PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man known to fellow trainers as the Northwest Ninja is competing in a televised athletic game show in which he could win $1 million.
Shae Pozarzycki, 24, competed for season eight of television’s “American Ninja Warrior” in Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday — but said he is contractually refrained from revealing the results before the show airs.
Pozarzycki is a Port Angeles High School graduate, Roughrider Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) fitness team alumni and U.S. Army veteran.
Viewers can find out if he made it to the next round by watching the show each Wednesday beginning June 1 on NBC. The date of the episode that will show Pozarzycki’s round of competition was not known this week.
“I will be in Las Vegas for the finals in June, either to compete or to show support for [my new friends],” he said.
The final round of the competition will be held June 15-20 and filmed to be aired at a later date.
Athletic game show
“American Ninja Warrior” is an athletic game show on NBC in which contestants power through timed races.
It includes parkour routes — parkour is a method of physical training that develops the ability to overcome obstacles — balance challenges, free-climbing walls and obstacles that require the competitor to make awkward leaps or dangle from shifting or spinning ropes, ladders or hoops without falling to mats or the water below.
Although Pozarzycki is not allowed to reveal the results of the City Finals in Oklahoma City, if his happy attitude Monday was an indicator of his performance, he did well.
Fifteen finalists qualify for the Mount Midoriyama finals in Las Vegas, according to the show’s website.
The winner of the finals gains the title of American Ninja Warrior and a $1 million prize.
Not an easy path
Pozarzycki’s path to the competition was anything but easy.
He began watching the original Japanese version of “Ninja Warrior” and was hooked on the show and the sport while serving in the Army.
However, he broke his hip and was told his athletic days were over. He was discharged and returned to Port Angeles.
He threw himself back into training, including parkour and free running, and studied hapkido at the Phoenix Dragon Martial Arts center.
Pozarzycki entered the competition by submitting a video displaying his skills. The video — filmed at Phoenix Dragon Martial Arts and other places around Port Angeles — was posted on YouTube for judging and can be seen at www.tinyurl.com/PDN-ninja.
He was selected by the show’s producers to take part in the City Finals, regional-level competition filmed in five cities across the nation.
His first opportunity was April 5-6 in Los Angeles, but he was unable to go because his girlfriend, Renee Madison, broke her leg and he stayed to take care of their two children, Caidence Pozarzycki, 7, and Davin Pozarzycki, 20 months.
Once Madison recovered, Shae Pozarzycki aimed to attend another qualifying round, making the 2,352-mile drive to Indianapolis for the April 27-28 City Finals round.
“I was in this small town, Mitchell, S.D., and my drive shaft fell out of the transmission,” Pozarzycki said.
It took two days to repair the car, and he missed the required sign-in for the Indianapolis City Finals.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” he said.
Instead of being sent home, Pozarzycki met some of the people he had watched dominate the competition through earlier seasons and found a new training partner, David Campbell.
Campbell is known as the Ninja Godfather and was one of the most successful competitors on the show, Pozarzycki said.
“He knows everything in the sport,” Pozarzycki said.
Pozarzycki was able to work out with his new friends, stayed with them for additional training and went to Oklahoma City last Friday and Saturday to compete.
Along the way, he earned his own nickname, the Northwest Ninja.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
