Think of it like tag football where everyone is armed
The skull is fake, but the unusual sport is real. It's called jugger, a combination of rugby, fencing and a little bit of fantasy, and it's gaining popularity in Halifax and around the world.
Jugger is a sport inspired by the 1989 post-apocalyptic film The Salute of the Jugger, released as The Blood of Heroes in the United States. The sport was invented by the film's writer-director, David Webb Peoples, especially for the movie. The transformation into a real sport happened independently by groups organizing in Germany and Australia. The first ever international jugger tournament took place in Hamburg, Germany on 20 May 2007 between the Irish team Setanta and a number of the Northern German teams.
The Halifax Jugger League
"It's a spectacle," said Gil Richard, organizer of the Halifax Jugger League. "You get to see a group of adults running around fighting each other with fake swords. It's fun to watch and it's even funner to play."
Jugger as sport is gaining popularity globally, especially with university and college teams, each with their own league. Currently there are teams in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland, England, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Colombia, Costa Rica, The Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Romania. A couple of variations of the sport are played in the USA. Some follow different versions such as referred to as "sport jugger" while others use a model that more closely resembles the game that is played in the movie, most commonly referred to as "wasteland jugger."
