Deputy, 'Ninja Warrior' Takes on Self-Doubt

Emmi Rose running the course in an American Ninja Warrior competition.

Most of the year, she is a San Diego County Sheriff’s deputy, but once a year, she is a ninja warrior competitor.

Emmi Rose, 29, has been a Sheriff’s deputy for four years, but has competed on the NBC television show American Ninja Warrior and its offshoot Ninja Versus Ninja on and off since 2014. She notes that she has not won yet, but she’s not giving up. She applied for the spring 2020 season but won’t find out until this month if she’s been cast. Rose is thinking positively and so is currently in training for the show.

“People are asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ And people will pick one thing — but why can’t you be this and this and this?” Rose says with a laugh. “People are not one-sided, everyone has so many gifts and talents.

“Life is short. Why not pursue other passions?“

Fitness has been a passion for Rose nearly all her life. She competed as a gymnast until her junior year of high school, attaining a college-level performance. She is drawn to challenging herself physically and mentally, and that explains her career in law enforcement and her competitive streak. 

Ramping up her year-long training for the show means two intense workouts a day on her weekends. This could include rock climbing in the morning and yoga in the evening, or sprint training and weightlifting, or grip strength training and a run. During her work week, she opts to do yoga before her shift because she wants to be focused on her mindset.

Rose was still in college when she was recruited for the Ninja Warrior show the first time. At the urging of a friend, she had competed in an Alpha Warrior obstacle course at SDCCU Stadium, and she placed second fastest among females and 19th among men and women. This led to a call from a Ninja Warrior competitor who told her she should try out for the show.

The first time she did the show, she didn’t make it very far on the strenuous and athletically challenging course. When they invited her back, she asked herself if she wanted to fail like that again in front of millions of viewers.

She decided that it would be an opportunity wasted not to try since so many people are not even at the level where they would be asked to be on the show.

“It’s not about failure, it’s about doing the best that you can do,” she says. “Failure is like the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my life because it just pushes me to do even better next time.”

Rose says any training she does for the show benefits her job as a deputy sheriff. When she’s competing, she says she imagines she’s at work and got an emergency call she has to get to her partner.

Life is about getting past hurdles and Ninja Warrior is a fun game version of this, Rose says.

“Take control of your thoughts and close your eyes and picture yourself knocking it out of the park and like killing it,” Rose says. “That is such a powerful mental practice. I would just sit there and visualize doing my routine, perfect, perfect, perfect and then I would just do it how I pictured it.”

Visualization is something that can be applied to our everyday lives too, she says. Anyone can do it before they’re about to do a presentation to their workmates or any other task you may be nervous about, says Rose.

Rose says her sheriff’s colleagues encourage her, and her Ninja Warrior teammates are also inspiring to her. When she first started doing the show, there were only a handful of female competitors but that has changed now, and she’s glad for it. She says she was amazed at how close and supportive everyone was of each other even though they are competing against each other.

“I just want people to know that you don’t have to watch someone do something, you can do it too. It’s the whole point of the show. It’s schoolteachers, it’s clerk workers, it’s law enforcement, whatever running the course,” says Rose. “I’ve never competed against anyone but myself. Just trying to be a better version of myself ever year in every way is my goal and physically this show is one of my markers.”

Even if you aren’t ready to do something really challenging just yet, Rose advises people to prioritize self-care.

“You have to value yourself and you’re important. Carve out an hour for yourself. I wake up every day and pray, I read a devotional, I do yoga and meditate on what I pray about. I start my days intentionally every single day.”