19 year-old Hayley Schofield has never been able to hold her tongue
By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward
Told off for talking at Taekwondo, now the world is all ears. 19 year-old Hayley Schofield has never been able to hold her tongue during Taekwondo training, and is always doing push-ups as a punishment. Perhaps the extra discipline, from of a lack of discipline, was the ticket to making a world champion fighter with an interest in psychology. Since she was five Ms Schofield has been training for Taekwondo. ?At the time I liked running around and the aspect of kicking things. ?Being quiet was hard, I have a tendency to talk a lot,? she says. Starting out in at a Tawa club gave her a good grounding in the sport and now she practices twice a week at the Hutt Valley Taekwondo Club. Fracturing her back a few years ago has not stopped her becoming New Zealand champ, Oceania champ and ranked 3rd place in the Commonwealth. ?I fractured my back, but I didn?t know until eight months later, I just kept fighting. ?I practice at home as well; it?s not really something you can leave at the door because you have to practice for the grades a lot,? Ms Schofield says. After six months of rehab she was fighting fit and trying out new combos to win fights. Her coach V J Chhika is an international Taekwondo judge and well placed to instruct her on point scoring. The Taekwondo rule book has recently changed to award more points for spinning kicks in an attempt to make the sport more attractive for spectators. ?It?s a little riskier because if you miscalculate [the spinning kick] then your opponent can take advantage. ?I like to watch what other people do at competitions and try to copy them, some of their combos I think: ?oh my god, that?s amazing,?? says Ms Schofield. Early next month she heads off to Copenhagen as part of a ten member New Zealand squad to compete at the World Championships.
