To catch

Catch game in Rococo

With catch or lag is called an adventure game in which a catcher teammates by contact must grasp. To clarify, it is often called: “You are!” Or “I have you!”. As a result, the participants change their roles: the catcher becomes the hunted and the hunted the catcher.

In different regions of the German-speaking common alternative designation include intercepting , fans, Fanger , Fangerl (e) , catch (k) us , Fangi , Fangis , Fanger , Fangerles , Fangermandel , wars , chasing , packing , ticking .

regulate

The rules are as different as the numerous variations of this game. At the beginning there is usually a counting verse that divides the group or determines who has to be the catcher first. Often there is a rule that immediate recapture is not allowed. In many areas the rule is: “Reproduction has no life”, but it can also be clarified by “Without reproduction!”. Regionally it is also called “Without re-gossip!”, “Without re-gossip!”, “Without re-chatting!”, “Without setback!”, “Without giving back!” Or “Umegä isch Chatzedräck!” (Swiss German for giving back is cat shit ). Depending on the number of players, there can be several hunters or hunted. A free time is often agreed where those who flee are safe. There are countless regional names for this "resting point", the most common are Panne , Aus , Haus , Frei (o) , Klipp (o) , Boot / Botte / Bodde , Bütt / Butte , Leo , Zick , Insel , Pax , Dreier , Hoch , Hola , Rulle , Lu or especially Nu , Mi / Mieh, Wupp , Rolle (often used in Northern Germany) . Alternatively, it can also be agreed that each climbed object may be used higher than the play area as a free time for a break. This can be done outside a bank, a tree trunk, a gaming device or in the hall the wall bars , etc., box parts, mats.

history

The catch game , 1828

Kuck-Kuck , catch game based on a painting by Georgios Jakobides, 1895

This catch game, often referred to as the "wild game", has been known for a long time. However, an exact dating cannot be established. It is mentioned for the first time in an edict of King Edward III. of England (reigns 1327-1377), who felt disturbed in the exercise of his state affairs by all too loud and wild fishing games in front of the Westminster Palace and had them forbidden and banned from his surroundings. But both adults and children continued to play it. However, it can be assumed that catching is much older. Parties were often formed in the villages, such as bachelors against husbands.

Variations

The catch game is characterized by numerous variants. In other countries it is also called

Quatre Coins (France)
Prisoners Base (England)
Diefjes en agent (Netherlands)

There are also many variants of this game in the German-speaking countries, such as the pirate game , robbers and gendarmes or catching with bicycles or other ways of getting around. Names of fishing games in German-speaking countries:

Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys and Indians is a game where everyone is active. Everyone crawls around on four legs. The cowboys try to kill the Indians , so the cowboys are the catchers and the Indians are the hunted. If an Indian is killed, he's a cowboy too. Several cowboys can try to kill an Indian at the same time. The Indians are only allowed to try to crawl away and are not allowed to defend themselves directly, e.g. B. by pushing away or the like. The game is over when there is only one or none left.

Octopus catch

Catching octopuses is a game where everyone is active. It is played in a hall. One or more catchers are chosen to give others a go. Whoever gets applauded lies down on the floor and plays an octopus . The player is not allowed to move, he can only target others with his limbs. These then also become octopuses. The game goes on until there is only one or none left.

Diamond land

Diamond Land is a catch game in which all players are active. It plays particularly well in a hall. On one side there is an empty box with all the runners, on the other a box filled with plastic balls ( diamonds ). In between is a central strip , which consists of normal mats and extends over the entire width, and a catcher that is allowed to move freely within the mats. But he may also stretch his limbs out of the mats to catch, but not touch the ground with his foot. The runners try to get over the mats without getting caught. If they manage to do that, they take a ball out of the box and run back without being intercepted if possible. If a runner is clapped, he remains on the mat where he was clapped. He can of course stretch out his limbs, but unlike the original catcher, he cannot move within the mats. The game is over when all have been agreed, only one is left, or all balls have been stolen.

Blindman's Buff

The "blind" cow tries to catch others.

Blind cow is a game of catch in which a blindfolded player has to grab one of the teasing fellow players in order to be released from his role by the other.

Great Wall of China

The catcher stands on a line between the “border crossers” who want to cross the “wall” (line) to China. When given a certain command, everyone starts running, and the “Emperor of China” tries to intercept those “passing through” on a limited playing field (movements only about three meters in front of and behind the center line). Those he catches are placed by him as “bricks” on the center line and prevent future attempts from “free movement” by spreading their arms but not being allowed to move. Over time, the Great Wall of China has barely any chance to escape, and the last prisoner becomes the new emperor.

English bulldog

Also British Bulldog , Porcupine , German Rugby or Yeti . A variant related to Who is Afraid of the Black Man . Everyone is playing against the catcher. He has to lift his victims for three seconds and they join his team and are also catchers. A field is usually required for this type of game.

Fisherman, fisherman, which flag is blowing today?

At the start of the game, a teammate stands as a "fisherman" on one side of the field, the others stand on the opposite side and ask "fisherman, fisherman, which flag is blowing today". The fisherman thinks up any color and calls it over (e.g. "red"). Then everyone runs to the opposite side and the fisherman tries to catch as many other players as possible by touching them.

There are two variants of the game: According to one variant, all players who wear the named color in their clothing are not allowed to be caught and can therefore go to the other side. According to the other variant, all players who do not wear the color can go over quietly, and only players who wear the color can be caught. When all non-captured players have reached their new side, the fisherman and all captured players move to the opposite side, and from the next change of sides, the captured players help the fisherman. The player who is the last not caught wins and becomes a fisherman in the next round. - Often only colors are evaluated which are visible without undressing (especially no underwear).

Fisherman, fisherman, how deep is the water?

The "fisherman" answers this question with a number (3 m deep; 100 m deep etc.). In response to the playgroup's question: "How do we get over?" The catcher gives a type of movement such as running backwards, crawling or jumping. Now both he and the participants have to try to reach the other side with this type of movement, whereby the "fisherman" tries to catch as many fish as possible. The last fish becomes a new fisherman.

Catch game, resembling the dump bag

Fox, Fox, what time is it?

The catcher "fox" lurks behind an object and answers the question of the time of the "chickens" on the opposite side of the field with a number. This is the number of steps that the players move forward. If the “fox” thinks he can now catch some “chickens”, he answers the next question “breakfast time” and tries to applaud the other players. Whoever was caught helps the fox in the next round.

Witch, witch, what are you cooking today?

When the group calls “Witch, witch, what are you cooking today?” The catcher (witch) replies with the name of a dish, e.g. For example: "Spaghetti with tomato sauce" or "Pickled cellar stairs". Depending on whether you like the food or not, you go up the number of syllables in steps towards the catcher who is on the other side in a limited playing field. If he answers at some point that he would like to cook “small children”, the game of catch begins. The knocked out help the witch in the next round.

The emperor sends soldiers out

A " soldier " is caught.

Two groups of children compete against each other. The children take hands and form chains that stand opposite each other. The leader of a group, the "Kaiser", now orders one of his "soldiers" to break through the enemy line at full speed. If he succeeds in this, then those two who were not strong enough to hold the chain must be eliminated and he can return to his comrades. But if it gets stuck, it will be built into the chain straight away.

cat and mouse

Cat and mouse on the beach

The other players form a circle and hold hands. One participant is selected as a cat and another as a mouse. The cat tries to catch the mouse. This flees and can also flee through the circle, whereby the participants try to make it more difficult for the cat to cross the circle by raising and lowering their arms.

Chain catch

Chain catching begins with the catcher catching another player. The two form a chain of two and catch a third. As a chain of three they catch a fourth. Each chain of four is divided into two chains of two. So there are increasingly more chains and fewer players ( pyramid scheme ). The game is over when all players have become catchers. As a variant, there is also chain catching without separation, whereby a long chain is created at the end, but which is only allowed to clap the hunted off with its two outermost free arms. This game often has a component of “pairing” (social bond), the catchers select specifically who they want in “their row”, and the other players also help to shape the pairing by letting themselves be caught or avoiding it.

Marco Polo

Marco Polo is a fishing game in the water.

Plop

The player walking around selects someone else and walks once, without being caught, around his fellow players before taking the place of the chosen player.

The "plumpsack" or "lump sack" is originally a twisted piece of cloth to be beaten. Alternative spelling and pronunciation Plumpssack , also known as Faules Ei or Fätzli g'leit or Lumpeleggis (in Switzerland ). In this catch game variant, the (as many as possible) participants sit or stand in a circle. A teammate, the "Plumpsack" (police officer or fox in Switzerland), walks past behind the group, saying a rhyme or is sung:

"Don't turn around, the plopping bag is going over. Anyone who turns around or laughs gets their hump blackened. ”Or“ Don't turn around, the plop will go over. Anyone who looks around will get a blow! "
in Mecklenburg / Western Pomerania: “A sluggard walks around and nobody turns around. And whoever turns around or laughs, gets the hump full of shaft. ";
in Austria: "The heavy bag goes around, it goes around the circle that nobody knows what, and whoever wants it has to endure blows.";
in Switzerland (Bern, Aargau, Zurich): "Lueged nid ume de Fuchs gaht ume, lueged zrugg, de Fuchs gaht über d Brugg." (in German: "Don't look around, the fox walks around, look back, the fox." goes over the bridge ”.);
in Switzerland (St. Gallen): “Fätzli glide, nobody gseit, lyge loh wo's isch, süsch chunnt the policeman and rüärt di uf da mischt!” (in German: “Rags of cloth laid, no one told, leave where it is is, otherwise the policeman will come and throw you on the dung ”);

The "plumpsack" drops an object (sack, cloth, etc.) behind another player. If the latter notices this, he quickly jumps up and tries to catch up with the "plopping bag". However, he runs around the group as fast as he can and tries to take the place of the catcher. If he succeeds in this, the catcher becomes a plopping bag. If, on the other hand, he is caught up, he must sit down in the middle of the circle with a call / song from the participants and wait until someone else takes his place:

"1,2,3 into the rotten egg"
in Switzerland: "Fuule, fuule Eiertätsch, d'Mueter git Der Fuditätsch". (In German: "Fauler, lazy Eiertätsch, the mother gives you [spanking].")

If a player does not notice that the sack has been dropped behind him and if the flop sack passes again, he will also become a rotten egg.

Hospital catch

In the case of hospital catching or doctor hunting , one or more catchers try to catch the participants. If this succeeds, the prisoner becomes the catcher and the catcher the participant. The new catcher now has to take hold of the part of the body that was touched by the catch with one hand and so “handicapped” try to catch the others. It becomes particularly difficult if he has to touch the leg.

Who is afraid of the black man

The catcher is the " black man " and is usually about ten meters away from the others on the opposite side of a square or room. If he calls out: “Who is afraid of the black man?” The answer is “Nobody!”, Then “And if he (but) comes?” With “Then we run (away)!” Or “Then come just him! ". The two parties now run in opposite directions to the other side to the saving wall or boundary. The catcher tries to catch as many as possible by tapping them. These help the black man catch in the next cycle. The last one left wins and is usually the catcher in the next game. In an effort to be politically correct , the game is sometimes renamed Who's Afraid of the Bad / Wild / Stupid Man / Great White Shark etc.

Petrify

When petrifying , all players who have been hit by the catcher (s) must stop and are no longer allowed to move. The remaining players now try to trigger the "petrified" teammates again, for example by crawling through their legs. The capture party wins when everyone else is petrified. The game can go on forever and often has to be stopped if the hunted keep breaking free. It is frowned upon if the catcher "guards" already petrified players and only fends off attempts at triggering instead of actively catching them.

Catching animals

The so-called "animal catching" is a variation of the simple catching game or that of petrifying . Here, however, it is the case that the player who was hit by the catcher becomes the new catcher. However, each player can say an animal (elephant, monkey etc.) at any time in order to be “petrified”. So the catcher cannot give him a clap and give up his role. The "petrified" player is also freed by, for example, a handshake or crawling through the legs. All players are exempted when a catcher change occurs. The game can also end when the last player who moves freely calls himself an animal, and thus "petrifies" himself and there is no longer any possibility of freeing the other players. Children with a larger vocabulary can use this to their advantage by pretending to say an animal name when it is actually a play on words (like "raspberry" instead of "bear" or "bearded" instead of "tiger") "). The brief confusion of the catcher can then be used as an opportunity to escape.

Coconut hunt

Here the rules of the catch game are reversed. One person is the monkey with the coconut (ball, sack or similar) and is therefore hunted by everyone else. Whoever touches it takes over the coconut and is thus the one hunted by everyone. The advantage of these rules is that everyone can hunt as much as they want and can, and even the fastest has no chance of defending themselves against everyone in the long run. These rules are particularly useful when you skate on ice.

Web links

Commons : Catch - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wiktionary: wars - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Wiktionary: Catch game - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

^ Atlas of everyday German language: Fangen (children's game) . University of Salzburg, December 20, 2012. Accessed January 24, 2016

↑ One, two, three, ... I'm coming! loaded December 10, 2014

↑ PDF document of the Landessportbund Nordrhein-Westfalen: Frost protection: A catch game in the snow loaded with Freimal December 10, 2014

↑ safe place for the game of catches «atlas-everyday language. In: www.atlas-alltagsssprache.de. Retrieved November 8, 2016 .

^ "Aus" at Fangenspiele. In: www.philhist.uni-augsburg.de. Retrieved on October 10, 2016 .

↑ Harald Lange: Running games between children's needs and training criteria. In Lange, H., running, catching and training. 110 games for schools and clubs (pp. 7–27). Wiebelsheim: Limpert Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-7853-1674-7