Last weekend (July 6 and 7) the time had finally come: Minga Warrior 2024, the biggest competition of the year with up to 300 ninjas on Munich’s Königsplatz. Hosted by the city of Munich, organized by Stefan Angermeier and Steffen Moritz. With prize money of up to €1000 and non-cash prizes. Why was everything a little different this year? Here is my recap:
Ninja halls or not: Ninja is still an outdoor sport. The Minga Warrior 2024 is also an outdoor competition. In the middle of Königsplatz in Munich, surrounded by museums and actually also the Munich Sports Festival. Actually, because the “outdoor” factor should play a major role this year.
Minga Warrior qualifying day with a bang
Everything actually started perfectly: the qualifying day was scheduled for Saturday. Bright sunshine and a speed stage in duel mode, time counts. Five frames: rings, Mikados, a few OCR elements (Obstacle Course Racing), ropes, sky ladder and bar tech elements. The finale: the fireplace with buzzer. Almost like on TV 😉
The qualifying day was divided into three slots (from 9am) and four divisions (women, men, teen boys and teen girls). The weather was perfect for the first two qualifying rounds, which took place under the watchful eyes of several spectators. While many newcomers started in the first slot, the starting field became more top-class from the second slot onwards. Not only the defending champions Nicola Wulf and Hollis Lansford took on the course. Well-known stars from the TV show such as Alina Tornau, Steffi Drach, Jescher Heidl, Lukas Kilian, Melli Schmitt and Viktoria Krämer were also at the start. The event was once again hosted by Frank Schmidpeter and Jaan “Super Mario” Balkheimer, who also competed as athletes. It would only be half as cool without you 😀
The only small upset so far: the first buzzer of the teen boys and one buzzer of the adults did not count. The athletes were subsequently disqualified. They had each entered the lane of their duel opponent. Tough, but nevertheless correct. A ninja competition needs a clear set of rules with no exceptions.
The bigger bang, in the truest sense of the word, came at around half past four. The sky turned gray and it started to drizzle. Interruption due to thunderstorm warning! Message to all athletes: “We have until 9 p.m. to run if it gets dry again. If you haven’t run yet, stay close by.” But this was not to be, as the Munich weather did not cooperate. Incidentally, some athletes who had registered did not show up or left on Saturday. Perhaps also because of the bad weather forecast?
Competition day: patience is required
The next message, that same evening: “We’ll try it tomorrow from 9 am, if it’s dry. First the remaining qualifying runs, then the final.” No sooner said than done, the last athletes started their qualification runs at 9 am. But once again the weather got in the way of the ninjas. Slot 3 is through, the final starts at 10 a.m. – that was the plan. And then the rain came.
Another interruption. For the first few hours, most of the athletes waited around the course. At some point, the group dispersed. Some looked for a course to train on, others for a way to warm up. The mood of many of the athletes, parents and other participants dropped temporarily. The waiting time tugged at their nerves and many wished for a clear decision from the organizers.
For Stefan and Steffen, however, it was clear: there would be a final, the rain would stop. They were proved right. From 3 p.m. onwards, the rain eased and finally stopped completely. The course was dried out. To secure the wet surface, Stefan quickly organized gym mats from his ninja garden in Karlskron, which his dad brought to Munich.
4 p.m.: Restart, final with the remaining qualified athletes. Several final rounds in duel mode, this time in a knockout system. Only the winner advances. The frames remained the same, but were modified in part. A rope was added to the chimney, the pole now had to be attached to the deja vu and so on.
The wait was really worth it. There were some great duels, and the women’s field in particular was incredibly strong. But the men didn’t have to hide either. Ole Janek and Nicola Wulf in particular were in top form on the day. They almost flew through the course, beating several top athletes. Two well-deserved winners and Nicola even defended her title! The teens also showed their best side. Victory here went to Lisa Moritz and Ben Buchholz. The podium was completed by:
Steffi Drach, Lukas Homann, Elias Schmidt, Lotta Thies (2nd place)
Jonathan Jung, Melli Schmitt, Laurin Werner, Sara Sörgens (3rd place)
Congratulations to all athletes and thank you for persevering!
And a particularly big thank you to Stefan Angermeier and Steffen Moritz:
Stefan, you work your butt off for the ninja sport. Your competitions are always organized at the highest level, your rules are clear and the stages are well thought out. You make everyone feel comfortable, find solutions and, as you can see, don’t give up easily 😉 THANK YOU for your commitment!
Steffen, you handled all the communication. You probably had to deal with a few disgruntled athletes. Nevertheless, you tried to do everyone justice and communicate as openly as possible. Chaos management at its best. Thank you for that!
And: after the Minga Warrior is before the Infinity Cup 5.0 by Stefan Angermeier! I’m really looking forward to it and I’ll take you with me! Check out my Insta to make sure you don’t miss anything!
See you soon here on my Blog!