American Ninja Warriors dazzle Naperville kids with high-flying act
Two competitors from NBC's “American Ninja Warrior” TV show dropped in this week on Elmwood Elementary School in Naperville.
No, really, they literally dropped in.
Travis Brewer and Nicholas Coolridge started their presentation for kids in kindergarten through second grade with a surprise entrance from the school's roof.
The pair performed a balancing trick on top of the one-story building and then dropped to the grass below, landing in graceful somersaults.
The young students, who had been told to remain quiet and seated throughout the show, jumped to their feet to applaud.
Brewer and Coolridge - nicknamed Ninja and Modern Tarzan - have been touring the country performing for schoolchildren and telling them about the importance of healthy living and following their dreams.
The tour is sponsored by organic health food company Sunwarrior, so naturally one of the things they emphasized during their Thursday appearance in Naperville was the importance of eating right.
That was all very nice, of course, but their young audience was most captivated by the athletes' feats of strength and balance on the school's jungle gym - especially the wide array of back flips.
At one point the youngsters began chanting “Back flip! Back flip! Back flip!” in unison.
Even Assistant Principal Lora Nowicki got into the act, performing an impressive balancing stunt with Coolridge.
In the middle of the assembly, Brewer and Coolridge taught some students how to perform a somersault and a modified somersault they called a “ninja roll.”
Brewer and Coolridge say they met while training at an outdoor gym in Santa Monica, California, slightly more than three years ago and have been friends in fitness competition ever since.
They said people on the beach would see them doing handstands on top of a 20-foot pillar or some other stunt and be concerned for their safety.
“People would see us and say 'Do you have a death wish?' And we'd say, 'No, we want to live really full lives,'” Brewer said. “We always stay within our personal boundaries of what is safe.”
He stressed, though, that what they do isn't necessarily safe for others.
In addition to dazzling TV viewers with their physical prowess, the two like to perform in public.
“I love doing it at an airport,” Coolridge said. “Everyone there is so down and depressed about getting to their plane and then they look up and see us doing something crazy. I love spreading smiles.”
The two certainly did that on Thursday. When it was time for their performance to end, the pair was swarmed by a happy mob of children looking to get a farewell high-five.