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‘Gentle’ approach has Buys ready for the worlds
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Wednesday, 25 June 2008
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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
At this point it simply comes down to an official announcement, but if all goes according to plan, Wyoming’s Kathy Buys will soon learn that she and her judo partner, Michelle Holtze of St. Louis Park, have qualified for the 2009 World Championships.
This comes after Buys and Holtze won the gold medal in the women’s Ju No Kata competition at the Panamerican Judo Championships, held in Miami on May 10.
The catch, or minor holdup with knowing whether they are in or out, is based on overall point totals. The great unknown is how much emphasis Buys and Holtze receive for the Pan Am win, or does a pair who took first at nationals but didn’t take part in Miami get the nod. Buys is hoping to hear good news within the next two weeks.
“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we make it,” Buys says.
Rewind
If Buys and Holtze are awarded the trip to Spain, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve competed at world’s. Over the years, Buys has medaled with Holtze as well as her mixed partner, Joel Gunderson.
“In judo you have to have a partner, because you can’t throw yourself, and the partner is like your right hand,” Buys explains.
“As long as the right knows what they’re doing, you know what you’re doing.”
Kata is a Japanese word which describes detailed choreographed movements.
“The word Ju, it’s gentleness,” Buys says.
“There are 15 moves, and the whole thing takes about seven minutes, and each technique is based on a one to 10 point basis.”
Starting with her father, who is now an 80-year-old ninth degree black belt, Buys’s entire family has been, or still is, involved in judo. Buys began practicing when she was five, but it all clicked in 1977.
“It wasn’t until I was 19 and I started doing Kata, and that’s when I found what I really liked,” she says. “And I found I was really good at it.”
As one might expect, when partners are doing these choreographed movements, each one has a role.
For the attacker (Buys), it’s called Uke, and for the defender it’s Tori.
Just last year, Buys and Holtze were taking third at nationals, and health issues had Buys thinking her attacking days were coming to an end.
But then the duo earned a sliver at Senior Nationals in April, and followed up with the gold in Miami.
“How long can I keep this up? I don’t know. I guess I’m going to keep on until I can’t,” she says. “It’s a good feeling. Who’d ever think I’d still be doing this now?
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