Jugger in the Netherlands
We just received word from the "Oranjes"/"Amsteljugger" in the Netherlands!
If you live over there and are keen on trying out some happy Jugger, come get some 
German Jugger Association forming: Membership, Organizational Chart
In their latest newsletter, the Deutscher Juggersport-Verband DJSV (working title; German Sports Jugger Association) "launch group" has published more detailed information on the association's goals and the different models to become a member, both as a real person as as a club.
Note that all this is a draft and a suggestion for the founding meeting done by the group, which still has to take place in the nearer future.
Download the PDF via Dropbox with more details plus an organizational chart.
Deutsches Juggerregelwerk als Hörbuch
The German Jugger Rules as an audiobook! Yet only in German.
Das deutsche Juggerregelwerk von 2021 gibt es jetzt als Audiobuch!
Das Hörbuch auf Youtube.
Die mp3-Version steht hier zum Download (via Dropbox).
Järnsvenskan: Swedens international Jugger festival
For the seventh time, international teams have met at Järnsvenskan. During the last week-end, they fought for the skull at Sweden`s annual international Jugger festival, except for 2017 organized by the Uhu and Järnboås IF.
Along with the tournament itself, Järnsvenskan has bands on stage, a sauna and a very comfy lake ... no wonder it attracts teams of different countries, all of them traveling to the small village of Järnboås, Bergslagen, every year. There have been USA, Australia, Russia, Ireland (every year except in 2019), Germany (every year) , Latvia, Lithuania, and many players from other countries battling over the skull.
And of course, plans for Järnsvenskan 2020 are already forming. Read more at the festival's website.
Meet Juggers from Russia
Salut, Juggers!
I'm pleased to let you know that Jugger is played in Russia also. We do that regularly since 2016.
This kind of fascinating sport game appeared in some Russian cities bit early. But only in Togliatti, Samara Region, on the shore of the Volga River, Jugger settled permanently. Togliatti is about 2200 km from Sweden, 2500 km from Germany and 12000 km from Australia
Later we "invaded" next town called Zhigulevsk. There we've already had two Jugger tournaments with the support of the town government. The town's stadium is pretty good, modern and has more than 1500 seats, look at the following photos:
So we enjoy playing there.
But most of the time we play and train in local places. At winter we rent an indoor court, because it is a bit inconvenient to play Jugger in snowdrifts.
Yes, we did that!
So, that's it, I think. If you have questions, you are welcome to comments.
P.S. Ah, yes, some links below:
- YouTube Channel
- Official page in VK (there are loads of photos, announcements & etc.)
Jugger California rollin
Introduction
Hello, fellow Juggers! We’re the co-instigators of Jugger California, and we’re overjoyed to have this opportunity to introduce our colorful group to the Jugger-verse.
How did we get started?
We were introduced to Jugger by Pink Pain back in 2009---Valkyrie was on an academic exchange in Darmstadt for a few months, and saw some people doing weird stuff in a field. Later in the summer, Evan came to visit and got hooked, as well.
Five years later, we finally decided to make two sets of pompfen. We didn’t really have much to go on: some old Australian rules we’d found online plus some German pompfen specs, all referring to mythical materials like “20 mm PVC” that had to be translated into Imperial measurements. In true Berkeley fashion, we decided to break with post-apocalyptic tradition and go for bright neon colors:
Soon thereafter, we had our first game! With just seven attendees, we had enough for a stone counter and two teams of three.
What rules do we play by?
As one of the more recently formed groups out there, we introduce a lot of new players to the game. For us, the goal is to get newcomers playing within 5 minutes! Our quick explanation goes something like this:
...and that’s it. As players keep coming back, we gradually explain some of the nuances: out-of-bounds penalties, chain live vs. dead, no Florentine/Q-tip double pins, etc.
For our regular practices, we don’t keep score or track 100 stone halves---we just play until we’re Juggered out! This may change as more teams pop up around the Bay Area (hello, San Francisco!) but for now it suits our “get as many people playing Jugger as possible” approach
Development?
In the 21 months since the fateful day (OK, two weekends) that we built our pompfen, we started an on-campus group at the University of California, Berkeley (called the Ursae Majoris), competed in our first tournament (the 2015 Mile High International in Denver), brought Jugger twice to each of two games/art festivals in the Bay Area (Come Out & Play Festival, and Figment), and hosted our first local game day (featuring the Riot, the Ursae Majoris, and San Francisco’s Juggernauts)...and with rumors of at least two more groups possibly starting later this year, we’re on track to become the next big Jugger hub in America.
We’re also a very creative group! Those of you who stuck it out to the rainy end at MHI 2015 will remember the Blood of Heroes (a beety, bright red ale), which several of our players helped brew. We have the infamous peace-symbol shirts, Jugger weapon cookie cutters, Photoshopped event images for our special sessions (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), a featured Instructable about our weapon construction, and some special surprises for our first international tournament appearance later this year.
The 2015 MHI was a pivotal moment for our group (thanks to the Colorado Jugger League for organizing!). We came back with heaps of tips on pompfen construction, training exercises/games, and in-game strategy---many thanks in particular to the Dropbears and Wild Geese for picking apart our gameplay and making some excellent suggestions for improvement!
For the future: we’d love to see a group in the South Bay, as several of our players currently take the hour-long drive up to play with us. We’re planning a trip to the Swedish tournament this year, as well as the 2017 tournament in Australia. Play-wise, we’re slowly incorporating more and more of the training games we learned at 2015 MHI, while keeping the bulk of our practices centered around playing the game itself.
Hello, fellow Juggers! We’re the co-instigators of Jugger California, and we’re overjoyed to have this opportunity to introduce our colorful group to the Jugger-verse.
How did we get started?
We were introduced to Jugger by Pink Pain back in 2009---Valkyrie was on an academic exchange in Darmstadt for a few months, and saw some people doing weird stuff in a field. Later in the summer, Evan came to visit and got hooked, as well.
Five years later, we finally decided to make two sets of pompfen. We didn’t really have much to go on: some old Australian rules we’d found online plus some German pompfen specs, all referring to mythical materials like “20 mm PVC” that had to be translated into Imperial measurements. In true Berkeley fashion, we decided to break with post-apocalyptic tradition and go for bright neon colors:
Soon thereafter, we had our first game! With just seven attendees, we had enough for a stone counter and two teams of three.
What rules do we play by?
As one of the more recently formed groups out there, we introduce a lot of new players to the game. For us, the goal is to get newcomers playing within 5 minutes! Our quick explanation goes something like this:
- overall objective: skull in opposite goal;
- combat 101: 5 stones for a hit, head is 5 stone penalty, hands on sticks don’t count;
- combat 102: doubles, pins, 8 stones for a chain hit, chains can’t pin, chain hands aren’t protected, 2-hand vs. 1-hand weapons;
- qwik/skull movement: qwiks drop it when hit or throw it just before, sticks can bat it, qwiks can wrestle each other
- any questions?
...and that’s it. As players keep coming back, we gradually explain some of the nuances: out-of-bounds penalties, chain live vs. dead, no Florentine/Q-tip double pins, etc.
For our regular practices, we don’t keep score or track 100 stone halves---we just play until we’re Juggered out! This may change as more teams pop up around the Bay Area (hello, San Francisco!) but for now it suits our “get as many people playing Jugger as possible” approach
Development?
In the 21 months since the fateful day (OK, two weekends) that we built our pompfen, we started an on-campus group at the University of California, Berkeley (called the Ursae Majoris), competed in our first tournament (the 2015 Mile High International in Denver), brought Jugger twice to each of two games/art festivals in the Bay Area (Come Out & Play Festival, and Figment), and hosted our first local game day (featuring the Riot, the Ursae Majoris, and San Francisco’s Juggernauts)...and with rumors of at least two more groups possibly starting later this year, we’re on track to become the next big Jugger hub in America.
We’re also a very creative group! Those of you who stuck it out to the rainy end at MHI 2015 will remember the Blood of Heroes (a beety, bright red ale), which several of our players helped brew. We have the infamous peace-symbol shirts, Jugger weapon cookie cutters, Photoshopped event images for our special sessions (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), a featured Instructable about our weapon construction, and some special surprises for our first international tournament appearance later this year.
The 2015 MHI was a pivotal moment for our group (thanks to the Colorado Jugger League for organizing!). We came back with heaps of tips on pompfen construction, training exercises/games, and in-game strategy---many thanks in particular to the Dropbears and Wild Geese for picking apart our gameplay and making some excellent suggestions for improvement!
For the future: we’d love to see a group in the South Bay, as several of our players currently take the hour-long drive up to play with us. We’re planning a trip to the Swedish tournament this year, as well as the 2017 tournament in Australia. Play-wise, we’re slowly incorporating more and more of the training games we learned at 2015 MHI, while keeping the bulk of our practices centered around playing the game itself.
Jugger rules revision: Take it easy!
Since the German Jugger rules will soon undergo a revision and rule changes voting, I would like to offer some basic thoughts on the sport and its rules.
Sorry in German, due to lack of time for translation. Many projects currently at hand.
Sorry in German, due to lack of time for translation. Many projects currently at hand.
Anläßlich einer wohl anstehenden neuen Abstimmung über und der Überarbeitung des Juggerregelwerks habe ich meinen Kommentar zum Juggerregelwerk um eine Sektion ergänzt. Grund sind die immer wieder auftretenden Diskussionen um Regelveränderungen zu kleinen, oft in der Praxis reichlich irrelevanten Fragen (Beispiel Spielfeldbegrenzungen: ob ein Fuß 20 cm weiter vorne, nämlich auf der breiten Kreidelinie, oder nur dahinter stehen darf, ist für die Schnelligkeit der allermeisten Teams wohl eher gleichgültig).
Hier ist der Abschnitt:
Item. Vom Geist des Jugger
Weniger Normen bedingen eine höhere sportliche Herausforderung.
Jugger leitet sich von einem Endzeit-Film ab. Läufer müssen sich auf die unterschiedlichsten Schädel, alle Spieler auf die verschiedensten Feldlinien – hier präzise mit der Markiermaschine gezogen, dort verwackelt mit Mehl oder Flatterband – jedesmal neu Einstellen: Der mangelnde Standard ist hier kein Mangel, sondern eine willkommene Herausforderung an Flexbilität und sportliches vermögen der Spieler.
Dies kann der Schlüssel zur Lesart der Regeln sein, um den einzigartigen und offenen, gleichwohl sportlich fordernden Charakter des Jugger zu erhalten.
Mehr Eigenverantwortung bedingt höhere Fitness.
Selten führt eine stärkere Kontrolle zu einer höheren Bereitwilligkeit, fair zu spielen, und selten führt sie zu einer bessern Stimmung – und die Stimmung ist im Jugger keine Worthülse, sondern ein wichtiges Charakteristikum dieses Sports. Wo anderswo Mannschaften für ein Turnierspiel zusammentreffen und danach heim fahren, ohne mit einander gesprochen zu haben, wird im Jugger nach einem Turniertag gefeiert, man
sitzt zusammen und tauscht sich aus. Man lebt das Ideal des Sports an sich. Zudem ist ein Juggerspiel schwer zu überschauen (siehe 5. Die Schiedsrichter).
Der Schlüssel liegt also darin, eine Balance zwischen Kontrolle (Pompfencheck, Schiedsrichterzahl und -eingreifen) und Freiheit (eben: persönlicher Verantwortung) zu finden. Persönliche Verantwortung und Fairness läßt sich eben nicht durch Repression erzwingen, stattdessen verführt letztere zum Abladen der Verantwortung auf Dritte (»Der Schiedsrichter ist schuld / hat es nicht gesehen«), zur Suche nach Lücken und Regelfuchsereien, was wiederum zu mehr Regeln und höherer Repression führt.
Ich denke, wir brauchen keinen Rüstungswettlauf im Jugger. Locker bleiben!
Verständigkeit bietet eine Lösung für Randfragen.
Im Forum werden gerne Grenzgebiete und oft Eventualitäten diskutiert: Es könnte doch eine die Kette so führen, es könnte doch einer seine Langpompfe so bauen, es wäre doch möglich, sich durch die Fußspitze auf der Linie einen Vorteil beim Anlaufen zu verschaffen.
Anstelle zu versuchen, jede nur mögliche Regeldehnung abzudecken, bietet sich hier doch eine ganz einfache Lösung an.
Wir haben den Anspruch an uns, vernünftige und verständige Menschen zu sein. Wir spielen kein Zuckerpüppchenfußball, bei dem sei es der dramatischste Fall oder das lauteste Aufheulen nach einem Streicheln mit der Fußspitze am Knie einen Vorteil erjammert, sei es ein gerade wegsehender Schiedrichter dem feigen Spieler eine Gelegenheit zur Körperverletzung verschafft.
W i r s i n d J u g g e r.
Deswegen können sich zwei Teams beim Auftauchen von Grenzfragen im Spiel zusammensetzen und sich verdammt noch eins einigen. Ist eine grenzwertige Spielweise für das eine Team gar nicht hinnehmbar, dann verzichtet das andere Team darauf. Fertig.
In diesem Sinne! Bleibt locker. Habt Spaß. Gewinnt euer Spiel.
Uhus Regelkommentar kann hier als PDF geladen werden.
Juggervideos around the world, part 2
Here are some more (partly quite unusual) videos from other countries. Thanks to Jugglers Jugg for collecting them!
Halifax
Ukraine
Argentinia
Italia (classical Australian style)
Polish Jugger League (Padding? Who needs padding?)
Czech Jugger League (post-apocalyptical style)
Halifax
Ukraine
Argentinia
Italia (classical Australian style)
Polish Jugger League (Padding? Who needs padding?)
Czech Jugger League (post-apocalyptical style)
Jugger videos around the world
A clip about team Verracos / Universidad de Murcia
Nice recruitment video from Australia
And the great folks from the Wasteland -- really close to the movie
Also, Linus has done an excellent piece again:
Nice recruitment video from Australia
And the great folks from the Wasteland -- really close to the movie
Also, Linus has done an excellent piece again:
New Jugger handbook now published
It took a bit more time than estimated – about two years –, but Ruben has just published his fourth book on Jugger "JUGGER – Das Praxisbuch. Grundlagen, Training, Teambuilding", now focusing on training methods and strategy.
As in Judo and Karate handbooks, step-by-step "motion" pictures show basic steps for fighting with the different German type spars. Football-like plans explain strategic moves. The book has got an impressive, full-color layout and print, hardcover, and is set in A4 landscape format (about 29x21cm).
While the plans for an English translation are unknown, the Swedish one is on the way and should be published by september.
Read more on the pages of the publisher and in Uhus finest-assorted Weblog Droppings for a comment of the author.
As in Judo and Karate handbooks, step-by-step "motion" pictures show basic steps for fighting with the different German type spars. Football-like plans explain strategic moves. The book has got an impressive, full-color layout and print, hardcover, and is set in A4 landscape format (about 29x21cm).
While the plans for an English translation are unknown, the Swedish one is on the way and should be published by september.
Read more on the pages of the publisher and in Uhus finest-assorted Weblog Droppings for a comment of the author.