By Brendan Rees
Break dancer Leonard Hermawan hopes his agility and explosive moves will help him get across the line in his quest to become a ninja warrior.
The 33-year-old from Narren Warren South will be a contestant on Channel Nine’s reality smash hit, Australian Ninja Warrior in July.
The all-new supersized course will be hosted in Spotswood alongside the Science works museum in Melbourne.
Leonard, who is a sport therapist, will join 200 contestants in the hunt for the $100,000 grand prize as they must complete the gruelling and high intensity obstacle course in record time.
He is no stranger to physical challenges. He started breakdancing at the age of 16 and has competed in dance battles around the world.
The former student of Maranatha Christian School in Endeavour Hills also loves skateboarding, and playing basketball and soccer.
Upper-body exercises have been the focus of his training in preparation for the show, he says.“I’ve been break dancing for a while now, and I know my body and I trust what I do so I thought, ‘Yep, why not just try out for the show and give it a go?’ he said.
“Doing a lot of monkey swings … it could be at a park or at the rock climbing gym or at one of the ninja training sites. I do quite a lot at home with the backyard set up.”
Leonard, who will carry the nickname ‘B-boy lion’ into the show, which stems from the time he used to have large hair similar to a lion when he was younger, says taking on the obstacle course for the first time will be a big task.
“I kind of treated it as I’m just dancing. I guess not too nervous.”
“Being a rookie I’m really pumped … I just prepared myself for the worst.
“I have been on camera before but not really like high production – it’s a big thing,” he said.
Australian Ninja Warrior premieres on Monday July 8 at 7.30pm on Channel 9.
