Jugger

:"For the character from the "Advance Wars" series, see List of Advance Wars COs." Jugger is a sport that originates in Germany and also, independently, in the USA. It was inspired from the movie "The Salute of the Jugger", released in the USA as "The Blood of Heroes". It is popular in Germany with its own league and has become known in Australia and the USA. There are teams now in Ireland, England, Denmark and Costa Rica. The sport currently expanding.The first ever Jugger international tournament took place in Hamburg, Germany on 20 May, 2007 between the Irish team Setanta and a number of the Northern German teams.

Equipment

* The skull (German: jugg in "Berlin tradition", Schädel in "Hamburg/Dilettanten tradition" [On the two traditions see also: Jugger. A post-apocalyptic sport for all occasions, Morrisville 2008, pp. 18-20] ): a "ball" made using two pool noodle connecters (not an actual dog skull as in "The Blood of Heroes"). In Germany and Ireland, a dog skull made of cellfoam als latex is used.
* The stakes (German: mal): an upright stake at each end (often made of pool noodle); the skull is placed on the stake to score
* Weapons: The weapons used in jugger are very similar to LARPing weapons. There are strict regulations on the length of weapon and amount of padding used. The weapons in jugger vary in type for different countries.In germany and Ireland, a hollow-pointed pyramid is used.
** Australian-style weapons; each enforcer may have any of the following combinations, with at most one double-up:
*** One Polearm may be 1.5 to 2m in length
*** One longsword/flail: May be 700mm-1.5m
*** Two short swords: up to 700mm in length
*** One short sword (see above) and one shield (up to 700mm diameter)
*** There is also a chain (2.5m) which is wielded by the chain player, and not the enforcers
** German-style weapons ("Pompfen"):
*** A staff, 180cm in length, thrusting is not allowed
*** A Q-Tip, 200cm in length, double-ended, thrusting is allowed
*** A longsword, 140cm in length, thrusting is allowed
*** A short sword and shield, short sword 85cm in length, thrusting is allowed; padded shield, 60cm in diameter
*** A chain, 320cm in length
* A gong and 100 stones: The stones are thrown against the gong to keep time. 100 stones per third, 3 thirds per game
* A whistle and a water pistol for each of the two referees

Roles

A team is composed of the following:
* One qwik (sometimes spelled "quick"): An unarmed player, and the only one allowed to touch the skull
* One chain: A player armed with a chain
* Three enforcers (German: Fighter [Taken from an English translation of a German document: [http://garcianet.homeip.net/Jugging/juggerrules.doc http://garcianet.homeip.net/Jugging/juggerrules.doc] ] , German term: Pompfer): Armed with their choice of weapons (except chain). May handle the skull with their weapons
* Up to three substitutes, who may replace any player

Rules

Australia

The goal of the game is to score as many goals as possible, while minimising your opposition's goals. As only the quick may handle the ball, this usually involves defending your quick, allowing them to make a goal. If player is hit by a weapon they are down for five stones unless it was a head or groin shot, in which case the player that hit with the weapon is down for ten stones. A touch is counted as a hit and it is not encouraged to hit with full force.

the 5 players are:the quick

the medal armed with chain

and 3 forcers a slasher, a drive and a bagcharger

Ireland

As with German and Australian Jugger the goal is to score more points within a time limit than your opponents. These time limits are counted by a regular beat or "stones" on a drum amounting two about two seconds to every stone. A tournement game is played for two sides of one hundred stones each but during normal training sessions there are no spare players to beat the drum so the game is usually played as the first to ten points or similar.

The game itself is played with two teams of five, with substitutes waiting behind the starting line. A full team concists of a runner, a chain, two staffmen and a chainblocker. Although weapons other than staffs can be used staffs are by far the most common in Ireland. There can only ever be one chain per team at one time.

The pitch itself is rectangular with two "malls" (german, goals) at either end in the form of a foam square with a depression to receive the skull. The "Skull," a rubber dogskull serving as the ball, is placed in the middle of the pitch and at the end of a count by the referee or one of the captains both teams run towards the centre of the pitch and try to score.

When both lines reach the centre of the pitch the players try to "tap" each other out. This is done by lightly tapping your opponent with a legal surface of your weapon on a legal bodypart. In Ireland this means anywhere below the neck and above the wrists. Headshots are avoided and if a pompfen hits the head "before" a legal target the tap is discounted and the player must withdraw their weapon before hitting again. While a hit on the head after after a hit on a legal target is still counted it is frowned upon and avoided. If both players tap each other at the same time, or indiscernably closely, both players are considered hit and go down. This is unlike in german rules where hits withing half a count of each other are allowed, or Australia where both players play on in case of a double.

When a player is tapped out they drop to the ground with one knee touching the ground. If they have been hit by a staff or other pompfen, they stay down for five stones. If they have been hit by a chain, they are down for eight stones. The count begins when the knee hits the ground and while the player may move to retrieve a weapon they must return to where they were hit before they start playing. A kneeling player may also pivot around on their knee provided they don't lift it.

While they are down another player may "pin," them by holding their staff on them, a chain player may not do this. As soon as their count is up any player except a runner "must" attempt to stand again. As soon as their knee leaves the ground they are considered standing and can be hit although they must be "fully standing," before they can hit others. As a result of these rules it is possible to abuse them by holding a pompf just above a person waiting to rise. They must rise as soon as they can and they are tapped out for another five stones as soon as they do. As a result a rule was instituted that a pompf must be either pinning a kneeling player or three feet away, an exception is where there are two players kneeling in close proximity and it is impossible to pin one without having your pompf close to another.

The purpose of all this is a break a hole in the opposite line and allow your runner a chance to score. Once a runner scores both teams reset to either end of the pitch, the skull is placed in the centre by the schiri, referee, and the victorious team is awarded the point. The game is quite compareable to hamburg rules jugger, from which it originates, and is least similar to australian jugger. Currently most of the following comes from IADT (Institute of Art, Design and Technology), in Dublin with plans to expand into UCD (University College Dublin) and DCU (Dublin City University).

Further reading

Wickenhäuser, Ruben Philipp: Jugger. A post-apocalyptic sport for all occasions, Morrisville 2008, ISBN 13: 978-1-40922920-9

References

External links

Australian sites

* [http://www.jugger.org.au/ http://www.jugger.org.au]

Costa Rica sites

* [http://www.juggercr.tk http://www.juggercr.tk]

Danish sites

* [http://skullfight.ripen.dk/ http://skullfight.ripen.dk/]

German sites

* [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jugger Illustrated article in German Wikipedia]

* [http://www.dark-prophecy.de/ Bad Oldesloe]

* [http://www.dragonsblood.de/ Bayern ]

* [http://jugger.de/ Berlin]

* [http://www.gossenhauer-freiburg.de.vu/ Freiburg]

* [http://www.gorditos-cojones.de/ Hamburg]

* [http://www.livingundeads.de/ Hannover]

* [http://www.schergen.de.ms/ Münster]

* [http://www.oldenburger-keiler.de.vu/ Oldenburg]

* [http://www.juggerhood.de/ Saarland]

International

* [http://www.juggerblog.net/ The international Jugger Blog]