Source: JTSA, Japan Toygun Shooting Association

Q. How much space do you need to run a fun airsoft game?
A. Not a lot!

The overwhelming dependency of woodland airsoft in the UK has a rather adverse effect of denying access to the game to a lot of individuals, by it's very nature woodland sites tend to be some distance from urban areas and if you don't have your own car, or understanding car-driving friends, then it's game over! Despite the slow growth of so-called CQB sites over the past year or so these sites are simply mimicking some of the worse aspects of the average airsoft site owners propensity to think that all that is needed to make money in 'this business' is to have a plot of land or a run down old building - it's what I call the 'build it and they will come' theory (but without much building).

Yet few of these people actually put much thought into what people want over and above an area in which to play airsoft. By and large there is a complete lack of imagination as to what makes for an interesting play format.

Above: Airsoft fun on a shoe-string! Now come on guys, surely we all have access to some indoor facilities where we can set up some interesting shooting exercises like this? Why aren't there more urban airsoft clubs in the UK? Source: JTSA, Japan Toygun Shooting Association

At the other end of the scale there is SSA - Small Site Airsoft - ideally suited to inner-city locations where floor-space is at a premium. Naturally, this idea started in Japan but the template is just as relevant to British towns and cities where airsofters want to practise their game skills at a regular interval but do not have easy access to larger out of town sites.

Above: While to the uninitiated some of the exercises performed in this video might seem a bit silly, they are all based on *real* tactical firearm competition formats. In particular they follow the example of 'Practical Firearm' or 'Three Gun' competition events - but as you can see, the minimal props make this just as ideally suited to a small group of dedicated urban airsofters.

I recently posted some information about the new Grimsby based Arena Airsoft and mentioned that what impressed me most about this venture was the high level of imagination that was behind the idea. Despite it's (relatively) small space the team who run it are placing much emphasis on themed fabrication to make an lively arena of obstacles and props for players to use.

But even if money and time are in short supply creating a SSA site is within many players grasp - as the above video demonstrates - especially if they have an interest in 'practical' or 'tactical' gun operations. For me this niche area has huge potential particularly as by it's very nature encouraged competitive sport. Not to mention the fact that it finally gives pistol and shotty lovers a platform which really panders to their particular guns.

I would hope that in the future we might see many more of these small site airsoft arenas around the country, not least because their would provide a convenient community hub for urban airsofters where they could congregate to practise, hone and develop their skills on a more regular basis than the usual once a month trip to the countryside!

Above: Perhaps at the extreme end of SSA, but exemplifies what a bit of imagination can do to turn a empty bit of warehouse into a pretty cool indoor arena. There are some full-blown 'CQB' sites in the UK that aren't this interesting!

Aove: At the other end of the scale, and very minimalist, here the guys (and gals!) of the PSSC Cologne practical airsoft club undertake one of their speed pistol competitions. This sort of comp could be done in minimal space - an old church hall or factory space, how many unused industrial buildings are standing idle in your town?