Kickboxers get ready for World Championships

AS JAMAICA’S elite team of martial artists prepare to face the best of Europe in tatami kickboxing at the 2024 International Sport Kickboxing Association Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championships, starting in Vienna, Austria, today, Jason McKay, ISKA Jamaica president, said the nation should be proud of its sports heroes, especially with the tournament coinciding with Heroes Week celebrations.

Speaking from the Hallmann Dome in Vienna where Jamaica’s squad of Akino Lindsay, Richard Stone, Akeem Lawrence, Nicholai Reid, and Sharic Bowen are aiming at 10 gold medals, McKay reminisced on Jamaica’s journey at the European tournament.

“Jamaica have never missed an ISKA World Championship since we started participating 12 years ago. Apart from the first year when we chronically under-performed, we went back to the drawing board and have been dominating the tatami events since,” he pointed out.

2023 medal haul

Last year, Jamaica left Munich 2023 with eight medals. Stone, Nicholas Dusard and Lindsay each won double individual gold medals. Reid took home silver in light-heavyweight points-sparring and bronze in continuous sparring.

“Lindsay has since become the ISKA’s top tatami fighter, winning eight consecutive gold medals in two disciplines at ISKA AMA World Championships, 2017-2023, an ISKA world record. Stone is only one gold behind Lindsay,” McKay pointed out.

“Lindsay, Stone, Kenneth Edwards, Dusard and Lawrence have been dominant among males. Subrina Richards and Sheckema Cunningham have also created history at this tournament,” he reminded.

“Jamaica must not take these accomplishments for granted. We continue to shine in front of the world, defeating Europe s best. It was not always so. When we first entered in 2012, we struggled to win one world title with a larger team.”

Though aiming high, a possible 10 gold medals, McKay said the competition is intense, which could result in a “worst-case scenario of four gold medals”.

“We are in a great place. This is the product of real commitment, a structured programme executed by committed professionals. These fighters have been nurtured since they were adolescents. They train and compete at no cost to themselves. They are 100 per cent sponsored,” McKay pointed out.

“None of them have ever bought a plane ticket to compete or paid an entrance fee to enter a tournament. This is how you build a sport. Identify talent, manage the athlete, generate sponsorship, train them scientifically and keep the process going.”

ISKA Jamaica, sponsored by McKay Security, oversees the sport of kickboxing locally, including hosting local martial arts championships. The organisation is also the controlling arm of the Jamaica combined martial arts team and sponsors the Jamaican contingent to the annual ISKA United States Open in Orlando, Florida.

Donning his football cap, having recently failed in his bid for presidency of the St Catherine Football Association, McKay said the martial-arts template should be applied to other disciplines.

“Football needs an annual national under-13 championship as a medium to identify talented players and mould them into a national team that can be nurtured into a formidable adult team.

“Training and competing as a team that represents Jamaica in age-group tournaments will create a team that can be a force as an adult unit. You have to play the long game if you plan to be a world leader in a sport,” he added.