Stay fit with paintball

I’m sweating and panting but I try to stay as quiet as possible while standing behind a wooden obstacle with my gun ready to shoot. I run to a corner and see an enemy. I immediately pull the trigger, getting a clean shot on the chest. But suddenly, I feel an excruciating pain in my thigh and before I know it, I’m out...

I’m sweating and panting but I try to stay as quiet as possible while standing behind a wooden obstacle with my gun ready to shoot. I run to a corner and see an enemy. I immediately pull the trigger, getting a clean shot on the chest. But suddenly, I feel an excruciating pain in my thigh and before I know it, I’m out.

This was my first time playing indoor paintball. The impact from getting shot by pressurized rubber balls was painful but it was an exhilarating experience that I’d call my friends any day to play once more. For a person like me who usually spends the better part of the day sitting at work, paintball was a welcoming exercise and a fun activity to do with my friends.

PREPARATIONS

While asking around for fun activities I could do during my leisure time, I got many recommendations to play paintball. And so, I looked up places where I could play it and found a place near my home in Ardiin Erkh called Grand Team Paintball Club, which had been operating since 2014. It’s located in a slightly hidden spot across the street from the main building of the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture in Sukhbaatar District.

I went there to see open dates but I was told that I could make reservations only through a phone call. I found the price – 20,000 MNT per person for an hour – reasonable for this type of activity and they also allowed teams with more than 10 players in total to play for an extra hour. Players can be of any age as long as they are at least 150 cm tall.

On the day of the game, I came to the venue with nine of my friends and was pleased that the staff had our clothes and gears ready. We were given baggy trousers, a top, a padded vest, a belt, a pair of thin gloves, knee and elbow pads, thigh covers, a pair of cotton leg wrappers, shoes, face mask, and watch cap/helmet. It was bulky but it really helped lessen the impact of the training rubber balls. They provided two different types of clothes for each team, which was very convenient to spot my teammates and enemies when playing.

For anyone trying out paintball for the first time, I recommend that you wear thin layers, a T-shirt and trousers or leggings, and bring extra clothes to change into afterward as you will sweat a lot as you ran around completely covered. Jeans aren’t really advised since they are thick, hard and uncomfortable for moving around in. You can bring your own gear if you have them but I found their protective clothes and gears quite effective and comfortable. But it might be a good idea to bring a bandana to wrap around your neck and thicker gloves as the provided gloves are just a layer of fabric and don’t protect your hands very well. One of my friends was shot right on his finger and had trouble moving it for a couple of days.

Once we were all dressed up, the staff guided us to the indoor paintball field. It was approximately 700 square meters in size, as mentioned by founder of the Grand Team Paintball Club Turbat, and had two storiess installed with wooden obstacles, stairs and even a slide. While giving us a run through of safety guidelines, the instructor shot us all in the head – helmet – which didn’t really cause discomfort. But then he shot us all on the thigh which only had padding for protection to let us feel the actual pain and lessen our fear. Everyone remained quiet until the instructor left but when he was gone, everyone rubbed their thighs and groaned in pain. It was hilarious.

Then the instructor handed us our guns and the game started.

GAME START

On either corner of the room, there were shelters for each team. I really liked that they put a sofa, a table and a fan inside so that we could cool off and rest for a bit during breaks.

Back to the game, the rules were simple. Just like the popular PC game Counterstrike, we were divided into “terrorist” and “counter” teams to give us a realistic feel. We could set the bomb which counted down from 40 seconds and announced minutes left on the clock every 10 seconds.

Each round was different depending on how we played and we could utilize everything in the room, including mobile shields, tables, slides, stairways and even holes on the walls. It was thrilling despite the pain of bullets. I liked that we could play as many rounds as we wanted in the hour we were given without an instructor constantly telling us what to do. But our instructors said that he sometimes gets involved when players don’t follow the safety rule or are playing dangerously.

When we ran out of ammos, all we had to do was go to the entrance and get them recharged. Our guns were semi-auto paintball guns so they allowed us to keep control of every shot.

GAME OVER

If you’re interested in an engaging group activity that is exciting, I advise you to play paintball because it is an intense workout. We were exhausted after 50 minutes of playing nonstop but still continued to play because it was so much fun.

When it was over, we got to see our thighs where we were shot during the run-through of safety guidelines. They were already purple and red. Most of us found new bruises later that day or the next day but our chests, face, elbow, knees and feet, which were all covered, were well-protected. Except the bruising, I thoroughly enjoyed my first paintball experience.

What I learned from paintball is that it helps improve teamwork and strategic skills on top of helping you keep in shape as you constantly run and jump around covered in thick layers. When you’re fully dressed as a terrorist/ police, you get engrossed in your role and try really hard to set or defuse the bomb. I recommend everyone to play this sport with family and friends and get the full experience this thrilling activity offers. It’s so much better than playing video games at home as it gives a real-life experience that is fun and keeps you active.

Moreover, Grand Team Paintball Club also organizes outdoor paintball with actual paints. A group of people can play for as long as they like with the provided ammos, usually 4,000 ammos according to one of the instructors. All you have to do is make a reservation and bring your teammates.