NINJA WARRIORS

from Living Here 2020

HIGHER EDUCATION

Neil Craver climbs across the wind chimes obstacle while competing in an Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association qualifying event on May 26, 2018, at Ultimate Backyard Warrior. (File Photo)

By Patrick Mason

A local Nash County man, a wholesale car dealer who watches ninja warrior-style competition shows in his free time, decided to get off the couch and try it for himself.

Over the next four years, Mike Cook, armed with a passion and carpentry skills gained during a high school shop class, built the largest outdoor ninja training facility in the world. He made Rocky Mount into a destination for a group of daredevils.

Cook’s business, Ultimate Backyard Warrior, sits on an unassuming patch of land off Church Street in Rocky Mount. Large structures containing the various obstaclefilled courses dot the outdoor space, while more training equipment and obstacles can be found indoors.

The local facility acts as a qualifying stage for the popular TV show “American Ninja Warrior.” Other large competitions with prizes that include large cash amounts and vehicles are held twice per year — on Memorial Day and Labor Day.

During those two days it becomes the most diverse place in town. Athletes from all across the world and country travel to the eastern North Carolina town to participate in the UBW competitions. Cook said he has hosted athletes from Italy, Germany, Australia and Alaska as well as nearly every state on the East Coast.

When not in competition mode, the facility is open each day for drop-ins and classes for all ages and skill levels. Some obstacles look to be able to satisfy the most daring of acrobats, while others offer attainable goals for those looking to start the sport.

For Cook, the owner and founder of UBW, all of this began in his backyard. Cook was a longtime viewer of “American Ninja Warrior,” which highlights athletes and their quest to overcome obstacles.

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“Whenever I watched the show I was like ‘Man, this is so easy,’” Cook said. “How do these people fall?”

In 2014, Cook told his family that he was going to apply for the show, compete in Orlando and win the $1 million prize. The first step in the application process proved to be a difficult hurdle. The competition committee required new entrants to submit a video, and Cook discovered that would be a challenge in Rocky Mount.

“I couldn’t find anything related to the show to do,” he said of filming the video. “So I went to Battle Park and jumped on rocks and climbed on rocks, I was hanging from trees and doing different things. I think I even walked on the handrail near the gazebo.”

The whole experience left Cook in bewilderment and with a realization: He was going to have to build the equipment himself if he was really serious.

It turns out that he was.

Cook built a course with nine obstacles in the free space in his backyard and began training. When guests would visit, Cook showed off his homemade course and his ability to conquer the various obstacles.

He felt ready for his first competition and competed in Orlando. He fell on the fourth obstacle.

“I tried to attack it differently than what everybody else was doing and it was that fourth obstacle that got me,” Cook said. “But I met everybody and found that it was a tight-knit group where everybody loves on everybody. It was very encouraging and I fell in love with it to another degree.”

In the weeks and months upon returning from Orlando, Cook built 115 obstacles in his backyard. And like his hardware bill, his exposure grew. He held his first competition in the fall of 2015. He estimates that almost 650 people showed up.

Included among the guests was Jessie Graff, the female star of the 2016 ANW show. Video of Graff climbing an 80-foot rope in Cook’s backyard soon circulated the ninja warrior social media scene. Cook recalled the video receiving 174,000 views in the first 24 hours.

“That immediately put me on the map super quick,” Cook said. “Then it grew and got bigger.”

The event outgrew Cook’s backyard during the

Cal Plohoros attempts to complete the wind chimes obstacle while competing in the Ultimate Backyard Warrior competition on Sept. 1, 2018, at Ultimate Backyard Warrior. (File Photo)

Bree Widener pulls herself to the top of the warped wall obstacle while competing in an Ultimate Ninja Athlete Association qualifying event on May 26, 2018, at Ultimate Backyard Warrior. (File Photo)

Mike Cook uses his facility and platform to encourage kids and adults alike to challenge themselves in a supportive setting.

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final home-hosted competition in September 2016. He had two buses motoring back and forth from Red Oak Middle School to his home. The sheriff was called. He had to figure something else out.

Later that year, he bought the space on Church Street and in January began construction. By May 2017, Cook held his first official competition. Thousands attend each year, and he has grown into a legend in the community.

He is invited each year to the final competition test runs for the course. During those runs, organizers can analyze the difficulty of each obstacle and gauge what should be added or subtracted from the course.

Cook said that he is constantly coming up with new obstacles. And if he sees an obstacle on the show, he will work to recreate it and add it to a course at UBW.

He estimates he has more than 200 obstacles.

“I always put new ones out,” he said. “I got to keep it new and fresh. Say if the show came out with something new — in two or three days I had it duplicated. If I see something, I can replicate it.”

Cook, who waded into the sport as a challenge to himself, is now ingrained in the community. He said that he uses his facility and platform to encourage kids and adults alike to challenge themselves in a supportive setting.

“It’s a feeling of fulfillment when you make progress,” Cook said. “Like, man, I trained hard enough and practiced and got it. And when you fail, even getting closer and closer is a satisfying feeling.”