Sensei Joseph Boteler
Joseph was born on September 3rd 1973, to Joseph (Rick) Boteler Sr. and Lori Boteler At Washoe Medical Center in Reno, Nevada. When Joe was born He was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition called tetrology of fellot (a hole in his heart). The surgery was not a common practice and he was to young, so they had to wait until he was 2 years of age before they could operate. The doctors told Joe’s parents that there was a ninety percent chance that he would die on the operating table. Rick and Lori have always been people of great faith, and through prayer and God’s divine intervention Joe made it through with no complications. Eight years later he did have to have a second surgery to enlarge one of the ventricles, God once again had His hand on Joe’s life (this time there was an eighty percent chance that he could die). Everything from that point on, was fine until one night in 1992, when he was testing for his orange belt, during his kata his heart rate went up to 320 beats per minute, he experienced what is called ventricular technecardia. God once again had his hand on Joe, because during the time that the doctors were trying to figure out what was wrong and what medication to use on him, he sustained six of these attacks, the first four had a length of fifteen minutes and the last two were over thirty minutes in length. The doctors told Joe that a normal person would be dead after five minutes. Joe gives God all the glory, by stating, “God truly carried me through the difficult times in my life.” Since then he has been free and clear of all problems with his heart for over ten years.
Joe started his martial arts training when he was ten years old, after his second surgery, his first instructor was his uncle Eric Silverberg, who started to teach him Okanawan Shorin-Ryu, and Tai-Chi. Joe’s dad, however, thought that it was to violent and that he could get hurt, so he made him stop and said that if he wanted to continue, that once he graduated high school, and if he paid for it himself he could continue. The day after graduation, June 6th 1991, Joe went down to a local school and signed up. He first met Grand Master Stanford McNeal when the school put on a seminar for Kifaru-Jitsu (then known as Goju-Shorei Kifaru). Joe was so impressed with the speed and economy of motion that all of the Kifaru teachers had, that he told his instructor, “I want to move like that”. He then asked his instructor, if anyone taught that system in town, after a long run around he was told that one of the black belts at the studio received his black belt from Grand Master McNeal, this was Roy Brewer, Joe then started to train with Roy on a regular basis and started to see tremendous improvements, in his form and overall skill. Roy then took him to train with Senior Master Instructor Joey Walker who had a class up at the local community college.
During this time he also met and married his wife Jade and had his first two sons Cory and Caelen. This caused him to take four years off, from training. Then one day when Joe and his family were at the lake he was watching to little children playing karate, his wife saw him watching them and said, ”You want to tell them what they are doing wrong don’t you?” She then told him that he needed to continue his martial arts training. So the next day Joe looked up the local Kifaru-Jitsu instructor Gina Barker. Sensei Barker said that since he had only achieved the rank of purple under Roy, that he could not wear his green belt. He was also told that he would be required to go through all the sheets and katas again and when he had them down correctly she would test him for his green in Kifaru. From that moment on Joe new that this was the system for him. Later that year he started to train with Senior Master Joey Walker up at the local community college. From that point on he trained non- stop until he received his shodan (first degree black belt) in December of 2002. Joe’s third son, Connor, was also born in 2002.
The greatest advice that Joe said that he could give is to work hard and never give up, if you have an opportunity to train with any of our senior instructors, ask as many questions as possible and commit the answers to paper, attend all of the seminars as possible and always get to were you can see the entire technique. For all the aspiring kyu ranks, the one thing that he learned from his black belt test is that it is only the beginning, and that the martial arts are a lifetime commitment. God gives us all a measure of talent, but it is up to us to develop it, if you bury it in the sand, all you get is sand, if you put it to use you will always see its fruits. Joe also said, “Thank you to all those that have helped me in my martial art journey, GOD first, my wife Jade and my boys, Cory, Caelen, and the newest one Connor, to my instructors, Grand Master Stanford McNeal, Senior Master Alexander Archie, Senior Master Joey Walker, Master Stephanie (McNeal) Gordon, Sensei Gina (Barker) Crites, Sensei Ross Briggs, Sensei Mark Karlinzig, all those in the Kifaru and BKF systems who have helped me along the way, may God richly bless you all for blessing me.”
Joe’s Tournament Accomplishments
2001
2nd in Kata Silver State Open
3rd in sparring Brown Belt division Silver State Open
2nd in sparring Brown and Black Belt division Lassen Invitational
2002
1st in Kata Silver State Open
2nd in sparring Brown Belt division Silver State Open