The Art of Airsoft: Why Get into Airsoft?

There are some friends of mine who have been requesting me to blog here my previous posts in FilAirsoft regarding the "art" of airsoft. To give in to their requests, I will write down my thoughts on this from time to time.

To start off...

I urge my fellow airsofters to think carefully about what they are getting themselves into. Most newbies are fascinated with the idea of reliving their childhood pastime of "baril-barilan." Others consider airsoft as a stress reliever. There's really nothing wrong with these reasons.

What's wrong is the way we play the game.

My recollections of "baril-barilan" were those of intense action pockmarked by verbal accusations of "ang daya mo!" (you cheated!) or "kanina ka pa nabaril" (you've already been hit), and the inevitable "ayawan na!" (game over!). And maybe a fistfight or two when arguments really heat up to a thousand degrees.

You see where I'm going with this? Our childish behavior then is very much excusable because we were children then. But bringing such childishness into airsoft now that we are adults is simply stupid.

I've come across some people who use airsoft to relieve their everyday stress -- by shooting other people. Well, okay, so airsoft is a game where we shoot people with these little plastic balls. Fine. However, such players like to dish out pain while playing.

The thing is, they see nothing wrong about hitting others with their strong guns at close range. They would even tell me, "Why not? They should also hit me at close range, I don't mind." Another common statement is, "If people don't like to feel pain, then they shouldn't play airsoft."

Hello? It's not about feeling pain. It's about giving pain.

Just like in any contact sport, there is an amount of pain to be expected. But there is a limit, and to cross that limit is to be indecent and unkind. In basketball, we call that "foul." In boxing we call that "hitting below the belt." And in airsoft we call that... umm... errh... Teka, what do we call this in airsoft?

One more thing about stress relief. I was shocked by the number of people who relieve their stress in airsoft by whining. They whine about supposed cheaters in the field, about the strong guns of other players, about the close-range hit they got, about the marshals, about the gamesite iteself. They go on whining and whining and whining...

My gosh, these people can whine longer than the Energizer bunny at full battery charge!

We really should reconsider why we got into airsoft. And to you who want to get into this sport, think again.

Because this is one expensive sport, and it will be a shame to "invest" your money and time and effort into something that you will not enjoy.

Just think about it.