From his farm 'Ninja Barn' to the big stage, Simon Martin shines on national television

He is now also a TV star, debuting as a contestant on Channel 9's Australian Ninja Warrior on Tuesday, June 28, displaying his years of training in front of a national audience.

The 42-year-old father of three performed well and qualified for the semi finals, set to air Tuesday, July 5.

Simon, who is Karoonda East Murray council elected member, developed a passion for ninja course sports watching the popular television show with his children.

"From season one (of the Ninja Warrior) the kids and I just loved it so that's a good six years ago now," he said.

"I ended up going down to SA Base Camp in Port Adelaide which is basically a ninja warrior obstacle style set up and did a session there and realised how ordinary I was, but that sort of hooked me," he said.

"I knew I enjoyed that type of training and sport and I knew I had a lot to improve."

The former Karoonda footballer said as his footy playing days were winding up, his appetite for a contest had not.

"As I was getting to the back end of my footy career, the competitive nature of sport, I needed something to replace that so that's where that took off," he said.

While the Karoonda oval was just down the road, the closest ninja course was 150 kilometres away and given Simon and his kids enjoyed the sport so much, they decided to make a training hub on the farm.

It was quickly named the 'Ninja Barn'.

"It was Christmas 2018 we decided to clean out the barn for the kids as a surprise Christmas present and build the Ninja Barn in there ... we are able to train basically whenever we want," Simon said.

The Ninja Barn features many obstacles built by Simon, gym equipment and artwork by his wife Kylie.

And now, the family was totally engaged in the sport.

"The kids and I have been doing competitions for few years now, so we've got the local competitions in Adelaide which are basically state qualifiers to a couple of different ninja leagues that go on to national competitions around the country so we've done a couple of them," he said.

Simon described the ninja competitions as a combination of CrossFit, gymnastics, rock climbing and many other sports.

"It's a lot more dynamic than all those sports and there's a lot of progressions throughout every aspect of it ... I guess you just go to your level and you're just constantly can improve, there's no end game and that's what I really enjoy about it," he said

Simon decided to have a crack and apply to be on last year's show, but he fell just short and was place on a stand-by list.

However, his video nomination earned him a tryout this time and after a series of interviews and physical tests, he got through to feature on the show.

He carried the nickname 'Farmer Arms' on the show, a nod to his occupation and where he has come from.

"One of the guys at base camp where I trained gave me that nickname, it sort of stuck so I sort of went with that," he said.

Presenters noted Simon's physical prowess and solid technique as he took to the course in front of the live audience for the show, and while Simon said juggling farming life and his duty as a councillor kept him busy, he always found a balance between work and play.

"Our priority as a family and always growing up is to enjoy our sports and to go follow what you want to do," he said.

"Work hard, yeah, but do the stuff you want to do and spend time with family ... otherwise, what's the point?

"It's just basically about making time; you could, easily say 'no I don't have time' but at the end of the day, you can make time for whatever you really want to do."

He said it was a message he wanted to pass down to his children.

"If you want to do something, don't be afraid to go for it."

- Details: Australian Ninja Warrior is on, Sunday 7pm and Monday to Tuesday 7.30pm, on Channel 9.