Bowen eyes US Open gold as combined team member
Sharic Bowen is still basking in the glow of being among six fighters named to Jamaica’s combined martial arts team for the July 4-6 International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) United States Open at Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.
Bowen could be described as a martial arts baby, starting at age 13 as a member of Jamaica College’s (JC) team in the McKay Security High School Taekwondo League.
After fighting alongside his idols at last year’s US Open as an invitee, Bowen travels this week as a full combined team member, having earned his spot by winning bronze in his division won by Ackeem Lawrence at the Jamaica Taekwondo Academy Open.
Bowen joins Captain Lawrence, Nicholas Dusard, Richard Stone, Akino Lindsay, and Nicholai Reid — all former US Open champions and combined team mainstays.
“It feels great to be a member, first coming in as an invitee,” said the former JC martial arts captain now a third-year student at the University of Technology, Jamaica studying mechanical engineering.
“They chose me because they saw the potential. At first I felt like an outsider looking from outside in at the team. Since this year we have become closer, like family, with Akino Lindsay and Richard Stone helping to develop me”, he added.
Though he has been competing at the US Open from 2015, Bowen has never won gold against the world’s best martial artists.
“The highest I won was silver in 2018, advance clash sparring,” he said. “I won bronze medals before 2018. Last year, my first US Open as an adult, I got bronze in clash sparring, but I believe this year will be much better than last year.
“I have improved a lot because I have been around top-level fighters, training with Master [Claude] Chin and Coach [Jason] McKay. They have helped me develop as a fighter [and] break the bad habits I had as a junior.”
Having trained with the best, rising through the junior ranks, Bowen believes he will improve on last year’s showing.
“When I started taekwondo in 2014, first form at JC, I was being trained by Nicholas Dusard,” he said. After Dusard, it was Nicholai Reid for six months. Ackeem Lawrence took over in third form in 2017. At that time I really started to develop, captaining JC after Joshane Thompson and winning the high school league once.”