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Given the fact that there’s no new American Ninja Warrior episode this week, we feel it’s a fitting time to introduce an intriguing question we asked some of the Ninjas. When we had a few minutes with the competitors in St. Louis for season 12, we asked them about their season and training, but we also asked them to answer a hypothetical question.
In an alternate universe, with no Ninja Warrior at all (no sport and no show), what would you be doing?
Here’s Jamie Rahn’s answer, which is both surprising, and makes perfect sense when you think about it!
“I have a bachelor’s in fine art and I was on the path to being a tattoo artist. I tried out for Ninja while I was setting up my apprenticeship. It’s important to me that I do something with my life that’s going to benefit people in a positive, long lasting way. If I had never found that little out (Ninja Warrior coaching), I would probably be a tattoo artist.”
We knew Jamie has some impressive tattoos himself.
And we knew that he was super artistic and creative. Check out this Ninja Warrior Guess Who board that he made. It looks like it’s right out of the factory!
And this painting he put on his new barn. (His dad helped him out after Jamie hurt his thumb, but you get the idea.)
But we hadn’t put two and two together that tattoos could very well have been part of Jamie’s career path! Luckily, his love of coaching and Ninja Warrior have kept him dedicated to the competition so we all get to fan-out over his athletic abilities.
Season 12 is Jamie’s tenth year on the show. After appearing in season two, he came back in season four and has competed consecutively ever since. He’s made the National Finals six time. So far in season 12, we’ve seen Jamie complete the Qualifying course, despite a pretty gnarly thumb injury that barely had time to heal before the competition. Jamie will be back for the Semi-Finals.
Now we want to see some more of Jamie’s art work! What tattoo would you want a Ninja legend like Jamie Rahn to design for you?