Guest appearance at Anime North 2017!
Anime North (May 26th to 28th) is right around the corner, and we are pleased to say that we have once again been invited to have our own space since we were such a huge success last year. Ours was indeed one of the biggest attractions at the event, and we intend to keep that status this year as well. Combat archery tag has been on a steady rise since it came to be a few years ago, and we are proud to be the top facility of the regions in and out of Toronto.
Some of you may be wondering: what on Earth is Anime North? Well, to give you a small idea, Anime North is in fact a convention that celebrates Japanese culture in close to every way, shape and form. Primarily, anime, manga, music, and games are most heavily featured, along with numerous guest appearances from people who are somewhat influential in that scene.
One of the best features in my opinion, at any convention, is the cosplaying. No matter your preference of genre, your ability at creating costumes (or simply buying one), or even how resembling you are to the actual character, none of that matters. There’s an implied understanding that any and all cosplay is awesome, and that’s the end of it. Some people take it even a step further, and actually want to learn the style of fighting different weapons require, or simply want to get absorbed in a world outside of their own. That’s where we come in.
Archers Arena offers not only the obvious bow-wielding experience through target shooting and combat archery tag, but we also have our own larping (live action role-playing) system through Champions Arena. We allow these people who want to explore new and exciting worlds a very real way to do just so. From bows and arrows, to dual-wielding swords, sword and shield, or even katanas (and maybe some lightsabers), we have what it takes to make your experience personable, memorable, and unique to you.
Everyone I know of has his or her own entry point to archery; whether it’s an actual person, a character, or even a game. Personally, The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time was my gateway to loving archery (and horseback riding, but that’s another story), as well as my huge crush for Legolas and the elves in The Lord of the Rings. Simply because they were just so damn cool. My point being that everything we see or watch influences our likes and dislikes, and the fact that archery is represented in such a bad-ass way through so many mediums only enhances one’s experience when they come and play at Archers Arena; seeing as regular people can let themselves become their own hero from their own story.
Mobile Archery, Nerf, and Bubble Soccer!
Having a big corporate outing and you would rather host it than moving everyone around in an attempt to keep things simple and organized? Archers Arena has the answer for you. Archers Arena has special packages prepared specifically for those who have the space and the will to receive our battle archery and/or nerf mobile kits. Our website offers additional information on all possible packages and deals, but here is exactly why you should entrust your event to us:
WE ARE EXPERIENCED AND HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL EVERYWHERE WE WENT.
When it comes to combat archery tag, we have held numerous stations outside for all sorts of different events. We have ranged from being a top attraction at the TNT Night Market to being a fan favourite at multiple Frosh Weeks for Universities and Colleges, so you can imagine the scale at which we can function. Therefore, it becomes safe to say that Toronto already knows us as the specialists we are when it comes to battle archery, otherwise referred to as archery dodgeball. We bring along all the protection and equipment needed, as well as bunkers and huge inflatable walls to delimit the perimeter. Our games are tried and true, and our coaches know exactly how to handle all sorts of different groups.
As for Nerf, although it is our newest attraction here at Archers Arena, it is already becoming a major success. Our choice of weaponry along with the very low amount of jams and hiccups we have experienced is a direct result of learning from all the mistakes other branches of nerfing have had at different facilities. We’ve done our homework in order to bring the best out of Nerf at Archers Arena. We are ready to bring you nerfing in our own special way, with high quality weapons such as Rival and N-Strike, for ammo capacity, reload speed, low to no jamming systems, and overall precision. As for game modes? They mostly follow the general Nerf Wars guidelines, but we do add some combat archery tag game modes or twists, simply to make the games that much more interesting. An exciting twist on an already great system.
Lastly, we do offer to bring along our inflatable bubble soccer kit. We let you play with the huge bubbles as you want, or we can set up different games with them; whichever suits your needs best. Bubble soccer is an instant favorite as both a daily activity or something to do during a break from the main events: battle archery or nerf. The option is there for your consideration.
Summer is right around the corner, and everyone is starting to feel the urge to go outside and soak up the sun. Evidently, this will be done when the weather allows for it, just as combat archery tag and Nerf Wars played outside will both become viable options. Mobile archery and Nerf are both becoming very popular, so make sure to book online in advance to guarantee our services, or give us a call at 647-992-7362.
Tournament Results!
March 26th saw another combat archery tag tournament being held at Archers Arena, and once again, it proved to be a success. Our pool of competitive battle archery players keeps growing and the results of this tournament were extremely close. Our plan of splitting up old, dominating archery dodgeball teams (Blood Bath and Beyond, and Wetshots) ended up being an interesting factor for every team, but especially for the players that were always used to playing together. Facing their old teammates was “really cool and fascinating” as one of them later mentioned to me.
What was fascinating in my eyes was how differently they ended up playing among new players. Not only did they have to gage their new teams’ strengths and weaknesses, they also had to remember those of their buddies so they could exploit what information they had on them. It was a beautiful coming together of old and new discussing strategy and forging plays in order to win a match.
Furthermore, this time around we limited our archery dodgeball tournament to 6 teams, allowing rematches to better gage not only endurance, but how well players and teams evolve together. This new system was definitely a favourite for many players, along with a new twist changing team count from 6 to 5, creating a whole new level of intensity in gameplay. Each arrow fired had to count, and strategies were evolving with every round.
Some other highlights include:
- Shooting arrows at our brand new red ducks for target practice in our range to keep both mind and body warm and ready to go in between matches;
- each team had one coach to play with them, allowing balance to be had in this combat archery tag tournament while making it more interesting for every team coming in;
- retired coaches and members showed up for the tournament, and they had to acknowledge they were now out of practice and on a lower skill level than the new generation;
- an array of creative team names were had: The Lords of the Strings, Power Rangers, XxX, Shake’N’Bake, Strap-Ons, and Bowthoven’s 5th Stringphany;
- new players ended up doing great plays, wonderful headshots and fantastic catches;
- our archery-loving community keeps growing and expanding and that is awesome.
The victors were the cleverly named The Lords of the Strings (personal favourite pun), which was composed of 4 higher level players instead of the regulated 5, winning by only 1 point at 19. Second place was the less-cleverly named Strap-Ons with 18 points, a team that has been building itself from the ground up at Archers Arena with constant practice and coming out on Coach nights (every Tuesday). Goes to show that dedication really pays off. Third place ended up being a tie between XxX, and Power Rangers at 17 points.
Here’s to a next tournament just as successful! Keep a look out for it in upcoming blogs or through our Archers Arena facebook page.
March 26th Tournament, With a Twist!
On the 5th of February, Archers Arena hosted the 1st ever Eastern Canadian combat archery tag tournament. This article tells you all you need to know about how the event went down. Therefore, you know that walking away, our teams were a little disappointed, yet filled with the desire to win when the next tournament opportunity arises.
We have been dedicating every past Tuesday (Coach Nights) and Thursday (Training Nights) working at fine-tuning skills that push our limits and allow us to grow as better players. The loss to the Montreal team has only added fuel to the fire, and it’s with renewed, burning motivation that we will be taking on our next combat archery tag tournament, on the 26th of March.
Here is the twist! We are disbanding all our veteran teams to introduce mixed teams of old and new players. Stronger players are now separated instead of all playing together, allowing this tournament’s victor to really be in a position to fight for the title. With the right strategy, a whole team of less experienced players may create an upset and get away with the victory! You can believe however that everyone is training and aiming at bringing their best, so if you are interested in trying it out, I would highly recommend you set aside some time to come practice your aim, your catches, and your team if you have one. What happens if you don’t? Talk to one of our coaches and we will get you in on the action!
What makes this tournament so different and exciting is that we really don’t know who is going to come out on top since there is a varied and contrasting pool of talent in every team signed up so far. Literally everyone has a chance at winning, and victory will rely mostly on effective teamwork and communication.
The challenge has been issued! Any and all who want to have a try at competitive combat archery tag, otherwise known as archery dodgeball, may come out and give it a try. Make sure you sign your team up ahead of time online, or give us a call and we’ll make sure you have a spot reserved.
See you soon!
Intense Training at Archers Arena Thursday Nights!
We are now introducing a new evening where you can interact and evolve alongside coaches and members, as well as other fellow players who want to improve. You may already be familiar with our regular Coach nights, every Tuesday evenings, but you may not have heard yet of Thursdays being our combat archery tag training nights. None other than our own Jones Santiago is behind the idea, and he has been working hard to provide the ideal drills and necessary exercises to create a solid archery dodgeball player.
The idea behind the whole process is not only to help players hone their skills, but also to get healthier and fitter by going through 3 separate segments of training during the evening. With the training running for a little over an hour, we are subject to a cardio warm-up, body-weight workout, and drills. The warm-up is simple enough, it’s to get your body ready to work through cardio. The workout aims at developing core strength, while the drills focus on your agility. It’s a killer combination to turn you into someone more agile that can keep up with faster-paced gameplay.
Although there is a strong physical component to Jones’ training, there is also an archery component incorporated. During the whole session, you must keep your bow at your side, and use it throughout. Within the drills, there are multiple arrow reloading and shooting scenarios, which have you aiming at targets near and far, all in the interest of developing your instincts and furthering your accuracy while under pressure. It teaches you to focus and take control of your nerves before they take control of you.
Another huge part of combat archery tag is teamwork; you’re only as good as your weakest link. Not only communication is vital, but knowing your teammates and how to work together is a huge part of winning the games. Higher level of archery dodgeball requires smart gameplay, and you have to be on your toes as it constantly evolves. That’s why within the drills training, Jones can pair us up in teams to create a competitive environment to put us under more pressure to perform. Getting acquainted not only with your teammates, but also with that pressure, ensures that it doesn’t take you by surprise anymore whilst playing.
The intent in the end is to give you more control over your own body, by becoming faster, stronger and more agile. We want you to be able to move as fast as you think, so you can have an edge over your adversaries. This program will develop numerous facets of your personality, while offering training you won’t find anywhere else. You’ll always have a team there to support you, and push you forward in your development, wherever you want it to go. Come give it a try: you have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain from just one session.
Nerf Wars!
First off, what exactly is a Nerf War? Well, we are talking about a gathering of people that all want to shoot at each other while being able to walk away unscathed by the experience; through Nerfing. Nerf guns are granted to all players, teams are assigned, and then off to war they go; various game modes bring out different strategies and tactics to gain the upper hand. We at Archers Arena are going to use Rival series guns, such as the Artemis and the Nemesis (when it comes out in North America), and will also include in certain game modes with duel-wielding Triad Ex-3 Elite. Last but not least, we also offer the N-Strike Strongarm as an alternative.
As stated in our previous article, Archers Arena is going to introduce Nerf Wars in our facility. The following combines clarification on what exactly Nerf warfare entails, as well as multiple game modes which will be taking place at the Arena. Rules are relatively simple: don’t cheat, don’t be “that guy (or gal)”, and respect other players as well as the equipment. In our aforementioned article are some of the game modes we are already planning on using once we officially start off our Nerf War enterprise. The games we are going to play will mostly follow along the three main categories: Elimination, Attack & Defend, and Objective Rounds.
When we talk about Elimination type games, the objective is rather simple, either be the last man or the last team standing. A commonly used game in this category is referred to as 3-15. There are obviously numerous variations of this game used throughout the world, but they generally base themselves on the principle that you get 3 lives, with 15 seconds before you can respawn, hence 3-15. When you are shot 3 times, you are out of either the game or the round, as it is set up by the host. When you are shot but still have lives left, you must kneel, aim at the sky and slowly count down 15 seconds before shouting “clear” and resuming play.
Next up, Attack & Defend is also quite straight-forward in its name as to its purpose. There is an obvious split between attackers and defenders, although there might be more than one attack team depending on the specific objective of the game and the number of people playing. Generally, groups are split in thirds, with 1/3 defending and 2/3 attacking. There is a goal to be achieved for the attackers within a set time limit, and defenders must “hold down the fort” so to speak, regardless of what the “fort” may be.
Last but not least, Objective Rounds imply that a round will have a specific objective in mind for all teams to accomplish, other than simply eliminating one another. Players typically have unlimited respawn by either counting themselves in or returning to a set spawn point every time. The game ends when a set number of points is hit or all objectives are accomplished.
All in all, Nerf War is going to be a great cardio addition to our health inclined establishment! Wither you come in with the intention to shoot people with bullets or arrows, we will soon be equipped to oblige both. Make sure to look for our announcements not the miss our grand opening of Nerf Wars at Archers Arena!
Your Break from your Kid's March Break!
March break is coming up, and you don’t know what to do with your kids? Want to able to go to work worry free, knowing that they will be taken care of properly? Archers Arena has the perfect solution for you! We are going to hold a day camp filled with great activities to keep your kids busy all day, while spending all of their energy keeping healthy, active, and fit.
From the 13th to the 17th, for only 75$/day or 295$/week, the camp is open to kids aged from 8 to 13 years, with the possibility of signing up for one day, or to come in for the full week; hours going from 10am to 5pm. At this point, you may be wondering what exactly IS your child going to be doing throughout the day? Let’s have a quick look at what our daily schedule entails:
9:30am Drop-Off
10am-12pm: Combat Archery Tag
12pm-1pm: Lunch and Board/Card Games
1pm-2pm: Supervised Nerf Wars
2pm-3:45pm: Movie Screening
3:45pm-5pm: Ninja Academy (Training/Fitness)
Because we always put safety first, Archers Arena guarantees that every activity will be completely safe and secure, not only with all the equipment we provide, but also with the excellent staff and coaches we employ.
Everybody knows that kids have excess energy, and we’re very well suited to handle and guide how to use said energy. We are fitness enthusiasts who know that being active is part of a healthy lifestyle, and who also know that the best way to grow healthy is to start young to build and develop the habit. Archery is also a very disciplined and calm art, and we hope to instill in them some of that quietude.
Getting your kid into this camp is a great way to insure yourself peace of mind at work as well as some quiet time when you come home, knowing your child will be spent energy-wise while being taken care of properly. It also becomes a place where they can learn and try new things, in a positive environment. You can rest assured that your child will be having so much fun they won’t want to leave!