Josiah Longman takes on a ninja course.Destini Wilson
Josiah Longman is flying. The Ontario teen swings high from monkey bar to bar, his hands barely touching the metal, before landing and running at full speed up a 10-foot warped wall, clambering over the top to slam a buzzer as a crowd screams its support.
Longman is a competitive ninja athlete and obstacle course racer, two 21st century pursuits that are gaining in popularity. Obstacle course races (commonly referred to as OCRs) like Tough Mudder, Mud Girl and the Spartan Race exploded before the pandemic. At one point, registrations in OCRs outnumbered running races and marathons in the U.S.
From backyards to the big leagues
These races invite athletes to tackle physically and mentally challenging obstacles such as crawling under wire, dragging heavy sandbags and climbing over walls. To emerge dirty, exhausted and maybe victorious at the end is the personal reward.
The Warrior Factory Hamilton welcomes all ages, fitness levels and skills sets to try popular obstacles as seen on TV.The Warrior Factory
Many people are familiar with these endeavours from the Emmy-nominated reality show American Ninja Warrior, which premiered in 2009 (season 17 will air in June). Competitors swing, grip, balance and grit their way through a series of high-flying obstacles, on a course suspended over water and in front of a live audience. Netflix released a similar obstacle-based show with international competitors called Beastmaster, in 2017. According to the International Modern Pentathlon Union, more than one billion people have watched obstacle shows worldwide.
In Canada, thousands of people a year compete at regional, provincial, national and international levels in both ninja and OCR for the official governing bodies, Obstacle Sports Canada (OSC) and the Canadian Ninja League (CNL).
Longman, 14, began ninja in 2019 after his mother signed him up for classes at Aspire Climbing in Milton, Ont., about 45 minutes west of Toronto. He’s been a top-ranked competitor in the CNL and World Ninja League (WNL) for the past three years and is currently ranked first in the WNL’s teen division.
Last year, Longman represented Team Canada for OSC, and attended the 2024 OCR World Championships in Costa Rica, finishing fourth in the 100-metre sprint youth category. “This year, I want to win,” he says.
He and his family will fly to Sweden in September for the 2025 championships. “To see the progress he’s made in ninja and OCR, in terms of physical growth, that’s amazing,” says his mother, Danielle Longman. “But also mentally – being able to choose a goal, focus, work toward it and then achieve it – is incredible.”
Ninja vs. OCR: what’s the difference?
Competitive OCR and ninja are similar but different – consider the latter the former’s flashy counterpart.
While both test strength, stamina and grit, OCR events usually happen outdoors and focus on longer endurance-based challenges – think mud pits, barbed wire and distance. Ninja, by contrast, is fast, technical and often indoors, with athletes racing through timed obstacle runs that demand precision, agility and problem solving.
There are three types of World OCR courses: the head-to-head 100 metre sprint with 11 obstacles; the 3-kilometre short course with 20; and the standard 5-kilometre course with 40. Competitors must clear each obstacle or risk disqualification, so there’s less room for error.
Ninja involves two types of courses, a speed one (under two minutes), and a strength/endurance one (under five minutes). In both, athletes complete a circuit of non-linear obstacles. If they fail an obstacle in the longer race, they’re able to retry for full points. Scores are calculated based on the number of completed obstacles and the amount of time.
Non-competitive ninja classes for kids, teens and adults are also growing in popularity, says Jeremy White, co-owner of The Warrior Factory Hamilton, a 6,500-square-foot obstacle park that hosted the CNL East Regional finals in April.
“I firmly believe that ninja is one of the very top ways to not only get fit, but gain personal confidence for all ages,” he says. “Agility, speed, co-ordination, strength, flexibility – everything you can list off as a requirement for physical health is combined into ninja training.”
Another sign of how obstacle sports have taken off is the event’s inclusion in the modern pentathlon for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. “The spotlight is shining brighter,” says Tom Petryshen, president of OSC. “Sports that need little equipment, that are also dynamic and good-for-TV, are highly appealing.”
Longman isn’t ruling out a trip to the Olympics (maybe in 2032). “To think that an activity we enrolled him in to burn energy and have fun could lead to the Olympics is just mind-boggling,” says Danielle Longman.
