FOLLOWING LAST YEAR’S BADE STREET SURVIVAL FESTIVAL THAT ENCOMPASSED E-SPORTS, GENERAL ONLINE GAMING AND A TASTE OF AIRSOFT GUNS AND GEAR DELIVERED BY OUR OWN MILITARY ANNY AND STEWBACCA, THIS YEAR SAW THE RETURN OF THE EVENT WITH THE ADDITION OF LOCAL RETAILER AND DISTRIBUTOR YMS AIRSOFT PROVIDING A WIDER ARRAY OF AIRSOFT REPLICAS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO GET HANDS ON WITH! IT ALSO SAW RECENTLY-FORMED PRACTICAL SHOOTING GROUP 2011 CARPE DIEM CLUB HOSTING A GEL BLASTER FIRING RANGE AND GRENADE THROWING EXPERIENCE TO GET PEOPLE IMMERSED, AND WE’LL LET ANNY SET THE SCENE FOR YOU FIRST!

Since 2008, Taipei’s Bade Shopping District has held a two-day street closure every summer vacation, starting with Bade Road Section 1 (between Xinsheng South Road and Jinshan North Road) to host the Summer E-sports Festival.

Last year (2024), we were invited by the Taipei Bade Information Business District Development Association (supervised by the Taipei City Department of Commerce) to participate in the “Bade Street Closure Survival Challenge.” From August 24th to 25th, we held a booth on Bade Road Section 1 in Taipei, showcasing VFC toy guns and personal gear, including a photo opportunity featuring ME (please remember that Anny is pretty darn famous in Taiwan - Bill)! Similarly, in 2025 we were invited to participate in the theme “Bade Street Closure: The Strongest Showdown”. This year, the area under the charge of “General Wu Anny” was expanded as a whole, and the instructors of the “2011 Carpe Diem Club” (officially established last year) were invited to serve as instructors for this experience area. After several online meetings, considering that most of the visitors were families, the main promotion method was to allow non-survival game (airsoft) players to understand shooting sports more quickly through experience activities. After coordinating the content of the shooting activities, we discussed with the organiser whether the above activity content was feasible. The activity process and content were also submitted to the guiding unit, the “Taipei City Commerce Department”, for approval.

On the first day (August 23rd), the 2011 Carpe Diem Club instructors arrived at the event site in a truck at 08:00 and placed all the large items at the event site. Before the event started at 14:00, they and the YMS Airsoft owner began to arrange the various items at 11:00.

The press conference for the event began at 15:30, and in preparation for it the 2011 Carpe Diem Club instructors, YMS Airsoft owner, Stu, and I, holding YMS supplied airsoft platforms slowly walked through the streets of Taipei City, waiting for the press conference to begin, and posed for photos and finally, on stage, a group photo.

The next day (August 24th), we gathered at 13:00 to begin cleaning up the venue; just before 14:00 Taiwan’s Formosa News arrived to cover the activities at the experience zone; the event attracted a large crowd, raising awareness of the importance of safety both in survival games (airsoft) and national defence.

Shooting Zone: designed with safety in mind, this zone featured gel blaster guns with no limit set on the number of balls used per shooter to drop all six steel targets, three large and three small, to receive a free coupon provided by the organisers.

Grenade Throwing area: participants could release stress from work or school by throwing grenades! Throwing grenades into the three holes

“WE WERE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE THEME “BADE STREET CLOSURE: THE STRONGEST SHOWDOWN”. THIS YEAR, THE AREA UNDER THE CHARGE OF “GENERAL WU ANNY” WAS EXPANDED AS A WHOLE, AND THE INSTRUCTORS OF THE “2011 CARPE DIEM CLUB” WERE INVITED TO SERVE AS INSTRUCTORS FOR THIS EXPERIENCE AREA” into the wooden panel in front and successfully knocking over the tank outlines within them would earn you a free voucher provided by the organisers. Many participants would shout out the names of those they dislike and throw the grenades vociferously!

The steel targets, fences, and oil drums used to build the shooting and grenade throwing areas were all made by instructors from the 2011 Carpe Diem Club; one of them, Liu Yaojun, previously ran a paintball range in Tamsui and is very experienced in making such hardware.

Photo Zone: Jordan Chen, owner of YMS Airsoft founded in February 2021 was on hand; the various replica platforms on display had all their documentation submitted to the organisers for review. Visitors were also welcome to take photos with the replicas and try handling them, attracting many members of the public young and old, guys and girls alike, to try handling different airsoft platforms and better understand what suited them and their abilities or which style or aesthetic of replica might suit them best.

The 2011 Carpe Diem Club; a multi-faceted sports space, the club was born from the dreams of four individuals, Liu Yaojun, Clyde Kan, Vic Chuang, and Chris Chen. It is a relaxed and fun shooting range dedicated to promoting competitive shooting sports and promoting proper gun safety. They frequently hold free seminars to promote leading domestic brands and shooting competitions for all kinds of shooters to enjoy. They hope to make this a “second home” for shooters in the future. If you enjoy shooting, want to train, or are just bored and looking for someone to chat about tactics, or if you occasionally want to go hiking or run in the nearby riverside park for a workout, they welcome all those interested in shooting to join them!

PREPARATION FOR IT THE 2011 CARPE DIEM CLUB INSTRUCTORS, YMS AIRSOFT OWNER, STU, AND I, HOLDING YMS SUPPLIED AIRSOFT PLATFORMS SLOWLY WALKED THROUGH THE STREETS OF TAIPEI CITY, WAITING FOR THE PRESS CONFERENCE TO BEGIN, AND POSED FOR PHOTOS AND FINALLY, ON STAGE, A GROUP PHOTO”

THE STEWBACCA TAKE!

First of all, of course, our thanks go to Anny for her continued hard work towards all of these events, visits, and coverage; she continues to bring a local eye as well as the native language perspective that helps round out my own coverage and make it easier to engage with people in a more open and accessible setting than just relying on my own skills and abilities out here.

This year the addition of the 2011 CDC instructors and YMS Airsoft not only increased the interest of the public but made for a great energy in general; a great group of shooters and industry people working together and surviving the sheer heat and energy requirements of the show as well as taking part in the on stage work in greater force helped better cement the impact of airsoft and its potential for safe and fun enjoyment in the public sphere. This is something I’m very much a proponent of, given the sheer weight of negative media we all tend to suffer given the normally more contentious public perception of what we all love doing.

Giving people a better first interaction and personal experience of “toy guns” on their own terms and promoting a better mainstream media interaction can only help bring more people into the hobby and further educate and normalise it in the public sphere.

Once again we were joined by our friends from ‘Wood and Iron Workshop’ and their excellent food truck who were supplying us with more traditional Taiwanese snacks throughout; similarly our four legged friends made a return appearance with local dog Berney posing for photos with us again and being the cool and calm tactical doggles pupper that he is, and Bubu the cat jumped on Anny’s shoulder for a quick photo opportunity while we were lying in wait at the

“GIVING PEOPLE A BETTER FIRST INTERACTION AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF “TOY GUNS” ON THEIR OWN TERMS AND PROMOTING A BETTER MAINSTREAM MEDIA INTERACTION CAN ONLY HELP BRING MORE PEOPLE INTO THE HOBBY AND FURTHER EDUCATE AND NORMALISE IT IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE” side of the stage for our big group photo among the organisers!

It’s always nice to engage with the public and give them a better first introduction and share experiences and again, we even saw some more foreigners in-country for various stretches of time take a potential interest in joining us on the skirmish field once they found out about us and our team.

Hopefully the Bade Street event will continue to be a regular and growing fixture within the local calendar as it’s always nice for us to give back in whatever way we can and grow the community and its positive impact in whatever ways we can, with each public relations effort. AA