I like Ninja Warrior, a sport that is functionally an obstacle course for insane gymnasts. Every time I watch, I notice how much easier it is to be good at things. It’s not just that good technique needs less strength for a given move. It’s that arm strength gets you off obstacles faster, which conserves precious finger strength.. Ninjas that are good at linking moves conserve momentum instead of needing to rebuild it, further saving upper body and finger strength.
E.g. Max vs. Taylor in the finals (start at 12:48). Keep in mind that Taylor is the top contender for best female ninja, so she’s not suffering from technique issues.
Or take Hades, a beat-em-up in which you receive power-ups throughout the game. Some of the powerups make you better at hurting enemies, some give you more hit points. Sometimes you get a choice of power-up. If you’re constantly being hit, you want the hit points. But if you’re good enough at dodging you don’t need them and can get an offensive power instead, which will let you kill enemies faster and get hit even less.
Do you watch sport climbing at all? There’s a lot of fun overlap in skills and techniques between ANW and IFSC-style climbing.
As sport climbing matures as a sport, there’s more videos about top-level climbers discussing how they balance their training, conditioning, what they consider in and out of their style.
occasionally, but it doesn’t scratch the same itch for me. I’ve enjoyed as ANW moved away from the climbing-type obstacles and towards the gymnast/acrobat type obstacles. The climbing ones never look effortless.
I like Ninja Warrior, a sport that is functionally an obstacle course for insane gymnasts. Every time I watch, I notice how much easier it is to be good at things. It’s not just that good technique needs less strength for a given move. It’s that arm strength gets you off obstacles faster, which conserves precious finger strength.. Ninjas that are good at linking moves conserve momentum instead of needing to rebuild it, further saving upper body and finger strength.
E.g. Max vs. Taylor in the finals (start at 12:48). Keep in mind that Taylor is the top contender for best female ninja, so she’s not suffering from technique issues.
Or take Hades, a beat-em-up in which you receive power-ups throughout the game. Some of the powerups make you better at hurting enemies, some give you more hit points. Sometimes you get a choice of power-up. If you’re constantly being hit, you want the hit points. But if you’re good enough at dodging you don’t need them and can get an offensive power instead, which will let you kill enemies faster and get hit even less.
Watching the Ninja Warrior clip...I think I have some sense of why anyone would watch sports, for the first time in my life.
The way those people can move is really impressive!
Do you watch sport climbing at all? There’s a lot of fun overlap in skills and techniques between ANW and IFSC-style climbing.
As sport climbing matures as a sport, there’s more videos about top-level climbers discussing how they balance their training, conditioning, what they consider in and out of their style.
occasionally, but it doesn’t scratch the same itch for me. I’ve enjoyed as ANW moved away from the climbing-type obstacles and towards the gymnast/acrobat type obstacles. The climbing ones never look effortless.