GOING GUCCI

IT’S ALWAYS NICE TO TAKE SOME TIME OUT FROM THE ROUGH AND TUMBLE (AND COLOURFUL LANGUAGE!) OF THE SKIRMISH FIELD TO DO A LITTLE PUBLIC RELATIONS AND TRY AND SHINE A POSITIVE LIGHT ON AIRSOFT, ESPECIALLY IN AN ERA WHEN LOTS OF GOVERNMENTS AND MAINSTREAM MEDIA SOURCES OR SOCIAL MEDIA IN PARTICULAR SEEM HELL BENT ON CONTINUING TO PAINT US ALL AS THE DEVIL INCARNATE WITH ‘DANGEROUS (REALISTIC IMITATION) FIREARMS’ IN HAND, BEING A BUNCH OF NE’ER DO WELLS AND WHATNOT. SO AT THE INVITATION OF EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE TAIWANESE LADY AIRSOFTER (OUR OWN ‘MILITARY’ ANNY WU) STEWBACCA DECIDED TO GO AND PRESS THE FLESH, INSTEAD OF TRIGGERS, FOR A WEEKEND OF OUTREACH TO THE TAIWANESE PUBLIC.

The magic never ends here “in country” for me really, fellow shooters! If I’m not stuck at the day job (or ‘work work’) trying to share the nuance of (British) English linguistics with the Taiwanese ‘yoof’ of today, I’m probably buying, trying, testing, breaking or otherwise enjoying new airsoft guns and writing about them, or attending events and likewise sharing my thoughts and experiences to try and shed light on the landscape over here for other folks from the Anglophone sphere.

But every so often an opportunity arises to either see the internal machinations of life and how the country operates here, or to be able to hopefully cast a more positive light on our otherwise besmirched and maligned weekend warrior shooty-funtimes activities.

Towards the tail end of August, Taipei City government’s commerce department partnered with the Bade Information Business outlets from top-tier turnkey providers down to ‘mom n pop’ component, peripheral or consumables sellers; there’s everything under one roof for the hardcore nerds who need streaming, gaming or camera gear alike.

Closing off the whole of Bade the local government created a bit of a weekend pedestrian haven from the usual manic Taipei traffic, and invited an array of exhibitors and vendors along to create a street party vibe aimed towards ‘survival games’, which in Taiwanese parlance typically implies airsoft skirmishing, but in this case also encompassed online gaming and particularly with an intent to promote women in gaming, with an ‘e-Sports Goddess Cup’ being held on the Saturday focusing on female players as well as professional e-sports team ‘Deep Cross Gaming’ DCG making an appearance for the fans alongside cosplayer dance routines among other attractions.

Development Association and Sanli group to bring a bit of a ‘(far Eastern) block party’ theme to the area around one of the main tech outlet malls in central Taipei, right near where I used to live when I first moved up from my first posting, as it happens, and near our old headquarters.

Bade Street sits out front of Guanghua plaza, a large twin multi-story building complex that is home to an array of computer and communications tech

Taking Airsoft To The People

Obviously Anny’s somewhat of a touchstone for all things ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Guns’ in the local shooting scene and media; if you haven’t read our similarly titled inaugural article in the ‘Getting Personal’ column back in ISSUE 148 it’s worth getting some background into her long term exploits here for better context.

She’s been at this mischief almost as long as I have, but has undoubtedly weathered it a hell of a lot better! She was good enough to invite me along to help out on the airsoft-focused stall she would be running supported by VegaForceCompany and showcasing an array of their latest products as well as allowing the general public to get ‘hands on’ with them in a non-functional/‘dry’ environment and pose for photos… with the option of getting kitted up in plate carriers, shemaghs and eyepro to complete the look if people preferred!

It certainly gave me an opportunity for a more relaxed weekend, not having to get up early or work all Saturday as I usually would for starters! Getting a nice lie in each day and working later into the evenings I arrived on scene just after lunchtime each to find most of the hard part already done, with a four sided column gun rack and relevant hardware in place showcasing an array of VFC’s display guns; the T91 SOC Taiwanese AR based service rifle, Walther PPQ Taiwanese police service pistol, M40A3 bolt action USMC sniper rifle, HK416 and a customised B&T clad MP5, as well as the awesome Carl Gustaf M3 MAAWS recoilless rifle system and M249 LMG adorning our front table and taking centre stage in terms of allowing the public to interact with them and hold them to pose for photos or just get a general idea of the heft of what they may be carrying in game.

Anny and I are both staunch supporters of the idea that anyone can get involved in shooting and there seems to have been a real drive towards that ideal in the local community recently with the veritable explosion of women and kids getting into IDPA that I’ve mentioned in my coverage of their national level events in past years. Personally I’ve taken our latest team addition Ning under my wing over the past few months since she’s joined us and begun training her up; she’s a very diligent student and has enthusiastically joined the team, bought her own AOR2 BDUs, signed up for our next MilSim and gotten involved in skirmishes as often as she can, as well as training regularly with me at IPSC to get better skills with pistols and carbines alike… very encouraging levels of enthusiasm to be sure!

With that in mind we set about chatting to passers-by and ‘civilians’ all weekend extolling the virtues of airsoft and the great enjoyment and camaraderie afforded by a life behind a replica firearm here in Taiwan, with many people from all walks of life taking an interest, and particularly a lot of kids wanting to take a look at the guns and gear and get their cool photographs taken all geared up behind the stall.

As is customary, the event was also opened on the Saturday afternoon with the typical level of fanfare and media coverage you come to expect here in ‘Airsoft central’; Anny and I were even called upon to provide ‘private security’ for the visiting luminaries of local government and the organisers on stage, as well as government secretary general Li TaiXing among others getting geared up and posing with Anny and I in front of our stall as they did their ‘walk around’ with local media of the event after the initial opening ceremony.

“CLOSING OFF THE WHOLE OF BADE THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CREATED A BIT OF A WEEKEND PEDESTRIAN HAVEN FROM THE USUAL MANIC TAIPEI TRAFFIC, AND INVITED AN ARRAY OF EXHIBITORS AND VENDORS ALONG TO CREATE A STREET PARTY VIBE AIMED TOWARDS ‘SURVIVAL GAMES’, WHICH IN TAIWANESE PARLANCE TYPICALLY IMPLIES AIRSOFT SKIRMISHING”

Hearts And Minds

It’s certainly encouraging to see local government and people in places that matter taking an interest in what we do, especially given the general feel for the airsoft community writ large worldwide as of late and the adversity we continue to face.

The legislative processes I covered back in ISSUE 163 in the ‘Halls of Power’ feature are still ongoing and we may not be out of the woods just yet from rumours I hear on the wind here in my usual fashion, so any excuse for positive publicity and interaction with the populous or politicians that aren’t already players among our ranks is a welcome opportunity to my mind.

With the strides IDPA has taken here, the more varied and normalised we make the participants of our shooting hobbies, and the less likely we are to be so readily marginalised when everyone knows somebody who responsibly enjoys some form of replica firearms related activity. Certainly the IPSC and IDPA communities are a good entry environment for many who want to enjoy shooting hobbies without the worry of the pain of getting shot at themselves, and funnily enough Ning’s mum just happened to be running the stall next to ours; once she realised we were indeed the people she recognised from photos of game days, she came over to investigate and similarly left our company well reassured that her daughter was in good hands and could enjoy the hobby in safety despite the obviously militarised appearance of it all… hearts and minds, fellow shooters.

course took Anny’s heart, and @berney_on_shoulder the backpack-mounted fur missile dog who delights in standing on the shoulders of giants; I always have a lot of time for animals, and numerous dogs frequented our stand as well, some in tactical gear of their own, as well as some service dogs in training whose humans were taking an interest in what we were up to.

Throughout the weekend countless people from all facets of life came to take an interest and get their pictures taken with the equipment and us; with both of us being unusually tall it certainly grabs people’s attention and draws them in so we can drive more interest from them. We were also staying well fed as Anny’s friends who run @wood_n_iron_workshop were on the other side of our stall, churning out their excellent hot dogs and steak sandwiches all weekend, and keeping us fed and watered in the process; an army marches on its stomach, and whatnot!

All in all it was a pleasant way to spend a long weekend in a different environment and hopefully bring a better understanding of what we all do out in the woods, jungles or abandoned buildings the world over, and experience a more direct touch-point to people and encourage them to act on their initial intrigue or interest in shooting sports and the related equipment and environments, because, after all, it would be good if they could also become fellow shooters…

Many thanks to Anny for inviting me along to help out, as well as VegaForce Company for supporting our efforts with products to display and demonstrate, and of course Taipei City government’s commerce department, the Bade Information Business District Development Association and Sanli group for organising the event and giving us a platform to bring in new interest. AA

IN ALL IT WAS A PLEASANT WAY TO SPEND A LONG WEEKEND IN A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT AND HOPEFULLY BRING A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE ALL DO OUT IN THE WOODS, JUNGLES OR ABANDONED BUILDINGS THE WORLD OVER, AND EXPERIENCE A MORE DIRECT TOUCH-POINT TO PEOPLE AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO ACT ON THEIR INITIAL INTRIGUE OR INTEREST IN SHOOTING SPORTS”