It takes a lot to be a ninja.

“Strength, confidence, self-confidence," says Wheeler Elementary School fourth grader Ryan Kobasa.

Ryan is one of 21 kids from the Warrior Factory in Camillus prepping for the National Ninja League regionals.

“It’s amazing. It’s going to be a great experience and I hope we all do well," Kobasa says.

He’s in the 9 to 11 age group. On Thursday nights, they go through a handful of obstacles that they could see during competition.

“You can always get better and it’s like super hard sometimes, but you can always get through it," Kobasa says.

The courses are no joke. They’re difficult and timed. On the course he's running to practice, Ryan has four minutes to complete his run, which includes a pair of daunting tasks.

“It’s either the canes, that sky hooky thing and that’s it. It’s one of those two," Kobasa says.

For kids like Ryan, nothing beats the sound of the final buzzer. They hit it after scaling a wall at the very end of their run.

“It feels amazing. Like you just conquered something," Kobasa says.

Zoie Whelan knows all about beating the buzzer.

“I was pretty fast I just slipped off on the balance and then the ring when I fell off, but besides that I did pretty good," Whelan said after she finished her course.

It’s very likely that the CBA eighth grader will qualify for worlds.

“We have to hold onto the ring on the one side and we’ve got to move it over to the other side in mid-air," Whelan says. "I like to be able to land it first try because it gives me a lot of confidence for later on the course."

Zoie went from climbing rocks to swinging and gripping all types of objects. Sometimes it can get a bit scary.

“You have to not be scared," Whelan says. "You have to be fearless because some of the obstacles can be scary. And I still struggle with it sometimes. You’ve got to let go of your fear and attack the obstacles."