AIRSOFT AND THE WILL OF A WARRIOR

In every human being hibernate an artist, a scholar and a warrior. But due to the exigencies of time and locale, in most instances, only one or two of these three aspects are developed to the extreme while the other(s) remain(s) in the sea of forgetfulness. In the context of modern reality dominated by science and technology, we have witnessed the flourishing of the scholar and the artist—to be more specific, the scientist and the technologist. I am talking here of what is tangibly seen on the externals. But in every advancement we experience is the persevering presence of the will that pushes progress onward. The accomplishments of the will may not be as tangible as those of the intellect which sustains the scholar and the feeling which moves the artist, but in all of these undertakings, the will cannot simply be left behind and neglected for it is the source of the artist’s and the scholar’s courage to go on with their dreams, desires and wishes. The will is the warrior in us. There is no point in living without the activation of the will.

When times seem hard and discouraging, it is the warrior in us—the will—that presses us on to continue, to pursue what the intellect has decided to be the best course of action and what our feeling has promised us to be satisfying. There is so much of wasted time and inactivity that lead to loss of precious opportunity and further failure because of the weakness of one’s will. And in the process, so many people suffer because of one’s inability to be decisive. Decisiveness is an act of the will.

In the game of airsoft, it is the will that is at the forefront. Decisiveness and the courage to carry out the decision made count the most. In the game of airsoft, the warrior in the airsofter is led out of the shell. As a microcosm of humanity, the airsofter as a strategist is a scholar and as a tactician is an artist. But to carry out a decision and deliver the kill in swift and calculated motion makes the airsofter a warrior. It is the will of the warrior that pushes the strategist and the tactician in the airsofter to achieve his/her goal, to reach his/her aim, to accomplish his/her objective as a team player in a particular game.

The game of airsoft is one most fitting training ground to enhance the will and hence the warrior in each of us. It also makes us realize the fact that we should acknowledge the importance not only of intellect and feeling but more than anything else of the human will.

It is the will of the warrior in us that grants us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and bestows us the courage to change the things we can after the intellect and the feeling have given us the wisdom to know the difference. In the language of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, these are “the Apollonian and the Dionysian spirits” that interplay and interact for humanity to give way to the emergence of “the Ubermensch” and let the “Will to Power” take its course as we “Say yes to life” on a moment-by-moment basis within the limits of a reality that is in a state of “Eternal Recurrence.”

Let the game of airsoft be a most significant Academy to edify the will and hence honor the warrior in everyone of us.