‘Deaf Ninja’ Kyle Schulze reaches American Ninja Warrior semifinals. When to watch | MSN
In the backlot of Universal Studios in Los Angeles in early spring, 34-year-old Kyle Schulze stands on the edge of a narrow red runway, preparing to tackle the American Ninja Warrior qualifiers for the eighth time.
Dozens of spectators and Schulze’s girlfriend, Raquel McPeek, wave their hands in the air, applauding for him in American Sign Language, or ASL, as Schulze is deaf.
Unlike previous first rounds, Schulze is confident and at ease, the nerves still present but not suffocating. And the only thing on his mind is finally getting to hit that buzzer.
As a four beep countdown rings out, Schulze keeps his eyes locked on the hands of a producer off to the right signaling his start and takes one last deep breath before a quick jog and leap onto a small trampoline, propelling him onto the first obstacle, Pole Vault.
From there, he moves swiftly and effortlessly through the next three obstacles, taking deep breaths in between and occasionally celebrating — a quick clap here and a small grin there — before reaching the fifth obstacle, Jawbreakers.
Here, he takes an extra second. Schulze has never made it past this point, having fallen on the final obstacle six times.
But this time is different.
