Turns out a lot of you out there watch American Gladiators. I heard from tons of people informing of the new season, which started last week, and features an Asian American gladiator named Xin Wuku, aka "Zen." According to his bio on the NBC website:
ZEN brings his own lethal combination of ancient eastern tradition and 21st century battle technique to Gladiator Arena. Born to create chaos, this mysterious warrior uses superhuman speed and highflying skills to dispatch anyone unlucky enough to cross his path before they even realize they’re in danger, and the slips back into the shadows like a ghost to wait for his next victim.Wow. Definitely playing up that ninja angle. With the hair and all, the guy looks a bit like he jumped out of an anime movie or something. More here: Xin Wuku Confirmed as New American Gladiator Zen. The guy is 5'9" tall, weighs 159 lbs and is a martial arts expert with acting roles in movies, commercials and music videos. I'm told by those who have seen him in action that while he isn't biggest Gladiator, he's got speed.
He's apparently most well-known for this Urban Ninja video from a few years back, which is essentially a 3-minute video of him jumping and flipping all over the place, with a few punches here and there. As Vanilla Ice once said, "Go, Ninja, go."