Traditional Jugger ?

Today I would like to talk to you all about something different… Jugger

Now don’t look at me strangely, at least no more strangely than people normally look at me. I want to look at the world of Jugger out there and the different flavours that people have come up with and shed a little light on the different communities that have sprung up from the same idea.

For the first few years of playing Jugger I was convinced that I had a fairly good idea of what it was that I was playing, where it had come from and where it was going. I had seen the movie, was aware of LARP Jugger and had seen that Sports Jugger was on the rise in Germany and I was convinced that this was the natural progression, groups that had seen the movie and started LARP Jugger were starting to move more to a sports style and that seemed to me (at the time) to be the way that the idea was naturally progressing. As I’ve gotten older and seen more of what is happening around the world I’ve gained a better appreciation of just how broad this game has become and just how many different flavours there are out there to sample.

Whichever version of Jugger we play it all stems from one place ultimately and that is the movie “Salute of the Jugger” (or “Blood of heroes” if you happen to be in the USA). For those who have not seen the movie it builds on the Mad Max legacy of the early 80s and follows a team of Juggers through a post-apocalyptic world playing “the game” through a series of small towns in the wasteland where some dream of one day being good enough to be able to challenge and join The League in the underground cities. David Webb Peoples wrote the movie to capture his impression of the spirit of professional athletes who put their lives and bodies on the line for the sports that they loved.  

Like many people this movie passed through my life with minimal impact on release in the late 80s and then came back to claim me much later through the early spread of sports Jugger outside of Germany and if you are still with me at this point I am planning to drag you all through a quick tour of my exposure and experience of the different forms of Jugger that I have found out there in the world.

Before I go on, a fair warning, all of this is my opinion – my experience from what I have seen. I am a Sports Jugger and that has been my Jugger life since I started back in 2000. I am not a LARP player (it just isn’t something that has caught my fancy) so forgive me if I get something wrong or paint the wrong picture from your experience and I have never tried any of the “Post apocalyptic” styles of Jugger so again… forgive me if my portrayal there is not complete. What I am going to attempt here is a broad brush on what is out there – where you can go to find and how the different games relate to each other. If you don’t agree or have some more information… contact me … let me know I love this game, I love seeing how different places have interpreted the sport I first saw in the movie and I am eager to learn as much as I can about the different types of Jugger growing out there in the world.

Now the meat, I feel that Jugger is currently in three broad traditions Sports Jugger, LARP Jugger and Post-Apocalyptic Jugger at least this is how I think of the different types of Jugger that are out there in the world at the moment. Here is my quick explanation of where each of these styles fit into the world of Jugger, remember this is just a taste of what is out there.

Sports Jugger

Sports Jugger is the fastest growing of the three different groups in recent years and has been around for about 20 years now, starting in Germany in the early 90s and spreading steadily around the world until the recent explosion of teams across the globe in the last few years. At only 20 years of play this makes jugger an incredibly young sport - and a big challenge to get accepted by people seeing it for the first time. Other sports have been around for an incredibly long time by comparison and have already built up credibility in peoples minds, a job that is ahead of those of us keen to see jugger considered a 'real' sport. 

Just for comparison sake here are some rough ages of other sports Football / Soccer dates back to ancient Rome or Greece, Rugby (League / Union) dating into the 1800s and Lacrosse being dated as early as 1100 ACE. 

Sports Jugger tends to focus on the athletic and sparing aspects of the game with tag / touch contact and some tackling for qwiks, equipment if mostly basic conforming to standard designs and players tend to dress as you would for any sport. These all make it one of the easiest versions of the game to get involved in, if there are teams around, once you get people past the image of the equipment being used it is easy for most people to relate to it as a sport they would play in a public place without having to step too far outside of what is 'normal'.

Around the world there are now several different styles of Sports Jugger, most based to one degree or another on the German rules with local variations on penalties, equipment and tactics.

At last count Sports Jugger could be found in these countries:

Argentina
Australia

Brazil
Chile
Germany
Ireland
Mexico
Spain
Sweden
USACosta Rica

LARP Jugger

Where in Germany some LARPers took up jugger from the movie and started converting it into a playable game and then further developed it in the sports direction groups elsewhere retained it as part of their LARP and even today there is still considerable crossover between LARP and Sports Jugger with players of one exploring the other as a change of scenery. I don't feel fully qualified to comment too much on LARP itself as I have never been involved in it, I am learning more about this and I hope to put up a full post later about Amtgard Jugging to give a full picture of what the game is about for that branch of Jugger.  

Instead of commenting too much I will show you what LARP jugger looks like in a couple of its incarnations, below is some video from Amtgard Jugger and then two versions of an Italian game called Juggerball played by the group Battle for Vilegis. So far I have heard of LARP Jugger in Italy (Juggerball), Puerto Rico and the USA (Amtgard).

As you will see the game can vary greatly from light chaos to a complete brawl. 

Jugging Amtgard Style


Juggerball in Italy

Post Apocalyptic Jugger

Once, after finding out that a person from a re-enactment group had somehow gained the impression that jugger was some strange attempt at re-enactment, I came to the conclusion that Jugger could be branded as “Pre-enactment  “this will happen come the apocalypse, prove us wrong” and this is how I see what I like to think of as “Post-apocalyptic Jugger”. These groups are just as keen on the action of the game but want to add that something extra and make it not only feel like the game from the movie but look like it too. Often you will see video of these Juggers in abandoned fields or industrial areas, dressed for the wasteland and ready to fight for survival. This is one type of Jugger I am keen to see and try one day, perhaps when some generous soul will tip large amounts of money to fund my travel addiction.

Post Apocalyptic Jugger can be found in these countries:
Show Jugger (Germany)
Poland
Czech Republic
Juggers of the Wasteland (USA)
Skull Fight (Denmark)

For any of the groups I have mentioned above take a look at my "Jugger on Facebook" links on the right and where I know of it there is a link to the group there.

If you have some more information, some corrections or just want to have a chat about Jugger get in touch... I always want to learn more about what you are doing out there. 

Meanwhile in an alley in Berlin....

The Planning for the 16th German Masters (Deutsche Meisterschaft) is underway in Berlin and there is a fascinating idea this year, crowd funding. Tournaments are massive undertaking to organise and the annual tournament in Berlin is the largest Jugger tournament, last year attracting more than 60 teams from four countries. Each tournament takes the organisers a lot of time, effort and loss of sanity to put together to make sure that people can turn up compete and have a great time. This year the organisers in Berlin are looking for help to fund the tournament and to get them started they need 50 fans on their page HERE