!["I'm not really scared of heights or anything; I enjoy the feeling of adrenaline" ... Bella Flemming. Picture by Mark Bode "I'm not really scared of heights or anything; I enjoy the feeling of adrenaline" ... Bella Flemming. Picture by Mark Bode](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/d9ed80af-d83a-415c-a050-45f91eebe561.jpg/r0_0_3629_3024_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
IT's a world where only two things matter - everything else is blocked out.
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And it's in that vacuum that a 15-year-old Tamworth schoolgirl operates; an adrenaline junkie getting her fix.
When Bella Flemming was en route to stopping her opponent in Newcastle last month, in what was her second Muay Thai fight, the only sound she heard was the voice of her trainer, Scott Chaffey.
"It's just nothing - it's just Scott's voice," she said. "And I'm just listening to everything he says to do. Like, if he says kick, I kick.
![Flemming receives instructions from Scott Chaffey in her last bout. Picture by Iron Monkey Photography Flemming receives instructions from Scott Chaffey in her last bout. Picture by Iron Monkey Photography](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/2b80bef6-0b63-4903-81ae-c712d50afbbc.JPG/r0_0_700_418_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"But after I get out of the ring, I feel confident and proud of myself."
The other thing that matters to Flemming when she's in the ring is emerging victorious of course. And the year 10 Tamworth High student has been equipping herself to do that by listening to Chaffey for most of her life.
She was introduced to Chaffey's Martial Arts when she began training in Uechi-Ryu karate there at age five. Her mother, Nicole, wanted her to learn self-defence. She is now a black belt.
At age six, she started Muay Thai at the facility. She wants to become a professional fighter, inspired by the gym's star, Josh McCulloch.
![Flemming drops her opponent with a right hook in her last bout. Picture by Iron Monkey Photography Flemming drops her opponent with a right hook in her last bout. Picture by Iron Monkey Photography](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/01fa4604-fec1-43a8-ae3f-59f54cf961cd.JPG/r0_0_700_418_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Flemming was never happier than after her bout last month. She regards it as her greatest achievement.
"Because it was a lot better than my last fight [a points loss]," she said. "Like, I had improved - and it just felt different to my first fight."
Asked what her greatest fear was, Flemming replied: "I'm not really scared of heights or anything; I enjoy the feeling of adrenaline. It's, like, a stop from reality. It's, like, joy."
Chaffey said his charge was an "up and coming" fighter who was "always training hard and trying to improve her skills". That quality, he said, made her "extremely coachable".
![A natural-born fighter. Picture by Iron Monkey Photography A natural-born fighter. Picture by Iron Monkey Photography](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/46ad68d5-9c35-4471-b816-85c29e5eeb89.JPG/r0_0_575_344_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
John McCurley said his stepdaughter had "absolutely come forward in leaps and bounds" .
"It's just unbelievable what she's doing," he said, adding: "I don't think there's anything holding her back."
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