NEW ORLEANS — Chris Cambre, a New Orleans local, is a full-time salesman at his family’s sporting goods and fishing store. But around these parts, he’s known as the Bayou Ninja.
American Ninja Warrior is in its ninth season on NBC. The premise is a game show where contestants compete on an obstacle course that increases in difficulty as the athlete progresses.
Chris stumbled on the sport by chance. His 5-year-old step-son Kaleb Fulker loved the show and asked Chris to watch it with him.
“Kaleb said, ‘Daddy can you do that? I told him, ‘If you dream it, you can do it,'” said Cambre.
About a year later, Cambre and his son caught news of a ninja warrior gym in Kenner called Nola Muscle Park. The gym’s owners have competed for American Ninja Warrior in the past, so they designed their obstacle course to help competitors make it past preliminaries.
Anyone can learn to be a ninja, Cambre says, so Cambre and his son both immediately started training and competing in their age categories. Cambre tested out training in his lightweight, shrimping boots that he wears on boats, and found that the loose fit and bottom sole grip helped him advance in his skills.
Out of 77,000 applicants and six regions, Cambre was one of 600 contestants chosen to compete in preliminaries in San Antonio, Texas. He is unable to say if he made it due to show rules – so we will just have to tune in to the premier of season nine of American Ninja Warrior in June.
“Even if he doesn’t make it, we are still proud of him. I am still proud of the father he is to my kids,” said his wife Heather.