Posted: 7/9/03

Buys wins gold in world Ju-No-Kata in Japan

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

Kathy Buys of Wyoming went to Tokyo June 20th, and came back the 29th with a gold medal.

Buys won a gold medal at the 5th World Masters Judo Championships in Tokyo, Japan. A total of eight people from Minnesota went to the championships and five returned with gold medals.

To get a chance to compete at the world championships, Buys had to compete in national and international competitions. At the national championships in Las Vegas, Buys placed third.

Buys competed with teammates Joel Gunderson of Maple Grove in the mixed partners competition, and Michelle Holtze of Minnetonka in pair competitions.

Buys and Gunderson have been partners since 1998 when they meet at the North Star Martial Arts Academy in St. Paul. Buys hooked up with Holtze around 1995. The two knew each other from camps so they decided to work together. Holtze is also the owner of the North Star Martial Arts Academy.

To get to Japan, Buys received donations to help pay for the trip, some small, some generous, but one stuck out to her.

ìI got one donation from two little girls in Florida that I coached with a check for twenty-five dollars and a good luck note. That meant more to me than anything,î Buys said.

Once in Japan, Buys and her colleagues from Minnesota competed at the Kodikan. The Kodikan is where Judo originated in the mid-1800ís.

Buys first got into Judo when she was five-years-old. ìI wanted to be like my Dad and brothers,î she said.

Buysí father was a Judo instructor himself, and has been involved in it since 1950. ìDad is thrilled to death (with her accomplishments),î Buys said. Buysí father was in Japan in 1955 when he was the All-Marine Judo champion.

Buysí brothers once competed in Judo, but have since stopped competing. The brothers are still active in Judo, belonging to clubs and practicing the art.

Buys lived in Japan from 1980-1983 so coming back to Japan to win the world championship, in the country that she lived in and her dad got his start in was special to her. ìI feel like I have come full circle, this competition means more to me than any other I have done, and I have been in a lot of them,î Buys said.

When Buys is not a world champion Judo competitor, she is an instructional assistant for special education at the Forest Lake and Wyoming middle schools and a mother of three.
Buys tried getting out of Judo when she was trying to have children.

ìI tried quitting in the baby-making years, but my father kept calling me back to help teach,î Buys said. ìAfter I had the kids I would be sitting on the sidelines thinking I could still do that...I guess I can.î

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