Rae Brown (Denver)

This week I bring you an interview with a Jugger from a group with a fascinating heritage. Rae like all of the Juggers in Denver is new to the sports Jugger that is quickly spreading around the world but she has come to the sport from the LARP background of Amtgard and their own version of the game which they called "Jugging". So please enjoy 

(NB. for some of you without the particular American background of Amtgard, the names of some of the gear will not be familiar so Rae has sent me some translations of the names into the gear we all know and love that you will see below)

What...is your name?

Rae Brown (otherwise referred to as Pumyra, #4)

What...is your quest?

I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was! To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause! Oh . . .  I can't be a Pokémon master? Darn . . .  I suppose that, if that's the case, my quest is to become a pretty good jugger player. I'll admit that I can be really competitive, but I don't necessarily expect to be the best. My team is really just a signed contract from my best friends to get to see them on a weekly basis. But don't let them know that.

What...is your favourite colour?

Carolina blue. Although it's changing to Columbia blue . . .  Hm . . .  Just blue. I love all shades of blue.

Right, off you go.

Let’s hear some more about you

Photo: unknown

What year did you appear on our glorious little planet?

I'm very little, it would seem . . .  I've only been breathing since 1994, how lame . . .

What Country / City are you from and where do you play?

I'm a Colorado native, born and raised! I've always lived very near to Denver, and we meet at Denver's City Park, actually.

When and how were you introduced to Jugger?

It's hard to believe, but I was only introduced to jugger all of five weeks ago! Another founder of the Colorado league, Dougie, was telling me that he wanted me to play, and I wasn't convinced. It didn't take much to change my mind, though. That being said, I am also a "born" Amtgarder (or a second generation member of a LARP called Amtgard), and that club has a game called jugging which is similar . . . but extremely different . . .  I prefer jugger!

What is your Sporting background before starting Jugger?
Has Jugger had an influence on your interest in Sports and fitness?

I actually really hate sports, in general! I usually really dislike being on a team, but that also boils down to people. And there's something to be said for the fact that I'm more artistic than anything else. However, jugger taps into my competitive streak, and I totally and completely fell in love with it. Jugger, not my competitive streak, that is, the latter can actually get me into quite a bit of trouble. Let's just say you probably don't want to play Magic: The Gathering with me. At any rate, jugger has really impacted my life. For example, I'd never done a line drill until we formed our team, Madness. Now we're including them in every team practice. I'm telling you, I'm gonna have washboard abs by the end of this summer!

We all know that Jugger is the centre of the universe but some people persist in having interests outside of Jugger, so what do you do for fun when there isn’t a Jugger game available?

I already sort of mentioned this before, but I consider myself to be very "artsy". I love to create things, whether it be drawing, or writing, or beading, or sculpting, or whatever! And I'm also a huge nerd. I am insane about ThunderCats (especially the 2011 reboot, and, yes, I have seen ALL of the original series, thank you very much) and Teen Titans (I love the newer comics from around 2009, when Geoff Johns was writing and Tony S. Daniel was on art). However, my true passion is animals; I can't even explain how much I love them . . .  And, anyway, I guess that's pretty much all there is to say on that note!

The Game

How would you describe Jugger (as in game play) to someone in three sentences or less?

Photo: Doug Hanks

Jugger is actually a lot like rugby or lacrosse, though I'd say it's probably most closely related to rugby. Folks saw this crazy 80's movie called Blood of Heroes, or Salute of the Jugger in Europe, and thought it looked awesome enough to want to try the game that the entire movie is about for themselves. It's a very fun, fast-paced affair where you're probably going to come away totally wiped out, but it is so worth every second of it!

What is your favourite part of the game / position on the field / weapon?
In relation to that which weapon do most enjoy going up against, which weapon do you least enjoy going against, and why?

I. Love. Backcharge! Interestingly enough, I began playing jugger solely using the slash, and I still enjoy it and train with it, but the slash has limited defense capabilities, and I tend to be faster with a backcharge anyway. My boyfriend, one of our team's co-captains, also uses a backcharge, so I think that makes me like it more . . .  Not that it really matters, it's just part of my silly logic. If I had to say that I enjoyed going up against a specific position, I think I'd have to confess that it would probably be the chain. If I can take out a chain, I feel like I've done well that day. What really makes me happy, though, is going up against specific players. But that's just me. That being said, I really hate taking on guards (sword and shield). While I can take them down, if there are other players around them, I'm not going to have a good time trying. It all boils down to the fact that the chain is difficult to deal with, in many ways, and it's very satisfying to get one down, especially as our skills keep sharpening. However, a guard can lure me into a trap, and I don't like traps!

If you could add/change/remove any rule what would it be, and why?

I so wish that the qwik could do something other than run. We tried playing with slightly modified Australian rules where the forearms and shins don't count, and that meant that the quik was able to deflect blows by using his forearms to block. In Amtgard jugging, which is a game, not a sport, the qwik has a dagger and can somewhat defend himself. The German rules don't even give qwiks hands . . .  They make playing qwik a brutal position. There have been so many times where I've just felt sick watching our qwik go down simply because there wasn't an enforcer near him, and that is truly tragic.

Image: jugger.de

What is it about Jugger that keeps you coming back?

It started out as just wanting to spend time with the people I love . . .  But it's grown far beyond that. I love feeling like I'm important and good at something. I also love being one of, like, two girls playing this sport. And getting to hit boys is awesome. I mean, I'm not trying to not be serious, but it's hard to explain. When I'm playing jugger, I'm happier than I've been in a long time, and it's just a really wonderful thing. But beating up on boys is indeed a huge bonus.

Where would you like to see Jugger go?

I want jugger to become nationally recognized in the United States and to have a professional league similar to what soccer or baseball or whatever sport has. We're a sport just as much as any other, and I would love to become a uniform American league with standardized rules.

The Experience

What is your favourite Jugger story?

Well . . .  I have a very dear friend, another Colorado jugger named Heather, who I am very similar to. We both love animals to death and enjoy playing slash (we are known as the Slasher Sisters here in Denver), and we just get along great. We were congratulating each other on generally being awesome between games or something, and we went to high-five . . .  But we totally missed. And, instead of being like normal people, we kind of screamed at each other with bizarre noises and even more bizarre gestures as we, like, clapped forearms together and were just ridiculous. I can't explain it better than that. We didn't discuss this. We didn't plan it. It literally just happened. I knew that day that I had met my soul's sister soul, and it was glorious. Jugger solidified one of the very closest and greatest friendships I have ever had.

Why did you pick your team to join?
What makes your team special?

My boyfriend and I have a best friend, Kota, who we love to death . . .  He wanted to have an Illuminati-themed team. And he would not budge, no matter how many ideas we threw at him. Being that he wouldn't change his mind and I really dislike the Illuminati (they remind me of the Dimir in Magic: The Gathering, and I'm Azorius), we decided we wanted to form our own team. So we recruited our other best friends, Charlie and Anthony, and, when they approved our ideas for the name Madness and our logo, a Kishin egg (from Soul Eater), we went ahead and split off. Ironically, Kota is unable to even play jugger due to a broken clavicle as well as his work schedule, but the team he began forming is still together. They are operating under a different name and theme, though. Good for them.

What is your favourite Jugger memory ?

I don't really have a favorite jugger memory yet. Granted that we're just starting, I love this more and more every week. But that's only for myself, personally. That being said, my boyfriend is an incredible qwik. He may look really big and burly, I mean, he is, he's pretty much a giant, but holy bananas can he move. There was one game, it was one from our first three practices, I think, where he decided he was going to try being the qwik. I have never seen him run like that, ever. The poor guy just collapsed and could barely breathe when he got that skull in the goal. It was insane. And, since then, he quiks often, and just kills it. He's awesome. He always has me cover him when he plays that position, and it's so much fun. If you want to bond with your boyfriend, ladies, Blood of Heroes got it right. Play jugger with him.

BONUS QUESTION SECTION

If you could sit down for 5 minutes with a jugger you have never met what would you ask them / want to know?

As I'm one of my team's co-managers, I'm especially interested in the business or perhaps political end of the sport. How do we get potential sponsors' attention? What's a reasonable request when asking for financial sponsorships? What should a breakdown of donation prices versus what we'll do for companies look like? How do we get a tax deduction code? Any and all things that might apply to that sort of sentiment or a to the position and requirements of a manager would be particularly helpful.

Who would you have in your ‘Dream Team’?

It may sound silly, but our team as-is, Jay, Charlie, AJ, Anthony, Miguel, and myself, is my dream team. We're all close friends who love this sport, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Something tells me I will always remember this as the best summer of my life.

How far would you go to play Jugger?

Well, the Madness is planning on going out to Ohio this summer to compete in their tournament! But, eventually, at least Jay, the team's co-manager, has ambitions to be a professional jugger. He wants to travel to Germany and fight the best of the best and prove his mettle. As he's my boyfriend and I love him more than anything, I think I have to go with him, and there's no way that I'd sit on the sidelines and just cheer him on. As he wants to go pro, I think I'd try to go pro with him, and we'll more than likely end up travelling a lot for jugger.

Which sports person/celebrity/fiction character would you most like to see play Jugger and why?

I want to see the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, play jugger. She would hit the boys so hard. It would be glorious. Yes, I believe in girls showing the boys who's boss. Babs would do so perfectly.

Are you here of your own free will or were you hypnotised? Blink twice for yes, three times for no.

I'm gonna blink four times. No reason. Other than I love the number four.

Is there some burning secret that you really want to tell the world?

I don't eat seafood of any kind because it is absolutely disgusting, not because I'm allergic to it. I'm also completely terrified of horses due to their disturbing size (it is NOT okay) and the fact that they poo everywhere and I had to walk home from school for much of my high school career while stepping in their droppings. I can't stand them, now.

Is there something about Jugger a club, a city, country etc that you would really like to know?

What is the strategy behind the Australian circle that the qwiks start out in? Obviously the qwiks battle it out to see who's stronger and faster and smarter and whatever, but what do the enforcers do? I can't figure out an actual strategy.

Ok, well you asked so I suppose I should give some kind of response without giving away the deep mystical secrets that bond the Australian Juggers to the qwiks circle.

When we aren’t making up outrageous stories about why we have the circle the tactics are fairly simple but can be used in creative ways.

First you have to think to the circle as a temporary ‘off limits’ zone in the centre of the field at the start of any point, this is ‘broken’ when either the jugg or a qwik is completely out of the circle. The qwiks can either try to ‘break the circle’ quickly opening the centre of the field for their team to advance across by being first to the jugg and then passing out of the circle quickly or controlling the circle by holding both the jug and the opposing qwik in the circle until their team can take control of the centre of the field clearing the way for the qwik to move up the field. 

...of course the most popular part of this is that t gives the qwiks something interesting to do beyond being a mobile target, part of the game where they can truly show off some skills other than running away.

Meanwhile on the Jugger Pitch...

3rd - 7th July - Ziemie Jałowe  (Postapocalyptic convention in Poland)
6th July - Hessische Meisterschaft
13th July - Württembergische Meisterschaft
19th July - National Tournament of Spain
27th July - Berlin Masters
and on the youtubes, just across from the cat video aisle, check out these great training videos from Dave in Dublin

Set One
Set Two