ACE martial artist Akino Lindsay, 30, has hinted that retirement could be close after years of travelling and subjecting his body to brutal battles in amateur bouts at the International Sport Kickboxing Association’s Amateur Members Association (ISKA AMA) World Championships.

“It’s very difficult to win 13 gold medals, 12 individual, including five double gold,” said Lindsay, who was honoured by the ISKA in 2024 for winning a world record eight consecutive gold medals at its world championships.

“I give thanks to God, first and foremost, for health. Competing at ISKA for such a long time is not easy. It is very taxing and injury-prone because of the contact-fighting.

“To have remained healthy for so long, it must be the grace of God. In Brisbane, myself, Richard Stone, Nicholas Dusard and Sharic Bowen all fought Americans in our finals. Americans are among the best points fighters in the world.

“If ISKA was being held in Jamaica, I could go on for another 10 years but the cold climate and travelling is tough. In addition, it’s very difficult to be an amateur fighter, which doesn’t pay the bills.

“There is nothing glorious about being in different time zones in a ring with a guy trying to punch your head off. I believe I have another year or two left. I want to keep my faculties intact. I do hope I can fall into some other capacity, maybe coaching.

“I have coached junior teams at the US Open. I am forever grateful to McKay Security, which has been a rock in my career. If they want me to come on as a coach in some capacity, no problem, but not continuing in fighting.”

Acknowledging the McKay Security Jamaica Taekwondo Association high school programme as providing a wealth of talent, unearthing talent such as himself and Stone, Lindsay pointed to inner-city communities as an untapped pool.

“The high-school programme is being brought back on stream after COVID wiped it out,” he said. “For us to get back to that level, we not only have to get back into the schools but there are also boys who were not privileged to attend St George’s College as I did or Kingston College like Stone.

“There are certain communities such as Tivoli Gardens, Denham Town, my own community of Waterhouse. We need to go to those communities, take the boys away from crime. That’s what we need to do. Talented people are in the inner city. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and I are from Waterhouse but we got opportunities.”