by Mark Cramer

Kathy Reynolds recently won the Bronze Medal in Kumite at the Pan American Jr. Championships. (She was the Gold Medalist at age 13.) Kathy is a student of Mike Jacobs in Genoa, Ohio and has trained in Shiteigata at the Bedford GKK.

     
Kathy has been a constant figure at the Bedford Qualifier to the USA-NKF National Championships Team Trials. Moreover, Kathy has conducted kumite seminars at the Bedford Dojo and has worked with our students to improve their kumite skills.

   
One of the things that impresses me the most about Kathy is that she is quite humble about her accomplishments. At our tournament, I have several times asked Kathy to do a demonstration match with a brown or green belt who had no one in her division to compete with. Kathy has always conducted herself with restraint and respect toward her opponent.

     
Matching a Pan American Champion with a dojo-level competitor could be disastrous for the unsuspecting green belt. However, Kathy has always made the demonstration match a good experience for the other competitor.
      
Kathy also competed the World Karated-do Federation (WKF) World Junior and Cadet Championships, held in Melaka, Malaysia from October 13 – 16, 2011.