Play: offers everything you need and more in equipment to train to be a ninja. Ninja consists of 4 main elements:

1. Grip strength
2. Swinging
3. Lacheing
4. Balance/agility

Want to learn how to be a ninja and accomplish all the obstacles at Play: CLE and Play: CBUS? Here is how to train all of those at Play: Adventure Parks.

1. Grip strength

Having good grip strength is the foundation to all upper body obstacles. Just by doing the obstacles at Play: you will be training grip, but here are 2 that will really take your grip strength to the next level.

Dead-hangs:

• Grab onto a bar and hang from it as long as you can. Once you can hang comfortably for a long period of time you can make this more challenging by using one arm, adding weight, or switching from a bar to a more challenging grip like a cliffhanger or climbing rope.

Bouldering traverse:

• On the bouldering wall start on one end and go back and forth as many times as you can without taking a break.

2. Swinging

Picture Tarzan swinging from vine to vine, this is what I mean by swinging. The best way to train this movement is by doing the sea of rings.

Sea of rings:

1. Start with both hands on a ring
2. take a step back and lift your feet to let your momentum carry you forward
3. Grab the next ring
4. Pull with your back arm and release like you’re shooting an arrow
5. For beginners, match your back hand to the same ring as your front hand while you glide to the next ring to repeat steps 3 & 4. For more advanced, hang just from your front arm and have your back arm go directly to the next ring.

Once you’ve mastered the rings you can increase the difficulty by using a more challenging grip or by going back and forth as many times as you can without getting off.

3. Lache

A lache is when a ninja throws themself through the air from one element to the next. It is one of the more challenging movements in ninja so here is how to progress to land your first lache:

Swing

• Get comfortable swinging yourself back and forth on a monkey bar so that your body is slightly above parallel to the ground on both your back and front swing.

Launch

• Once you’re comfortable swinging the next step is to get comfortable launching yourself. It can be intimidating to go from one bar to another right away so start by placing a distance or a marker on the ground that you’re aiming to land on or past; once you’re confident with that you can start to attempt jumps from bar to bar.

Technique

• When attempting a bar to bar jump for the first time here are some tips. Start your swing by kicking your feet up and forward, then use the momentum back to generate a big backswing. Direct your momentum and release at an angle slightly above the bar where you want to land. When releasing, “throw” the bar behind you to keep your body upright. Try to land high on the bar with your arms bent to absorb the shock of when you land.

4. Balance/Agility

To do well in ninja you have to have good balance, as well as the precision and agility to do the balance obstacles quickly. There are many options to choose from when training balance at Play: The best way to train is to pick a challenging obstacle from the ninja or ropes course and do it slowly to fine tune the muscles required for balance. After doing a few rounds at a slow pace, switch it up by doing it as fast as possible to work on agility, and then do that for a few rounds.

Play: has all you need to train to become a ninja; actual ninja courses, a bouldering wall, parkour, auto-belayed climbing walls, and a ropes course, plus a knowledgeable staff to help give tips or answer any questions you might have. We look forward to helping you reach your ninja goals.