When asked to reveal her greatest attribute as a fighter, Tyme Hennenfent, wary of sounding arrogant, looked over at coach Tom LaRoche for an answer.

“You’re heart,” LaRoche said without hesitation.

And the featherweight from Princeton will have to rely on the heart her coach speaks of if victory is to be hers when she flies to China in November to represent Canada in Sanshou competition — a martial art that incorporates punching, kicking, kneeing and throws.

She won’t have the edge in experience.

It was only a year ago that the 23-year-old mother of two engaged in a wrestling match with a male companion outside a bar and realized she might have a future in physical combat.

The friend she tussled with, more than impressed with her performance, suggested she try martial arts.

The five-foot-seven, 126-pound hairdresser signed up for karate.

Within weeks, Hennenfent was sparring with black belts.

The decision to subcontract the operation of her hair salon and leave Princeton became necessary if she was going to pursue a career in martial arts.

Hennenfent caught wind of LaRoche’s World Gung Fu and kickboxing gym in Kamloops during some training sessions in Port Moody.

After four weeks of driving back and forth from Princeton to Kamloops to train with LaRoche, she decided to move her young family to the River City.

“When I see somebody taking that initiative, I know they’re serious and it really touches close to home for me,” said LaRoche, a four-time kickboxing world champion-turned head coach.

“She has a stubbornness, grit and determination that I haven’t seen in many people.”

LaRoche, realizing how much natural talent Hennenfent possessed, began to step up the intensity of his young protege’s training and, when the time was right, scheduled her to face some live action.

It wasn’t long before she was 4-0 in Shanshou competition.

Winning a series of elimination kickboxing-style matches at a Can-Am tournament in Vancouver earned Hennenfent a spot on a seven-person, mixed-gender team invited on an all-expenses paid trip to China in November for a Sanshou tournament that will be televised in more than 20 Asian countries.

An in-ring ticking “Tyme” bomb, LaRoche believes Hennenfent possesses the explosiveness needed to drop her Chinese adversaries.

“They’re not going to invite you over and just put anybody in.

“They are going to put some of their very best in,” LaRoche said.

“She’ll be ready. I’m going to push her, push Tyme beyond how far she thinks she can go.

“If you have fun in the gym, it’s going to be a bad experience in the ring. If you punish yourself in the gym, you’ll have fun in the ring.”

The Chinese team is known for its patriotism, according to LaRoche, and its members’ in-ring resiliency means the only surefire way to victory is via the knockout.

Yet to knock an opponent out, Hennenfent is looking forward to the experience.

“It’ll be nice to really catch somebody and stop the fight,” she said with an almost-evil smile on her face.

Training six days a week, twice a day and working at a local salon to support her family, Tennenfent remains focused on one thing — preparing herself for victory in China.

“I’m really aggressive,” she said.

“I have to win. I’ve been like that all my life.”