Most and least age resilient competitor?

[tns8597]

Who do you think is the most age resilient competitor, and least? Give your thoughts.

[subtleagent]

Yuuji us defo #1 right now. Had he had at least one more second in 38 he'd have gotten to the Third Stage. Hioki and Suzuki come to mind too. Though the latter is inconsistent he still made Stage 3 in his late 30s on a renewal so that's pretty impressive (even though his screentime wasn't really justified).

Takeda too considering he beat Stage 1 at 45 (or he would've had it not been for a dumb DQ). Shingo still is pretty spry, but his Shingoyness really keeps him from showing that.

Okuyama is pretty strong too and getting the third as late in his life as he did 6 times and even the final once? Neat stuff.

But if we're talking of all time that honor hands down goes to Kenjiro Ishimaru, he came close three times in his early 50s and even then still delivered some pretty strong runs.

[m4tt3r0x]

Above pretty much sums it up. I actually think Yamada isn't given enough credit himself. Physically he never looked old or out shape in his 40s save Sasuke 26 when he gained a few pounds. He actually got better as Shin Sasuke progressed mostly and Shingo/Takeda/Nagano showed that from late thirties to forties they started sucking themselves at Yamada's age. Yeah he was never great but he really never deteriorated at the rate the other All Stars did in their older age compared to pre-Shin Sasuke imo. He kinda just plateaud until Sasuke 28 when he never would be the same again. Sasuke 27 Yamada could had easily cleared Sasuke 28's Stage 1 (at 45+ years old too). Kong additionally held it together for an impressive length of time.

Nagano really didn't age too well. I think everyone agrees on that. Smoking didn't help. Kanno is another really obvious one. Perhaps Hashimoto Kouji is the worst one though... no offense but he went from being shredded to a fluffy teddy bear. Asa also got really weak after Sasuke 33 if you've seen him in YouTube videos since then. Tomo is proving to be no different than any average man approaching middle age...

Winner is Yuuji though. For me it's not even close. He's gonna be 43 and no one can definitively say he could never win again. Nagano at 43 everyone knew his time was up.

[hoseasasuke]

The most age resilient SSK competitor of all time is easily Yuuji. He would have gotten to the Final Stage at 41 if it wasn't for the slip-up that he had on the Pipe Slider, while at the same age, Nagano couldn't even clear the WW. As for the least age resilient competitor, I'm going to say someone that all of you haven't said yet - that someone is Akiyama. Yeah, I know, his massive decline after his Kanzenseiha can be attributed to his deteriorating eyesight. Still, he was finished at an age where most other top competitors could still make at least a deep 2nd Stage run.

[subtleagent]

One example of least resilient is definitely Naoki Iketani. He hit decline pretty hard after SASUKE 11-ish. Gassing out on the Body Prop and he was really inconsistent on Stage 1. One can attribute that more to lack of training than physical decline, but even then he'd be out of breath on the wall a lot (15 and 24) and his form on the Salmon Ladder in 27 was worse than Wakky's.

[tns8597]

I figured most people would say Yuuji, which is entirely fair enough. He just seems to have this element of youth in his demeanour and performance that no one else has had in their 40s; still being super light on his feet, and still killing the game on Stage 3. Okuyama as well I’m certain could’ve continued reaching Stage 3 into his late 40s as he showed literally no sign of slowing down, but then again he did retire due to injury which could be attributed to age as you’re more susceptible as you get older. Some others I’d throw out there would be Lee En-Chih who from his Instagram pretty much looks and goes the same as he did when he competed on Sasuke despite being like 46, and Kongu who was still making Stage 3 over a span of 15 years which no one can say they’ve done. Granted; his Reverse Conveyer fail was a bit sad to watch.

In terms of least, the two that spring to mine are Shingo and Kanno. Granted both were plagued by recurring injuries, but Shingo started his decline after Sasuke 9-10 where he was barely into his late 20s, and by the time he hit 30 he was completely out of his depth in terms of Kanzen potential despite training day and night for Sasuke. Then Kanno’s recent runs have been quite depressing to watch; he’s still pretty young yet he just has none of the lightness, athleticism or speed he had barely a few years prior. He even nearly failed the Quad Steps in 37.

Iketani I’m less inclined to say wasn’t age resilient. He still practices Monster Box and performs gymnastics on stage in his 40s which most competitors can’t say they can achieve. Though if we’re talking Sasuke performances alone then yeah his last Stage 3 attempt (which was rubbish) was at age 32 which really isn’t old at all. Akiyama never reached Stage 3 after age 30, so he’s defo a candidate as well.

And finally Yamada I agree was in incredible shape for someone in his 40s, especially during a time where being 40 was much more stigmatised than it is now. He would’ve definitely been able to clear a couple of times had he not, well, you know what I mean.....

[m4tt3r0x]

It's gonna be great to see Takeda compete again in 39. He went from being broken to having one of the top times on Stage 1 in two tournaments. He seems to be MIA from his YouTube though. He's my favorite competitor so it's fun to see him or anyone push the limit of what's thought to be possible.

Unfortunately the guy was even weak on the Salmon Ladder in his prime

[subtleagent]

I would say Shingo's last real shot at Kanzenseiha was SASUKE 11. He tore through Stages 1 and 2 and got pretty far on Stage 3 given he had never attempted the Cliffhanger Kai and one could figure it was his first time on the down gap, but then in 12 he fails the up gap and not even from a slip up, he clearly gassed out. One can attribute his Lamp Grasper slip up to that (and the fact that he used it with straight arms which put more strain on his shoulders), but even then Bunpei (who's 7 years his senior) did it and still destroyed Stage 3.

But it's not just that, though he was digested he looked less coordinated and also barely cleared the Wall Lift. One can argue lack of preparation (as he was putting in more work at his gas station), but still he hit it pretty quickly and then once Stage 3 got buffed after Nagano's near-miss he just fell further behind. Compare that to Takeda who consistently blew through Stages 1 and 2 whilst still delivering reasonably strong runs on harder Third Stages despite his shoulder injury holding him back. We all know Takeda's last real shot was 24 and he blew it.

[tns8597]

Mar 21, 2021 12:54:51 GMT -5 m4tt3r0x said:

It's gonna be great to see Takeda compete again in 39. He went from being broken to having one of the top times on Stage 1 in two tournaments. He seems to be MIA from his YouTube though. He's my favorite competitor so it's fun to see him or anyone push the limit of what's thought to be possible.

Unfortunately the guy was even weak on the Salmon Ladder in his prime

Yeah honestly I did not see that performance coming from a 45yo Takeda recovering from a shoulder injury; it’s one thing for him to simply get in shape but to see him show most of the younger guys how it’s done was incredible.

Speaking of All-Stars, one person I would’ve also been inclined to list as being age resilient had it not been for chronic injuries was Bunpei. Obvs the injuries that fundamentally caused him to retire would position him as someone who particularly suffered the nuances of an ageing body, but remember prior to that he was arguably the second most likely competitor to achieve Total Victory behind Nagano despite pushing 40, which back then was a good 5 years older than everyone else reaching Stages 2 and 3 and given his consistency he constantly broke his own age records. If you think about it it’s basically the equivalent of someone in their late 40s reaching the Vertical Limit today. IIRC he still holds the record as the oldest person to go furthest in a tournament from Sasuke 16.

I won’t speculate the whole ‘if he hadn’t been injured’ analogy given that he seemed to have an amalgamation of several issues, but I do wonder how he would’ve done in Sasuke 21 if he’d not made that faux pas on Stage 2; he was an absolute animal on Stage 3 even in the face of adversity like suffering from heat stroke, so I could’ve definitely seen him reaching the Spider Flip or somewhere around there.

[subtleagent]

Given Bunpei was never the speediest I could see a Stage 2 time out or even a Metal Spin failure (as the Shin one was tougher). If he got to Stage 3 I would honestly say considering he inexplicably failed the Body Prop in 17 he could've gone out as early as the Devil Steps or Shin-Cliffhanger given his stamina really seemed to take a hit as he barely cleared Stage 1. Optimistically I'd go with Grinding Ring (if it were the Gliding Ring that actually glided then I'd say he'd make the final easy since I would argue the Gliding Ring made Shin-SASUKE's Stage 3 easier as a whole along with the Arm Rings and Kudari Lamp Grasper which was clearly only downward because the Devil Steps were too low).

[tns8597]

Stage 2's time limit in Sasuke 21 was pretty lenient so I don't think he would've timed out (Lee En-Chih almost cleared that tournament and he was going so slowly it was almost painful), unless he made a massive faux pas on the Salmon Ladder, which given that it's Bunpei is unlikely as his technique was always second to none.

I feel like his Body Prop fail was a freak accident more than anything else. His Stage 1 and 2 runs in Sasuke 17 seemed more athletic than ever before, and he'd usually go deep into Stage 3 even in the face of adversity like a heat stroke. Mind you, I know he retired due to chronic back pain and if you've ever tried a Body Prop it's agonizing on the lower back, so that might've been a precursor/sign of things to come. You're right though; I'm basing his Stage 3 potential on how he did prior to Shin-Sasuke, but in his last couple of tournaments he did seem way more fatigued after clearing; not sure how much he would've had left in the tank had he advanced.

[subtleagent]

I was actually referring to 21's Stage 1. In 17 he looked fine. He cleared with a decent time and seemed like he could go again. In 21 he was slower and looked cooked by the end of it.

Also if we're adding competitors who aren't resilient I'd like to add James McGrath and Travis Rosen (yes, yes they competed on ANW, but both were on SASUKE 27 which is where they started). Both of them kind of begun after ANW 5.

The former turned in some strong qualifying city performances, but then comes Vegas and he just seemed to plummet. Then he got injuries and has kind of fallen into a Bunpei Shiratori or Hitoshi Kanno like state. He failed the Jumping Spider three out of four times in a row and hasn't competed since then. Not to mention

The latter was more of a slow setting decline. He still turned in some strong performances even in his 40s and I can forgive his Wingnut Alley fail in ANW 9 since that obstacle was ridiculously hard. But looking back at ANW 7, 8 and 11 (IDK about 10 since something was clearly off about the Double Dipper in that one) he didn't seem to carry that same push he had in ANW 3 ~ 6. He kept getting swiped again and again and he also barely qualified for ANW 11's First Stage. I guess his injury was what finally convinced him to retire (like Okuyama) and he never declined to the point where it was just sad to watch him fail, but it did still sting that he was clearly not the same after ANW 6. He did say he would've retired had he won USA vs. The World. Perhaps his Rope Climb loss put him under the stigma that he had hit his peak?

[tns8597]

If we're talking ANW (where forgive my admittedly pretty lacklustre knowledge) then McGrath is definitely a strikingly similar Kanno situation. They're a similar age, both were some of the most prolific competitors while in their 20s to the level that both represented their respective countries in international competition, then when both hit their 30s they got plagued with shoulder injuries that resulted in their results just taking a massive sudden hit. Both have also failed the same obstacle in their last three competitions in a row (McGrath the Jumping Spider, Kanno on the Dragon Glider). Not sure about Rosen though; I feel like it was more that from ANW6 onwards, the course became exponentially harder or at least Stage 2 defo did (as unlike Sasuke, Vegas gets constant refreshes and difficulty bumps every year), than his age. As I said tho I haven't studied or even seen most of his runs.

David Campbell also has to be mentioned. The guy was killing the game in Sasuke 26-27 but just never seemed to get out of his Stage 1 blockade for a good 9-10 years after, and he's 43 now so I feel like it's unrecoverable at this point especially given how dynamic the course changes to ANW qualifiers and finals etc. are.