A video surfaced recently from the time of this post’s writting wherein an Asian airsofter from Japan was temporarily imported into the United States to shoot live amunition with real guns. The video spoke volumes about gun culture, society, and most importantly, about how to have a good time.
If you ever got your real steel gun fix from videos posted on YouTube around the year 2009 up to present you may have encountered sootch00’s channel together with the likes of hickok45, nutnfancy, The VSO Gun Channel, and iraqveteran8888. Maybe the others touched up on this topic as well, but I vividly recall that in one of sootch00’s videos he recommended an airsoft gas blow back pistol as a alternative dry fire tool to improve real steel firearm proficiency.
Fast forward eight years to the date of this article’s posting and we finally get to see this concept in action in the form of another YouTube group’s video. The T.REX ARMS YouTube channel explored the extent at which proficiency and skills acquired through training with airsoft guns were able to translate to handling the real deal.
In this video Lucas Botkins of T.REX ARMS explains that they have brought in Liku, an airsofter of three years from Japan who has never held nor fired a real firearm, to see just how far his experience in airsoft takes him.
The initiation starts with Liku’s short struggle with recoil control, a factor heavily mitigated or non-existent in the world of airsoft. However, after some drills, what follows is an impressive display of emulation that leads one to question his novice status.
While T.REX ARM’s video puts viewers in a front row seat to witness the action, one can’t help but notice the genuine positive reactions Liku’s performance is able to draw from his mentors. Not only is the team genuinely happy for Liku, they are happy at the opportunity to share the joys of American culture.
So then it got me thinking back to the question, “Can airsoft teach you real shooting skills?” Well, sootch00 considered training with airsoft guns as an alternative to dry fire training and T.REX ARMS constantly affirmed the effectiveness of dry fire training and drills that reflected in Liku’s performance. But can any airsofter pick up a real gun and produce results like Liku? Probably not.
There are many kinds of airsofters with different levels of investment in the sport. Some are individuals with little to no experience looking for a weekend’s fun never to return again.
In Liku’s case, watching the short videos on his YouTube channel and this other clip from another, it becomes evident that his group has invested in the equipment as well as time and effort into exercising the drills required for this sort of execution. So, while it is possible for proficiency developed in airsoft to translate into real firearms, not just anyone can do it without practice and discipline while considering additional factors such as recoil management.
Unfortunately this garnered a lot of racial stereotypical responses as reflected in the most upvoted comments on the video’s feed downplaying Liku’s talents not as a product of effort, rather, as something hereditary from being of Asian descent. Nonetheless, for those who actually participated in the events, you could clearly see in the videos that those involved had a good time. Who wouldn’t?
– J4
