mentally so you can see the jumps, you can feel everything.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I haven't before. I feel like that would be a
good training tool, for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I just don't. I just personally haven't done anything like that.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, because I would love to see how technology has
changed because of people like yourself.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Oh for sure, I mean there's definitely advancements.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
What are you studying when it comes to that, I mean,
do you find yourself growing in that direction? As well.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Uh, not necessarily.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I'm more just kind of I'm our old school I
would say, as far as my training and kind of
studying is more in person, I would.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Say, when you're at the competition and your focus is
on that game, what about your family and friends around you?
Do they get to approach you or is it all
about No, I've I've got to stay one hundred percent
into my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I think actually being around with my family and friends
is a little bit of a help to me. It
kind of allows me to detach from the competition as
a whole and not take it so seriously. Obviously, the
competition is serious, and that's the reason why I'm there,
But at the same time, if I get too over
(13:50):
my head into it, sometimes can you know, overthink things
and make mistakes that way, And I think a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Of people overlook that.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
They take it so serious that they that any mistake
or imperfection and their run, their game plan kind of
ruins their whole run.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Whereas for me, I kind of think of.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
It as maybe a little bit of a setback, but
not the end of the world. That you can always
think of different ways to get through the obstacle and
That's kind of what I love about Ninja is everybody's
got their strengths and weaknesses, and everybody does obstacles differently.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
What about those competitions that a lot of these states
and cities are hosting these days when it comes to,
you know, going through the mud and getting all yucked
up and you know, and flying through the air on that,
do you ever get to participate with that or is
that right there, something I'm not going to injure myself
because of something that I could slip with.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
No, So I have competed in some of those races before,
those like those mud run races, and for me it's
more so just kind of as a recreation.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I do like to do them, but not not competitively.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Do you believe winning is a choice?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Oh? I definitely do.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I think putting yourse off in the in the right
mindset and putting yourself in this situation where you are
capable of winning is definitely a choice.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I got to ask you a I guess a father
like question, and that is is that you know you're
in my heart, you're still that young adult. But the
thing is that twenty five is when most men begin
to really physically go through changes. How are you How
are you preparing for that age of twenty five when
there's going to be more weight and more pressure from
the everyday world on you.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Yeah, so, I mean, I guess preparation would be everything
up to this point, trying to stay as physically fit
as possible, and I know just staying consistent is going
to help me with that and staying in the in
the right right mindset that you know that may be
the case where you do have those changes, But just
like winning everything, everything is a choice.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Don't you think that this year's win for you is
because you knew what you needed to invest years ago
and that this right here is the end result of
several different layers in chapter in your life.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, And I think not only did I kind of
know that, but other people knew that as well, some
of the people that I've trained with before. As soon
as we've as soon as we out heard about that
new format where it was going to be racing in
the finals, I did have a couple of friends reach
out to me and congratulate me on the win, even
before I'd even competed, so obviously, trying to stay humble,
(16:23):
I knew that I was capable of winning from that
point on, but I knew it had to be flawless.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I had to be.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Absolutely dialed going into this season, and luckily was able
to kind of come.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Out on top.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
You said something in the very beginning, and that was
that you said that you had to keep this a secret,
and I realized it's all pre recorded. You please tell
me how you keep a secret, because if there's a
Christmas present around me, I'm going to tell that person
who's receiving it. Oh, by the way, I got this
present for you.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So it definitely started with back on season seven and
eight when my dad was competing, so I was able
to and he didn't do as well as he may
have liked to do, and so I feel like that
was a little bit easier to kind of keep a
secret because it wasn't it wasn't really pushing to tell.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
People about it. He would rather people watch.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
And so I feel like from that point on, it's
just gotten easier and easier to keep that secret, especially
because I've been able to see the way people react
to watching the TV show live, and I feel like
it's a better feeling to have other people come to
that realization.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Rather than me just telling them in.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Your real life, you're dealing with something that a lot
of people kind of keep hidden away in a big secret,
And I'm just learning about it now because my wife
is being diagnosed as a diabetic. How are you dealing
with that? And do you take ozimpic like she does?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
No, So I just am on.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
I just take insulin as well as just monitoring my
blood sugar regularly. And so for me, it's just become
part of my daily life. It's just another obstacle that
I have to overcome. And I don't let that hold
any back.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It's definitely not being a set back and I don't
plan on it ever beIN well.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
It's got to be a wake up call for you
when when you when you start realizing what fruits you
can have and which ones you can't have.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Oh, yeah, for sure. And it definitely comes down to
h the training aspect of it, and and die and
what what I maybe should be eating in general anyway,
m hmm.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Being known is the fastest ninja on the planet. What
does that like for you? And how do you how
do you grow forward with your circle of family and friends?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah, so, being being known as the fastest Ninja is
kind of a It's definitely a rewarding title to have,
especially because of the amount of time that I put
in into my into my physique and my strength, especially
in my lower body. A lot of people, especially at
least ninja wise, don't have a whole lot of lower
body strength, and I feel like that comes that comes
(18:56):
from the fact that you don't use your lower body
on a whole lot of obstacles is mostly upper body,
especially in those later courses where it's almost all upper body,
and so coming down to it, I've been able to
have that lower body strength just from lifting weights and
being mountain biking things like that, and it's definitely helped
me in my speed as well as my sprints and
(19:17):
being able to take maybe some bigger jumps to get ahead,
especially in a race scenario than some other ninjas would be.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I was going to ask you about that when it
comes to you know, the lower body with you know,
with with less weight, because I mean, there has to
be a collision in your body, because I mean, if
you've got all that upper body strength and that weight,
it's on your hips, it's now in your knees, it's
in your calves. I mean, how do you something's got
to be leveled out there.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, And I think the big thing with that is
most people's upper body surprisingly isn't actually as big as
you may think because they don't have that lower body
to carry with them. So for me, my upper body
has kind of had to adapt to my lower body
as well, kind of grow as a whole. While other people,
I mean most people would look at a ninja warrior
(20:05):
and on average there between your top guys are between
five eight and six foot and one hundred and forty
to one hundred and fifty pounds, so not super heavy people.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And I kind of break the mold with that.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
God. See, that reminds me of my master, and he
would come up to me and say, you went to
the gym today, didn't you lifted right? And I said yeah.
He says, I need you to stop doing that because
when you go to a taekwondo tournament, you got it,
it's about speed, dude, and that weight is going to
slow you down.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
No.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, And I think a lot of people think about
ninja like that as well. A lot of people told me,
especially the commentators Matt and Akbar, have made comments about
how my weight might affect me, but at the same time,
I've been training at this weight for the last three
years and I'm not letting that slow me down because
i have been able to train at this weight and
(20:58):
I've gotten accustomed to it.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Do you think you could ever do that course barefoot?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I think so. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Surprisingly that it's like you need grip on your shoes,
but also you don't. Really, it's not a huge detriment
if you don't, especially with bare feet being pretty grippy,
it can definitely be done.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Where can people go to find out more about you?
Because I'm sure people are going to be reaching out
to you and probably asking you, man, you want to
coach me? I need a great coach.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
So, I mean my only socials really are just Instagram
and that's going to be Kai Underscore, Mohawk Underscore, Ninja.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I love it, dude. You got to come back to
this show anytime in the future. The door is always
going to be open for you.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Kay.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Awesome, Actually hear it.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Will you be brilliant today? Okay?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Kai, Okay, I will do Thank you
Good morning, Kai. How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm doing good.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
How are you absolutely fantastic? Has it sunk in yet
or is it still a fantasy come true?
Speaker 3 (00:08):
I mean it's sinking in a little bit more now
than in the moment, especially now that it's been on
TV and I'm allowed to tell other people. So definitely
kind of it was fun, definitely reliving it that moment.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
How long is the recovery period? Because I'm a martial
artist third degree black belt, and when we went to tournaments,
it was always the second or third day after that
moment that it really hit the body hard. What about you?
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
So for me, especially running as many times I did
in that one night, yeah, it was kind of That
very next day was pretty taxing, especially just on my
upper body, my lads, all those those pulling muscles from
all those explosive movements. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
See, I mean, I'm glad that you brought that up
about the number of times that you ran that night,
because it seemed like you would get done with the
race and boom you were onto the next one. You
were onto the next one.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, So there was a little bit of time in between,
especially because they're pulling us for interviews talking about our
next race is than our next competitors, and then also
taking those b roll and kind of hero shots with
with our next run or our next race, and so
there's there's a little bit of time in between, especially
since they have to run all the other races as well,
(01:16):
But definitely it was it was that sweet, that sweet
amount of time where your your body's able to cool
off and you have to warm up again, which for me,
I would prefer, honestly, you know, if those races were
closer back to back to back.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
I was going to ask you about that, because that
adrenaline rush. Man, once set, adrenaline disappears, I mean, you've
got to figure out where again, You're not going to
red bullet. You've got to do something, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
So that's that's definitely a challenge.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So what do you do in between the matches when
you know who you're up against? Because in between my
matches I would go and get a conversation with the
person that I was going to take on. But I
was there basically to read their breathing style. Were they
breathing from their chest or were they breathing from what
we call the dongeon or the lower part of the stomach.
Do you do the same thing.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I definitely do something similar.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
I go back and I watched their previous run, the
run that got them into.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
The spot in the bracket that they were in, and.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
I kind of see what they did differently than myself
competing on that same course because I'm able to kind
of compare movements and know exactly what I'm getting into.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
One of the things that I've noticed about about American
ninja is the fact that this has become a true profession.
I wish it would be recognized as the sport that
it is and not just something that we watch on
national TV.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
I mean originally started as a TV show, kind of
a contest to see these these average Joe's putting in
a little bit of work to see who really was
the best. But it's definitely grown from that into a
full blown sport where there's leagues for it, there's professions,
there's jobs, coaches, everything like that.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, and you guys don't have like a farm league either.
I mean, you know, like Baseball and even the NBA,
you know they have those farm leagues. But the thing
is is that, I mean, you guys are there to
learn quickly and then to grow and looking at everybody's path,
I mean there are people there that have been there
several different times.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Oh yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
So then how do you deal with that? Do you
keep that constant connection with them to study their personal growth?
Because hey, the competition is coming up.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
Yeah, and I think that the biggest thing with that
has got to be a social media. Everybody wants to
post about what they're working on and some of the
cool moves that are new for everybody. And so what's
nice about that is somebody across the country might post
about what they're working on, and that gives kind of
an opportunity for me and some others that I train
with to see what others are capable of and what
(03:45):
might be popping up in some of our next competitions,
and so we can be ready for that.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Is it all about the rush or the push? Two
completely different things.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
I would think it's about the push, yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, I'm mentally getting to that place though. It's like
you can't think about it. You've just got to be
able to have that muscle memory. In fact, my master
and martial arts told me there's no such thing as
muscle memory. What is your belief in that.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
My belief is, I guess in the sport of ninja,
I think there is a deferent muscle memory aspect to it,
especially as I have taken time off before and coming
back to it, you kind of it's ninja worry is one.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Of those things. It's all technique based.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
You could have somebody who's super strong but has no
technique and so they're not able to get through obstacles
as easier, as quickly or even at all.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
And so I feel like.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
There's not necessarily muscle memory, I guess, but more of
a technique basis, and you can you can build upon
that muscle strength from there.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So when you're in that big match, are you using
your your your peripheral vision to see where they are
or is it I don't care where they are, I've
just got to make sure I get down there.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
So the only couple of races in that whole competition
where I was able to see where my opponent was
at in relation to myself. We're in that round of
eight and that round of four where I was racing
my brother.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I got a little bit behind, so I was able
to see him actually in front of.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Me, which not a not a great feeling, especially knowing
I have to play catchup from that point on. But
then the other time was against Isaiah Thomas Flyboy. While
while we were we both got hung up on the
rings and taking that backswing, I had a little bit
of time to glance over my shoulder and see where
he was at, and to see that we're kind of
at that same point.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I knew I had to step it up from there.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
So do you guys feel like that you're like the
Manning family in the NFL? I mean, you got I
mean you family is involved in this in a huge way.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I mean kind of the sports kind of enveloped our
entire family, the way that we train sometimes, the way
we travel. A lot of the times we're traveling just
for competitions and we kind of make a vacation out
of it, as well as being able to take that
time at the gym as not just training time, but
also family time.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
How much do you train inside that gem word? I
mean it's like, I mean, cause you've got to be
paying attention to every single thing that you do, because
if you have too much mass, that's going to slow
you down.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Yeah, and so I definitely think there's a sweet spot.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
I think I've kind of maxed out that size to
strength ratio as far as Ninja goes, I feel like
any bigger and it might be a little harder my joints,
a little more mask going through, might get a little
more exhaust and more pumped. And on the complete flip side,
it's just crazy in this sport that you can compare
somebody like me who's one hundred and eighty five pounds
(06:35):
to my brother who's one hundred and forty pounds, yet
we can run very similar times on the courses.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
You brought up your joints. Okay, that's one of the
things that I did not understand when I was in
the martial arts world, and that is is that kicking
another human body, kicking the body bag and doing the
things that we do. And you've got to go through
the same thing too. Are you thinking about your future
when those joints finally look at you in the mirror
and say, oh my god, I can't. You should have
thought about me when you were younger.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
Yeah, I think I think the biggest one for me
is it's got to be shoulders. So the shoulders from
swinging around on all those bars and hanging and doing
all those explosive movements definitely takes a toll on your shoulders,
I would say most. But at the same time I
feel like, hopefully at least that might bring a little
(07:22):
bit of strength in the shoulders that I can kind
of stay stay pretty active and mobile with my shoulders
and not not get too behind you fly.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
So I got to ask this question, do you study
the path of a bird? Because the way that you fly,
it's almost like you know what your weight is doing
and how you're going to get it to you know,
to stay up there in the air.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
So I mean, really, the bulk of the studying that
I do is that time spent in the gym where
I can I can set up a certain specific move
or set of moves, and I can do that over
and over and over again. So exactly when when there's
something similar to that in a competition, that I know
exactly how how my body is going to be moving
(08:07):
with that. And that's kind of the way ninja works
is you show up not knowing what course you're going
to be running on, what obstacles are going to be.
You just have to know techniques and styles of obstacles
and be able to be proficient in whatever they might
throw at you.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
How many different courses are there.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
So there's countless amounts of combinations of courses. I guess
this season is specific. We ran on four different combinations
of courses, so our qualifying was a little bit different
than our semi finals, which was a little bit different
than our quarterfinals, and that was also different than our finals.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Do you get practice time on these things?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Nope?
Speaker 3 (08:53):
So usually when I when I competed on season one
of End Up Junior back when I was twelve years old,
they gave us some practice time on that. So we
had the day before competition we were able to test
every obstacle individually and then one full course run through
as well. And then that changes when you get into
(09:14):
the adult show, the regular and w they don't let
you practice on anything.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
It's that you show up.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
They'll walk you through how the course is supposed to run,
how the obstacles are going to move, and then they'll
have a one of their testers run through the course
and show you how every obstacle is going to work.
But hands on experience, that very first run is the
extent of what you have experience wise on.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
That course, Please do not move. There's more with Kai
bek Strand next, the winner of American Ninja Warrior. We're
back with Kai Beckstrand. It all came down to you
and Noah, how do you keep your body in control
and don't jump the gun before you take off?
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
So, I feel like with the training I was a
to in previous races, I was able to realize after
they started that countdown behind you, because you can't see
you're just waiting for that Dan yep. But I was
able to kind of look at the crowd and get
an idea of their facial expressions for when the when
(10:18):
it was counting down, the ready set go, and I
was able to kind of base my my start off
of the crowd's reaction.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
So you live off that energy, don't you. Can you
hear the crowd when you're running, So.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I can hear the crowd when I'm going up to
the starting block getting ready all the way up until
that final go. As soon as I hear that go,
I'm on the course and that's all I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I'm not thinking about anything else.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
I'm listening to the way the obstacles are moving the
sounds that they're making, but as far as crowd goes,
I can't hear a single thing.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Wow, how do you deal with the cold? Because I
can see when you guys are breathing that that's not
a ninety degree day out there or a ninety degree night.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, so it was a little bit chillier than years past,
just because of the timing that they're filming at, but
it wasn't too It wasn't too bad going into it,
especially where it was a little bit earlier in the night,
and I was able to kind of build up that
adrenaline early on and just staying warm in between courses,
(11:22):
because you definitely come off the course a little bit warm,
and it's just it's just about keeping that warmth. And
the interview rooms are pretty warm, so that definitely helps
when they're pulling you in between runs. But yeah, so
just kind of just kind of staying in that warm,
ready to go mindset.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
I want listeners to really go in and study the
histories that you guys have, and what I mean by
that is is that you're real people that just happened
to beyond American Ninja Warrior, and you've got real jobs,
You've got real ambitions, I mean, and that to me
is what makes this show, you know, more incredible and
more of a connection.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Oh yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
I mean especially more so in the early earlier seasons
than now. But yeah, so we kind of get to
that point where a lot of these fifteen and sixteen
year old competitors on these newer seasons Ninja Warriors pretty
much all they do at this point in time. So
definitely tougher to find stories or kind of anything about that.
(12:21):
But where I've kind of had this ambition to be
a firefighter for as long as I have, I'm constantly
working towards SAT.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
So, now, do you use VR goggles at all in
your training to where you put yourself in a situation
mentally so you can see the jumps, you can feel everything.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I haven't before. I feel like that would be a
good training tool, for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
I just don't. I just personally haven't done anything like that.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Yeah, because I would love to see how technology has
changed because of people like yourself.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Oh for sure, I mean there's definitely advancements.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
What are you studying when it comes to that, I mean,
do you find yourself growing in that direction? As well.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Uh, not necessarily.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
I'm more just kind of I'm our old school I
would say, as far as my training and kind of
studying is more in person, I would.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Say, when you're at the competition and your focus is
on that game, what about your family and friends around you?
Do they get to approach you or is it all
about No, I've I've got to stay one hundred percent
into my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
I think actually being around with my family and friends
is a little bit of a help to me. It
kind of allows me to detach from the competition as
a whole and not take it so seriously. Obviously, the
competition is serious, and that's the reason why I'm there,
But at the same time, if I get too over
(13:50):
my head into it, sometimes can you know, overthink things
and make mistakes that way, And I think a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Of people overlook that.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
They take it so serious that they that any mistake
or imperfection and their run, their game plan kind of
ruins their whole run.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Whereas for me, I kind of think of.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
It as maybe a little bit of a setback, but
not the end of the world. That you can always
think of different ways to get through the obstacle and
That's kind of what I love about Ninja is everybody's
got their strengths and weaknesses, and everybody does obstacles differently.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
What about those competitions that a lot of these states
and cities are hosting these days when it comes to,
you know, going through the mud and getting all yucked
up and you know, and flying through the air on that,
do you ever get to participate with that or is
that right there, something I'm not going to injure myself
because of something that I could slip with.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
No, So I have competed in some of those races before,
those like those mud run races, and for me it's
more so just kind of as a recreation.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
I do like to do them, but not not competitively.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
Do you believe winning is a choice?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Oh? I definitely do.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
I think putting yourse off in the in the right
mindset and putting yourself in this situation where you are
capable of winning is definitely a choice.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I got to ask you a I guess a father
like question, and that is is that you know you're
in my heart, you're still that young adult. But the
thing is that twenty five is when most men begin
to really physically go through changes. How are you How
are you preparing for that age of twenty five when
there's going to be more weight and more pressure from
the everyday world on you.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Yeah, so, I mean, I guess preparation would be everything
up to this point, trying to stay as physically fit
as possible, and I know just staying consistent is going
to help me with that and staying in the in
the right right mindset that you know that may be
the case where you do have those changes, But just
like winning everything, everything is a choice.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Don't you think that this year's win for you is
because you knew what you needed to invest years ago
and that this right here is the end result of
several different layers in chapter in your life.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
Yeah, And I think not only did I kind of
know that, but other people knew that as well, some
of the people that I've trained with before. As soon
as we've as soon as we out heard about that
new format where it was going to be racing in
the finals, I did have a couple of friends reach
out to me and congratulate me on the win, even
before I'd even competed, so obviously, trying to stay humble,
(16:23):
I knew that I was capable of winning from that
point on, but I knew it had to be flawless.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
I had to be.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Absolutely dialed going into this season, and luckily was able
to kind of come.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Out on top.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
You said something in the very beginning, and that was
that you said that you had to keep this a secret,
and I realized it's all pre recorded. You please tell
me how you keep a secret, because if there's a
Christmas present around me, I'm going to tell that person
who's receiving it. Oh, by the way, I got this
present for you.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
So it definitely started with back on season seven and
eight when my dad was competing, so I was able
to and he didn't do as well as he may
have liked to do, and so I feel like that
was a little bit easier to kind of keep a
secret because it wasn't it wasn't really pushing to tell.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
People about it. He would rather people watch.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
And so I feel like from that point on, it's
just gotten easier and easier to keep that secret, especially
because I've been able to see the way people react
to watching the TV show live, and I feel like
it's a better feeling to have other people come to
that realization.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Rather than me just telling them in.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Your real life, you're dealing with something that a lot
of people kind of keep hidden away in a big secret,
And I'm just learning about it now because my wife
is being diagnosed as a diabetic. How are you dealing
with that? And do you take ozimpic like she does?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
No, So I just am on.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
I just take insulin as well as just monitoring my
blood sugar regularly. And so for me, it's just become
part of my daily life. It's just another obstacle that
I have to overcome. And I don't let that hold
any back.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It's definitely not being a set back and I don't
plan on it ever beIN well.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
It's got to be a wake up call for you
when when you when you start realizing what fruits you
can have and which ones you can't have.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Oh, yeah, for sure. And it definitely comes down to
h the training aspect of it, and and die and
what what I maybe should be eating in general anyway,
m hmm.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Being known is the fastest ninja on the planet. What
does that like for you? And how do you how
do you grow forward with your circle of family and friends?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah, so, being being known as the fastest Ninja is
kind of a It's definitely a rewarding title to have,
especially because of the amount of time that I put
in into my into my physique and my strength, especially
in my lower body. A lot of people, especially at
least ninja wise, don't have a whole lot of lower
body strength, and I feel like that comes that comes
(18:56):
from the fact that you don't use your lower body
on a whole lot of obstacles is mostly upper body,
especially in those later courses where it's almost all upper body,
and so coming down to it, I've been able to
have that lower body strength just from lifting weights and
being mountain biking things like that, and it's definitely helped
me in my speed as well as my sprints and
(19:17):
being able to take maybe some bigger jumps to get ahead,
especially in a race scenario than some other ninjas would be.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
I was going to ask you about that when it
comes to you know, the lower body with you know,
with with less weight, because I mean, there has to
be a collision in your body, because I mean, if
you've got all that upper body strength and that weight,
it's on your hips, it's now in your knees, it's
in your calves. I mean, how do you something's got
to be leveled out there.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, And I think the big thing with that is
most people's upper body surprisingly isn't actually as big as
you may think because they don't have that lower body
to carry with them. So for me, my upper body
has kind of had to adapt to my lower body
as well, kind of grow as a whole. While other people,
I mean most people would look at a ninja warrior
(20:05):
and on average there between your top guys are between
five eight and six foot and one hundred and forty
to one hundred and fifty pounds, so not super heavy people.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
And I kind of break the mold with that.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
God. See, that reminds me of my master, and he
would come up to me and say, you went to
the gym today, didn't you lifted right? And I said yeah.
He says, I need you to stop doing that because
when you go to a taekwondo tournament, you got it,
it's about speed, dude, and that weight is going to
slow you down.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
No.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, And I think a lot of people think about
ninja like that as well. A lot of people told me,
especially the commentators Matt and Akbar, have made comments about
how my weight might affect me, but at the same time,
I've been training at this weight for the last three
years and I'm not letting that slow me down because
i have been able to train at this weight and
(20:58):
I've gotten accustomed to it.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Do you think you could ever do that course barefoot?
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I think so. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Surprisingly that it's like you need grip on your shoes,
but also you don't. Really, it's not a huge detriment
if you don't, especially with bare feet being pretty grippy,
it can definitely be done.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Where can people go to find out more about you?
Because I'm sure people are going to be reaching out
to you and probably asking you, man, you want to
coach me? I need a great coach.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
So, I mean my only socials really are just Instagram
and that's going to be Kai Underscore, Mohawk Underscore, Ninja.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I love it, dude. You got to come back to
this show anytime in the future. The door is always
going to be open for you.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
Kay.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Awesome, Actually hear it.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Will you be brilliant today? Okay?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
Kai, Okay, I will do Thank you
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.