Late bloomer Bowen eyes more improvement

LIGHTWEIGHT SHARIC Bowen has become accustomed to gradual improvement throughout his martial arts journey, describing himself as a “late bloomer”.

However, having won a bronze medal at his first International Sports Kickboxing Association’s Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championships in Vienna, Austria, last year, the 22-year-old now fancies himself a gold-medal contender for Australia 2025, October 15-19, in Brisbane.

Bowen won bronze on his first Jamaica combined martial arts team assignment, losing 16-20 to Danylo Karabutov of Ukraine in a closely fought semi-final.

The experience of fighting alongside his teammates and idols - ISKA AMA stars such as Akino Lindsay, Richard Stone, Nicholas Dusard, Adrian Moore, and NIcholai Reid - has Bowen fired-up to improve his medal sheen.

Bowen, yesterday, said his improvement has been obvious throughout months of rigorous training.

“I believe I have closed the gap on my teammates. My coach and teammates have been saying that I have sharpened my skills and appear stronger,” admitting that ISKA (kickboxing) tournaments are physically demanding.

“As tae kwon do martial artists, we are not naturally ISKA fighters. The majority of us are tae kwon do fighters going into a kickboxing tournament,” he explained.

“The US Open, an ISKA tournament, was always hard for me. I have no gold medal from the US Open. As a junior, I won three silver and two bronze. As a senior, I have, so far, won one bronze,” Bowen said of the event he has attended every year since 2015, bar 2020-22 and 2024.

A product of the McKay Security High School Taekwondo programme and junior combined martial arts team, Bowen is on the path of the road travelled by teammates he first saw, with mouth agape, as a first-former at Jamaica College in 2015.

“When I got on the junior combined team, I started travelling and won my first gold at a tournament in New Jersey in 2019,” he recalled of his years being teammates with fellow Jamaica College student Justin Brown, Calabar’s Tye McKay, and the St George’s College pair of Ryan Robinson and Duncan Smith.

Brisbane, Bowen believes, could be his breakout tournament.

“Having experienced Vienna, I know what to expect in Australia,” he sid.