We experienced a curated week of CrossFit, yoga and activities like parkour and canyoning through lush Balinese jungles, complete with massages, magnificent meals and luxury accommodation
When I told my friends that I was invited to be a part of Ninja Camp, they thought it was some kind of boot camp and prayed for my life, as I can count the times I’ve gone to the gym with one hand. I assured them that it was actually a weeklong holiday carefully coordinated by the premium destination-wellness company Chōsen, with an emphasis on balanced, functional fitness and healthy eating. The website stated: “These sessions are designed to allow you to test your levels of fitness and identify any holes that may appear. Ninjas are encouraged to work on finding balance by avoiding stagnation in all areas of their lives, but especially in fitness.” I grew apprehensive as well.
I met Chōsen’s friendly co-founder, John Stanton, at a juice bar on Hollywood. He reassured me that it would be a relaxing retreat — albeit with three workouts daily before each meal. Still, there would be plenty of down time for recovery. And one can chose to either have massages, or lounge by the pool with a book from their eclectic Ninja Library (Proust, Hesse, Ayn Rand, Louise Hay and Eckhart Tolle, to name a few).
"It would be a relaxing retreat — albeit with three workouts daily before each meal."
Stanton also convinced me that the camp is very supportive while gently pushing people to get out of their comfort zone through experiential learning. Applicants from culturally diverse professionals from all walks of life are carefully screened based on a range of characteristics including personality, drive and a thirst for knowledge.
“Oh you’ll love the food component. We have Culinary Farmacy on board.” Stanton said with a reassuringly genuine smile.
As a food writer and gourmand, the eating part was of utmost priority. If I am to exercise thrice a day, the meals I’m getting better be damn good. I was put in touch via Skype before my trip, with Elisa Haggarty of Culinary Farmacy, a holistic health and nutrition consultancy based in New York City. Graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC, the top culinary school for health supportive cooking in the US, Haggarty had also lived in Hong Kong, and was very much inspired by traditional Chinese medicine and its “food as drug” philosophy. Joining us as our nutritionist, Haggarty was to help us bring the body back into balance with functional dietary upgrades, to eat with awareness and no guilt.
Working in tandem with Haggarty was Josh Davies, the Australian chef who created the delectable dinner menu for the popular Watercress in Bali. The week’s menu, like the boutique fitness programme, is designed to stimulate and nourish the mind and body, and Ninjas are not deprived of gustatory pleasures.
We learned that sugar is the enemy while fat and fibre are our friends, so starches were cut to a minimum, with a lot more protein and fresh organic greens on our plates to replenish us after exercising. Highlights of our deliciously wholesome daily meals included reef fish cakes with wasabi mayo, juicy barramundi steaks with crispy skin and homemade tartar sauce; tender pork tomahawks, flavoured simply with sage, rosemary and thyme, grilled to a savoury smokiness.
"We learned that sugar is the enemy while fat and fibre are our friends"
Unlimited access to healthy refreshments was available during the day. 24-hour cold press organic Balinese coffee, with or without young coconut water, was especially crucial when we woke up bright and early for the activities before breakfast. Ninja Shakes of raw vegetable protein, cacao, almonds, cashews, banana, coconut water and chlorella had a lot of fans. I loved their anti-inflammatory elixirs like the turmeric and apple tonic and super juices of cucumber, kale and lemon.
For the CrossFit part, Ninja Camp flew in top coach Taylor Rank from Dubai. Looking like a fierce viking, all tattooed up with a shaved head and a full lumbersexual beard, he was Second Place at the 2012 CrossFit Games Asia Region, and has been a Strength and Conditioning Coach at various universities helping athletes to reach their fullest potential. Knowing that I’ve only experienced CrossFit one other time in my life, Rank proved to be a coach with the most and a patient partner for our first WOD (Workout of the Day in CrossFit lexicon) on the third day of camp. He explained stances and reps thoroughly, and pushed with just the right amount of support for one to shed self-doubt. While I felt like death for 15 minutes afterwards (who doesn’t?) it surprisingly became a gratifying experience. For the second WOD at camp, I actually enjoyed kettle bells and sit-ups.
It’s six days and seven nights of being thoughtfully pushed to stretch and expand your mental and physical limits. Supported by fellow jet-set Ninjas who are in this together, it was easy to let go of the usual debilitating stress of daily city living plus health-depleting behaviours like staying up late (campers are naturally exhausted and ready for bed after dinnertime), and consuming too much unnecessary sugar (it sneaks into almost everything in the modern diet). Cut out from our menus, nobody missed the glucose roller coasters.
A week of fitness and meals of optimal nutritional value created by discerning, food-loving, adventure-seeking and genuinely caring hosts works miracles, giving your body and mind renewed vigour to return home to live life by your own design.
"It’s six days and seven nights of being thoughtfully pushed to
stretch and expand your mental and physical limits."
While Ninja Camp caters to the professional young adult crowd, the company will offer an even more high end boutique fitness and adventure retreat rebranded as Chōsen held at various luxury resorts in Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Guatemala (Feb 6-12), the most stunning and exotic property in their portfolio, accessible only by boat or helicopter. Who wants to upgrade their life while staying at a private estate by Lake Atitlan, with Mayan trails, top trainers and organic farm-to-table cuisine by a Cordon Bleu chef during Chinese New Year?
Click through the gallery below to see highlights from Ninja Camp Bali
A rather relaxing first day checking in at an idyllic private villa set amongst Canggu’s rice fields. A Balinese priest conducted a welcoming ceremony for the new Ninjas. Campers retired early to our rooms after twilight yoga and a delicious dinner, as we had to wake up at 5:45am the next day for our baptism of water —canyoning.
Well curated Ninja Gear — t-shirt, epsom salts, sulfate-free bath products, natural insect repellent and sunblock, a refreshing mint face mist and a calming pillow mist, a rucksack filled with Tigernuts (a tuber that is a resistant starch and a highly beneficial pre-biotic), a cool water bottle, a notebook and the day’s itinerary.
Ninja bonding as we trekked through a verdant mountain jungle on our first pre-breakfast exercise, canyoning down the Gitgit Waterfalls up in North Bali. Whether it’s abseiling with rope work or jumping down multiple waterfalls, we are reminded to be mindful of Mother Nature.
Learning how to do actual ninja rolls, backflips from a wall and other parkour techniques at the Superhero Factory in Seminyak. The incredible Tah Riq enlightens us with the simple fact that getting past physical obstacles trains our mind to overcome mental and emotional obstacles as well.
A vibrant lentil salad with zucchini, carrots, topped with a shiitake “bacon” and toasted walnuts by Culinary Farmacy's Elisa Haggarty — a light lunch, protein-packed and blood sugar friendly.
Above is the affable Kat Hurley, Haggarty’s partner-in-crime and our yoga instructor and life coach for the week, relaxing at the further end of the pool. Her book I think I’ll Make It is deemed: “a hardcore Eat, Pray, Love” and she calls herself an “optimism evangelist and a mindfulness missionary” whose goal is to give people the tools to create the life one desires.
Balinese massages at a spacious bale. Ninja Camp’s best kept secret. however, is Jim Doyle, a masseur who specialises in Body Mind Integration Therapy. He was taught this craft by an Australian aboriginal master, and a session with him was most Ninjas’ highlight of the retreat.
To find out more, please visit www.ninjacampbali.com or @ninja_camp