At Piedmont High, students partake in organized physical activities for various reasons; to stay in shape, to avoid taking PE after freshman year, and, perhaps most commonly, for sheer enjoyment. Typical sports include football, volleyball, soccer, and lacrosse, among many other choices. However, for brothers junior Drake Palmer and sophomore Grant Palmer, the sport of choice is judo.

Judo is a form of martial art in which two opponents use throws, chokeholds, and arm locks in order to subdue their challenger by way of taking them to the ground, immobilizing them, or forcing them to submit.

“Our dad is actually a black belt, so we got into judo through him,” Drake said. “We had done a tiny bit of judo with him before, but we didn’t really start until we first went to the dojo about three years ago.”

Drake said that a typical practice session of Judo lasts about four hours.

“We always go on Fridays and Saturdays, and if there is a break from school, we will also go on Mondays and Wednesdays,” Drake said. “We also teach some of the classes and get paid for that.”

Grant performs judo with his brother and has been participating it in for about three years as well. Similarly to his brother, he became interested in it because of his dad.

“[My dad] hadn’t done judo in 10 years and I didn’t even know he practiced it. Then one day he randomly asked me and my brother if we wanted to watch a class to see what it’s like,” Grant said.

Grant said that each practice starts with warm-ups, conditioning work such as pushups and sit-ups, and groundwork techniques.

“Then we learn a technique and practice it on each other. [After that] for most of the practice we do randori which is basically sparring,” Grant said.

Grant said that one thing he likes about judo is how it’s not about trying to beat each other up.

“In practice, everyone’s goal is just to get better. We don’t go all out until it’s a real tournament,” Grant said.