Meet Boosabum Kyla Walton

I first started ITF Taekwon-Do when I was seven years old, but you could say I was pretty much born into it. My parents, Ian and Lena Walton, are proud instructors of the Berhampore Club in Wellington, New Zealand and have been involved in ITF Taekwon-Do for over 40 years. So when I came along, I was immersed in it long before I began training.

Before I started ITF Taekwon-Do, I had early memories of sitting at the back of the my club watching my parents teach classes, as every now and then they couldn’t find a babysitter for my brother and me. I absolutely loved when that happened, as it meant I got to stay up past my bedtime. I also have vivid memories of travelling up to Taupō and watching the selection process for the NZ Team take place, as my parents were the heads of the High Performance panel in New Zealand. It’s safe to say there was plenty of foreshadowing in those early years.

Because I was surrounded by ITF Taekwon-Do from such a young age, it was almost inevitable that I would start at some point. Although my parents were heavily involved in ITF Taekwon-Do, they never put any pressure on me to begin, and it wasn’t until one of my friends started that I decided to give it a go too. The rest is history.

There have been so many memorable moments over the 19 years I’ve been training that it is difficult to choose just one. My top three are:

-Attending my very first ITF Taekwon-Do class
-Winning my first individual ITF World Championship title in 2017
-Winning gold in the team event at the 2025 ITF World Championships (Senior Female Team Power Breaking), alongside my best friend

Competitive Highlights:

2015 Vice ITF World Champion
2017 ITF World Champion
2018 ITF World Cup bronze medallist in 1st Dan Patterns
2019 Vice ITF World Champion
2023 ITF World Champion
2024 Vice ITF World Cup Champion
2025 ITF World Champion
10× New Zealand Champion

Team Medals:

2015 World Championship bronze medallists
2017 World Championship bronze medallists
2018 Vice World Cup Champion in Traditional Sparring
2023 Vice World Champion
2025 World Champion

I still currently attend classes at my club and assist with teaching when needed. This year, I was given the opportunity by Grand Master Paul McPhail to run my first breaking seminars in Auckland, where I taught both colored belts and black belts the principles and techniques of power breaking.

I was also invited by the New Zealand Team’s head coach, Mr Alois Vogt, to coach at the NZ’s high-performance camp, helping athletes prepare for the ITF World Cup in Spain later this year. Although I am taking a step back from ITF Taekwon-Do this year, I have greatly enjoyed my coaching experiences so far, and it is something I would be interested in pursuing further in the future.

What’s next?:

After dedicating so much time and energy to ITF Taekwon-Do and competing on the international stage for the past 10 years, I’ve decided to take some time off to pursue other goals in life. This is in no way me saying I am “retiring” from ITF Taekwon-Do, but rather that I am hitting pause for now.

Taekwon-Do has given me so much, and I am incredibly grateful for that. However, I am now looking forward to investing that same time and energy into other areas of my life. My next plan is to move to Australia for the next few years, which I am very excited about, while still hoping to return to Taekwon-Do in whatever capacity that may look like in the future.

My experience working with Mightyfist:

This is my first time working with Mightyfist directly, and they’ve been awesome to work with! Their doboks and equipment are top quality, and I have always chosen to wear Mightyfist doboks when competing because they are simply the best.