Do actual ninjas really do all that?

It's official that we now, as a family, enjoy sitting and watching American Ninja Warrior together. These people, and their feats of strength, are super impressive, and very fun to watch. I'm not one for the slow and weepy home-grown stories, so the DVR recording really works to my advantage there. Sydney, Brian and I sit and watch, and cheer and groan for, the athletes. And we discuss the pros and cons, and strategy behind all the obstacles, too.
I'm fairly convinced that I would do horribly on the course, and may or may not make it past the first obstacle. But that doesn't stop my body from its unintentional tensing and slight weight shifts to "help" the people on the television. This show is fantastic.
We're really only watching it for the first time, so our knowledge is limited. Having said that, we are loving it. It's about as cool as the blind auditions for The Voice, but less sad. The people who fall and don't finish the course are so much stronger for their stumbles, and always are very motivated to get back to training. I like that none of them seem to take their falls very hard, emotionally. It's good stuff.