Taiwan Taiwan... Day 1

Kiko showing off his "gun"

Paying compliments to the man who came back from Iraq

Banno's limited edition KU's DM9 withTado board

Direct translation and it means "Exercise for beautiful breast"

Visit to airsoft warehouse, gerald tried out a AK47... like real only.

I told you we are visiting TOM's world.

Entrance of Xi Men Ding

Arthur with Team Ku and Mr. Dye

Reds in town... Day 0

The eagles have landed

After 4.5 hours of flight time, we have finally reached Taiwan. Before boarding the plane, the team managed to catch up with Ken Tsuda at the airport. He was on his way to the Philippines after a night in Singapore. Ken told us that he would love to come by again and time his business trip so that he can spend a weekend in KL when its the World Cup Asia. He also told us that he would love to spend a weekend in Singapore the next time he comes by. "I would love to play some paintball in Singapore"... So I guess the local community is in for a treat in the near future.

In Taiwan, we are imposing on our old friend Arthur who has kindly let us mess up his place again. Straight after landing, Arthur came to pick us from the airport and we went for a Teppanyaki dinner Taiwan style... Gerald had his first taste of the Taiwanese food by ordering a super duper spicy beef set and we were wondering if it was raining in the restaurant. Of course now that we are in Taiwan... its almost like TOM, TOM, TOM and TOM everywhere we go. Tomorrow, we will be going shopping...

Arthur checking out food again...

Last heard, there will be 12 participating teams, 6 local and 6 international teams. Other than Red Sevens from Singapore, we also have Datis from Iran, Incarnate from Canada, KU from Japan, SWAT from Australia and a team from Germany.

2nd Asia Paintball Invitational Tournament 2009 Day -1

One more day before flying to Taiwan... and again a surprise visit by Ken Tsuda from Oakland Blast... just like before... The last time when Ken was in town, he gave us pointers on how to play the bunkers by taking one step back from the bunker that you are in so as to have a wider angle during offensive shooting. Well....Ken is in town again but because he is flying off to the Philippines the next day, we did not arrange for any quick bite or coffee with him. But nevertheless, Ken's visit was just so timely... just in time to catch up with him and checking with him on the pro league before leaving for Taiwan.

Ken brought a surprise for Jane. He brought her a customized Oakland Blast paintball jersey with her name on it. If you dont know what this means... it means Jane got herself a FREE pro jersey. and the significance of this is that pro paintball teams do not make customized jerseys for players who are not related to the team, not even when you are ready to pay for it. According to Ken, this is the first time that the team has done this from someone outside the team. Only paintball divas get these customized made jerseys and they are made for promotional purposes. He brought in a few other jerseys too...one of Jason's, Kenny's and Luke's and get them all signed. The Red Sevens team will wear the Oakland Blast Jersey during one of our games in Taiwan to thank Ken for his wonderful gesture and to help promote Oakland Blast to the Taiwanese teams.

What a Blast!

2nd Asia Paintball Invitational Tournament 2009 Day -2

Whenever possible, I will be updating this blog when the team travels to Taiwan. We will be leaving Singapore on 14 July 2009 (Tuesday) on an afternoon flight to Tao Yuan International Airport. We will be hosted by one of our close friends in Taiwan, Arthur Chang. Arthur played for Red Sevens last year in the same tournament, it is good to know that Arthur will be playing for us again. With Kiko and Gerald playing on each side of the field, Arthur will surely add depth to the team with his experience and he will play a good mentor to Gerald too.

We have plans to head straight for Taipei night market when we reached Taiwan. Arthur will be hosting Team KU from Japan as well.... so once again, we will be seeing the KUs. Steven, the other good friend of the team might be bringing us out for supper too. So yes, lots of eating coming up... got to watch my weight now.

We have also settle our markers arrangement for the tournament... a mixture of DMs and Protos... what else right?

Mobile paintball in Singapore

Mobile paintball arena - Suitable for 3 vs 3 or 4 vs 4 competition.

Hardcore mobile paintball set up - Suitable for paintball tournament of up to 7 vs 7 and tournament in accordance to international standards.

Shooting gallery for all participants of your event - Suitable for participants who are 14 years old and above

If you are organizing a corporate family day, school activities or any other event that is organized in an outdoor environment, you might want to check out the mobile paintball facilities provided by Red Dynasty Paintball Park. Instead of playing in a designated paintball centre, you might want to bringing paintball closer to you! You can choose to set up a shooting gallery to test your aiming and shooting skills or you can choose to organize a mini tournament where you get to shoot your friends, colleagues or relatives. Our mobile facilities will allow your organization to experience a full fledge paintball competition at the comfort of your event.

Its CONFIRMED! We are going to Taiwan...

Its confirmed that Red Sevens will be participating in the 2nd Asia Paintball Invitational Tournament (APIT) held in Kao Hsiung, Taiwan from 16 - 20 July 2009. The team will spend 1 week in Taiwan, 2 more days from last year's trip. This tournament has the support of the Organizing Committee of the World Games 2009. Kao Hsiung, which is the host city will see athletes coming from around the world to witness this event. Red Sevens might spend some time in the city and watch some world class events. Paintball teams from Thailand, Japan, Australia and possibly a UAE team will be at the APIT too.

We will also take this chance to meet up with our friends from Taiwan. This tournament will be played in X-ball style, 20 mins game, 2 mins rest in between games with a race to 3 games. This would mean that players will need to be a lot faster when podding and movement up the bunkers. Through this trip, we hope to learn from some of the best in the world and surely placing Singapore as a representative in the world stage.

Team Lineup: Seburo, Elle, The One, King, Edi and Yuan.

Limited Edition DM8 Ollie Lang #52 for SALE!!!

Yes, I am letting this baby go. This marker was bought shortly after it was released in 2008. There are only a 100 of this in the world. Yes, only a 100! Ollie Lang has #17 and this marker is #52. Its one of the limited edition markers that Dye made it with a glossy look. It comes with a Virtual board, so no upgrade needed. The only thing that I am keeping is the Titanium barrel that comes with this marker, however it fits any autococker threaded barrel. The best thing about this marker is that it was used for a maximum of 8 weekends only (under utilised)!!! This marker is a signature series so surely a hard find.

This marker is not in Singapore and if there are keen buyers, transaction will only be done in Malaysia (KL). Cash and carry only. There is no bag that comes with this marker or tools or any accessories, JUST the marker only. Oh...did I tell you that it comes with a red colour bolt too. Stock DMs come with metal coloured bolt.

RM3800... Actionvillage is selling this piece for USD1600, first hand...

Paintball in 1st Asian Youth Games (AYG) 2009!

Hmmmm...50 years later? Perhaps but I know I wouldnt live this long to see it happen...

SPNS 2009 Leg 2 Most Valuable Player

Jane (President of PBAS, left...I mean right) presenting the MVP medal and a Empire Event mask to Sham.

Off the field, he may seem nice... he may sound friendly..., Shamel Ilya otherwise commonly known as Sham could be the nicest guy around. On the field, this man is a terrorist... I mean terror. A member of the Contract Killers, Sham was awarded the SPNS 2009 Leg 2 Most Valuable Player (MVP). The MVP award is a recognition given to an individual by the local paintball community after each leg of the SPNS. The winner is recognized by for his/her display of good sportsmanship on and off the field and a true ambassador of the sport.

Sham has played competitive paintball for about a year and plays as a front/mid player for the Contract Killers. With his team, Sham has won the 1st runners up position and the 2nd runners up position in leg 1 and leg 2 of the SPNS 2009 respectively. This recognition came timely as his team prepares themselves for the World Cup Asia 2009 in November. Playing with the Red Dynasty Boys in My-NPL Leg 2, he also won the 1st runners up position in the Division 4 category.

In my opinion, Sham is one of the upcoming and promising player in Singapore. He has lots of potential and is a fast learner, his attitude in listening and learning always gives him an edge over the rest. Always ready to fill up the bunkers, Sham is an exciting player to watch.

Team KU's latest recruit??

Team KU's newly recruit: DAMIANSAN LEE

Seburo??

SPNS Leg 3 - CANCELLED

After organizing 3 legs and 2 legs of SPNS in 2008 and 2009 respectively, it is sad to see that SPNS 2009 Leg 3 has to be cancelled. There are many factors contributing to an event's cancellation, from political reasons to natural disasters, from human errors to finding locations, just too many reasons. While cancellation does not seem too positive, it is common when certain factors dont fall in place.

USPL changed from their original promised 5 legs to 4 legs with the reasons of maintaining prestige and level of quality. These in turned allow the teams to recover both physically and financially for the next event. International PALS events in Thailand and Philippines were cancelled due to political turmoil and civil unrest, making travel a hassle. PALS Taiwan was called off by the organizers when the returns were not as rosy and teams not agreeing with the vision set out by the organizer. And if I can remember, there was also a cancelled event in last year's MPOC when the opposition parties won seats during the General Election and the organizer who is a strong supporter of the losing party did not receive the necessary fundings. Hurricane Katrina robbed NPPL in Houston...

So there are many many reasons. For SPNS, it is just sad to see a cancelled event. Nevertheless, we will strive to do better for the next event for the great people always say "everybody deserves a second chance"... let's aim for 20 local teams!!!

Single Pane vs Thermal Lense?

Photos ripped from propaintball and pbnation

Definitely two schools of thought... asking this question is as good as asking which is better: curry or laska? Some people think that single pane is good, others affirm that thermal lense works wonder. So which is which? If you are thinking about buying a mask, this question should be one of your considerations but not your ONLY consideration. I have used both single and thermal before, so if you ask me, I say both are as good as the other.

The brand V Force has always stick to their single pane anti fog lense, what it means is as simple as a single lense with anti fog coating on the inside. Afterall, if big teams such as Vicious, Icons and Aftermath are all using single lense goggle, who's that kid bragging that thermal lense is a better choice? Ok, so if single lense is good enough, then what's the point of buying a thermal lense mask? Simple, for its anti fogging capability. A pocket of air is contained between a glued goggle lense and a plastic sheet thus creating a "contained space" to prevent the mask from fogging. But the downside to this...is if the mask is not properly maintained. Wipe off the paintball marks instead of washing them under a running tap. If you need to give it a more thorough wash, clean it with a "watered tissue" instead. But yeah, anti fogging for thermal lense does work 1) if the mask is properly washed, 2) if the glue doesnt get worn out.

So which is better...? It all depends on the user.

Red Sevens - MPOC 4th Leg Podium Finish

Historical win for the Red Sevens in 4th Leg of the Malaysia Paintball Official Circuit (MPOC) 2009. This is the first MPOC 3rd Division podium finish for the Singapore based team since participating in the league in 2007. With this win, the Red Sevens added another win to the recordbook of the Red family with podium finishing in My-NPL with Red Dynasty Boys (Div 4) and Red West in SPNS.

Red Sevens would like to dedicate this win to all the people who have given us your support since our intervention.

Special mention to our sponsors - Dye Asia, KCHL, Furious Lotus Barrel, Red Dynasty Paintball.

Special mention to teams - XFox, Lemon Ruskies, Matrix Entourage for your equipment support and words of encouragment.

Lastly to our Red Sevens teammates (past and present), for without you, there will be no Red Sevens. Kudos to all of you!

We will continue to do our best to maintain the current form.

From right to left (Seburo, LiquidSnake, Edi, Junadi, Paul, Elle and King)

Thanks Stanley for the photo.

Paintball is fun - Just enjoy the game

Why do people participate in sport?

Some exercise to gain fitness, to make friends, to compete, and the list goes on... But most importantly, I think one of factors in which people play sports is to have fun. I was once told by a friend that I have taken away the fun from his passion for the sport when I emphasized too much on winning and being too competitive. He no longer feels fun playing the sport.

I thought this is pretty interesting because when everyone started playing a sport, it is always out of curiousity for the game and playing it for fun. When one decided to take the sport on a more serious note, the reasons of their participation changes to... perhaps its for fitness or perhaps its for the competitive edge. Some went on the compete at a higher level with regular trainings using the best gears. They formed an identity for themselves. They become more involved as an individual who is passionate about the game. They become ambassador for the sport and spread the love to everyone they know. At this point, there will be some who will drop out for various reasons, usually time commitment, mostly family reasons and a handful of them due to financial reasons. Not that they dont love the game anymore, its just that their priority changed. Taking time off from the game may not be a bad thing as they can spend some time for other things in life.

After playing for a while and a strong passion for the game, comes the "businessmen" model. Who are these "businessmen"? People who feel that they can do more for the sport after playing and experienced competitive games . These are the people with ideas on how the game can be improved and envision changes in the game. They begin looking for money opportunities in the game. I am pretty sure these "businessmen" still enjoy the game. Some went on to become coaches, some went on to do retail, some did publications...they become "businessmen".

Seems like everyone will end up becoming a "businessmen". When the individual becomes a "businessmen", he will have to juggle between his love for the sport and his means to make ends meet. Yes, it might not always be the best option but I am sure this "businessmen" is trying his best. For anyone wanting to go down this route, all the best to you. Its a matter of time that someone like you will pick up the game with the reason of having fun and eventually becomes a "businessmen".

"Paintball is a sport but it is also a business"

Very very disappointing...

Its bad... its very bad. No... its very very very bad. I shall named this blog as "very very disappointing" for the fact that I wasnt really happy about something that was wrote about paintball development in Singapore. Well, everyone who blogs has his/her share of their views so I will not judge anyone, I respect your views and I am glad that some of the best suggestions were brought up by you through local forum, websites and blogs about how you think Singapore paintball should grow. Living in a liberal community, we have our rights to shoot off. So here's my piece...and of course disclaimer before some ignorant people starts shooting away..."shooting away"... how irony? And its funny cos everytime I write about a "very very disappointing" piece, I have to go like...."Okay, its not about my team, its not about the operations that I run, its not about the sport association that I am in" BUT all about how I feel as an individual who is passionate about paintball. But short of the dough to have my ways and do the things I want.

It is "very very disappointing" because after trying my best to develop and help tournament paintball grow in Singapore, I have been classed as not improving, surely not good enough for everyone. If there is one thing that is not improving...its not the development but the buy in. Surely, we did not convince all and we did not get the support from all. In fact, we were so bad in convincing that we were banned and slammed. Oh surely... it helps to say that its not my fault for trying to promote speedball... BUT, yes, there's always a big BUT. Of course, we all know that people make some money and pump some money into developing the business better... but to what extend? Losing money? Already we are running red doing paintball leagues. You might be thinking its bullshit, why do you still do it when you are losing money? Well, people dont shoot much with mech (everyone shoots emarkers up North during tournament), we have less than 15 teams every leg (an average tournament up North has more than 30 teams), there are thousands of people playing paintball up North (we have a community of less than 300).

Okay, to set the record straight. I feel that comments like these are not good for the game. Come on... "support your local field". Hey, I didnt come up with this... if you have been reading paintball magazines long enough, they always have this "support your local field" for several reasons, no business no paintball, yes, it a game that we all love but still its a business, look at how F1 has grown...to me the F1 is a business, surely its a sport but no business no sport, its simple. And to have business, you need support and where do we get these support? From the people who pay for the business operation. I can tell this to my grandma and I think she can understand this simple formula too. No business = No paintball. If I am a rich man, then the story is different. Its the same for everyone. I like to play in tournament with a mimimum budget, if its free its even better (heard of teams paying for people to play in their team and then ended up to complain about those non-paying players? So how to sustain?)...I like to be able to train without burning a hole, I like to improve in my skills, I want to use better equipment, I want good customer service, I want good referees, I want a good organization, I want to shoot e-markers, I want big fields, I want to play 5 on 5, I want this I want that...

Okay, let's examine this closely... firstly, there are a group that dont play in Singapore, so regular or not, they dont fit the bill as a regular. Yes, they play in the local league but that's maybe like 4 times a year, not good enough to be call a regular. We do have regulars and its surely NOT them... regulars are people who support local development and grow to play at higher divisions when their time is riped, these regulars head up North to play and these people understand the limitations, red tapes and restrictions in Singapore and for them to improve in their game, the only choice is to go North. Regulars... I respect you. But dont just end there, bring back what you have learnt and contribute back to the local community. And I dont mean slamming and comparing... we can never be the best in the world and that's life...oh yes, perhaps the best example is downunder... the country is one with the most affected H1N1 cases today and we all know how strict the Aussies are with quarantines, so its surprising. I am going off topic here anyway. But seriously this is what people shouldnt do... find newly formed teams in the forum, offer coaching services but instead of getting them to improve in their skills and going through fundamentals and in turn introducing more people to play this game the proper way, they set them up with the idea of playing in places which sells cheaper paintballs along with the tagline... "come and see what real paintball is". Its surely not helping... why? Simple, we will never grow in numbers. Want to see the real paintball? Go USPL, go Millenium, go COFA... those are real paintball.

Already off my head, I can list a few Singapore based teams who play competitively in Malaysia but not in Singapore. How to grow? How to develop? If we look at how our neighbours got started...things were tough back then too. But as more and more people play the game, certain restrictions were laxed. Ask them how many years of mech were they playing before the first emarker arrived? How much did they charge for a box of paintball back then? How many players were playing? How many tournament players were there? I have said this many many times, it just takes time.

Well, as far as I am concerned... paintball is improving. People are more aware about the sport, mostly still think paintball as jungle games but its better than nothing, we can change that misconception depending on the interest. I have known the most scenario player in Singapore and yes you can see him enjoying himself playing the scenario game. He understand that its hard to have forested game in Singapore so he is planning trips for interested Singaporeans. He works what is best for him. He didnt slam no one, he didnt slam peoples business, he didnt say "very very disappointing things". He just enjoy the game and develop how he think scenario paintball can be best developed. Okay enough is enough, we have gone through this so many times that I am really sick thinking about it. Since I have been slammed. Maybe its time I start my very own blackbook and start blacklisting people who pretentiously support local paintball but slammed local field operators. No discounts, no specials, no give face (oh...someone might need to explain this to non-Singaporeans). Yes, its expensive playing paintball in Singapore, its cheaper to play in the North... its a fact. The truth is... everything is more expensive down South. Ever heard of Singaporeans going North to buy mik powder? I dont see anyone complaining to NTUC about their price. Even Australia is more expensive than Singapore. Try Congo... do they have paintball there? Even if they do... I am sure its damn expensive. Milk powder too.

Do I need to justify what has been done for this sport in Singapore? I think we all have eyes to see.

Want to help? I guess not... but of course if there is anyone who is so adamant about developing paintball in Singapore. Dont focus on the cost. Its not the cost. Its the red tape restricting the access of having markers by your bedside. Perhaps, we can get someone with a good command of english to write letters/petitions to all the MPs, to Vivian, to Ser Luck, to Jin Teik, to Nathan, to Hsien Loong, to someone who calls the shot. Until then, paintball can never be considered as reaching its full potential. So anyone with good "Ang Moh"? Ang Moh?

Give me a break will you!

Paintball shop / store in Singapore

Coming soon...

Oakland BLAST in Singapore!!!

Senior Tsuda, Ken is in town this week. Ken is manager of USPL Pro team Oakland Blast which came in 3rd position after DC Arsenal and Dynasty during the recent Huntington Beach. Red Sevens had the chance to meet up with Ken over dinner and took this opportunity to find out more about this fine gentleman. During dinner, Ken gave us tips on how to play the back bunkers and shared his views on players selection. His son, Kenny is also a member of the Blast and plays on the snake side. If you have played the game NPPL Championship 2009 before, you would have noticed Kenny Tsuda as one of the players that you can use in the game. Ken shared with us how the game producer got Kenny into the production in Hollywood and how they hooked him up with the sensors to capture his moves. The icing to the day was when Ken passed 3 pro jerseys to Arthur. Before parting, Ken did mentioned that should his schedule permits the next time he visits Singapore, he will be coming by to Red Dynasty to give some pro tips.

Random SPNS Leg 2 2009

Found these photos and I am very sure, most if not all of the teams are looking for these. Feel free to rip them off this blog but please credit them to "Red Dynasty Paintball".

Well done Singapore Paintball Teams!


PBAS Referees

Ares

Kamikaze

Mid Life Crusaders

Wargh!Cooks

Seek and Destroy

Dark Militia

Death Mavericks

Contract Killers

Surprise visit to Red Dynasty by Exkay - Division 1 Team X-Fox

Since establishment, we have seen many regional big names in Red Dynasty giving paintballing tips: Dean Apcar, Matthew Nekvapil, Daniel "Junior" Goh and our very own Francis Lucena Kiko. Today, we bring you ExKay...



A deadly Kisser indeed... not off the field but on the field. ExKay, whom he is commonly known in the Malaysia paintball community was in Red Dynasty the other day... yeah... the other day simply because the trip was so secretive that we were unprepared for him. A great day to come by on 6 June 2009 (an important day to Red Dynasty), ExKay was greeted with an unusual quiet weekend day in RD. Luckily, there was an ad-hoc impromptu paintball clinic and one lucky soul managed to get away with tons of knowledge playing the snake.



ExKay who used to play for Xposure, Xtioneers and now a member of the MPOC Division 1 leading champion (after 3 legs) X-Fox, you cannot go wrong with the things you tell you to do in the snake. While his visit to Red Dynasty was short, he still managed to impart his unorthrodox ways of playing the snake to Fadly (our newbie in paintball). "A good paintballer needs to shoot with both hands" was his quote of the day when he showed Fadly how lightning fast his hands were when switching the marker from left to right.



Yes, Red Dynasty has not seen the last of ExKay for he will be coming by to Singapore again in early July. And a prelude of his next paintball clinic will focus on the snake side (yes, both the snake and his back player). So if you are keen to improve your style of playing the snake, fostering the communication with your back player, or ways to interact with your snake player while supressing fire. This is a chance not to be missed!!!



On behalf of Red Dynasty, we would like to thank ExKay for his time and introducing to us his "weird" but powerful way of playing in the snake.

Paintballers Weddings...

Photos by Chee Yong

What a weekend... Attended 2 weddings in a week. Not just any ordinary customary weddings, but weddings of paintballers. I am sure those who have attended a paintballer's wedding will know what I mean. A paintballer's wedding is of course filled with guests who play paintball, talk paintball and live paintball. So... what is so special about a paintballer's wedding? Simple... you bring that aggressiveness from the field onto the dining table...and viola! Another series of aggressiveness. Chaotic if I may say... Laughters, laughters and laughters.

When players are on the field, they bump from bunkers to bunkers... during the wedding, guests bump from tables to tables but with bottles of alcohol in their hands and of course who can forget about table hopping looking for more food. I heard someone hopped from tables to tables and managed to eat 6 bowls of sharksfin soup!!!!! Not 2, not 3 but ...6!!!!! I shall not tell you who ate 6 bowls, if you want to know PM me... and I will let you know....hehehehhe...familar style?

Anyway... its a pleasure to attend a paintballer's wedding, congratulations to the 2 couples. Dennis and Rosalyn, Jane and Tay Ling.

SINGAPORE! SINGAPORE! SINGAPORE! YAMMMMM SENGGGGGGGGGGGG!