The Sheriff of Koutu  : sharing  his story  … reluctantly 

Words Jill Nicholas

Pictures, video Stephen Parker

Psst - wanna know a secret about that super fit Josh Te Kowhai fullah?

It's that if a spotlight's trained on this fully certified Ironman he turns into a quivering jelly. 

In Profile's experienced this metamorphosis first hand as he attempts  - thankfully unsuccessfully - to give us the brush off.

Under pressure to establish why he's so unwilling to join the ranks of In Profile's featured alumni, he fesses up that talking about himself terrifies him.  

It sends his sweat glands into overdrive.

His hands go clammy, his throat dries up.

He claims he barely slept the night before we were to meet. 

Much as modesty becomes him he reluctantly -  make that very reluctantly -  accepts that we are under orders to get him to shelve his reticence and let his inspirational story be told. 

It's members of Te Taipakeke who've put Josh's weights up. They've urged us to feature him so knowledge of the hurdles he's overcome can be shared far and wide.

For the uninitiated, Te Taipakeke is the posse of gold card carrying kuia and kaumatua, both Maori and Pakeha, whom Josh puts through their paces at the Waikite Gym every Tuesday.

There can be anywhere between 70 and 80 of them flexing their not-so-young muscles, doing cardio work, weightlifting and balance exercises. 

Josh is their super hero, the personal trainer who keeps them supple, fit and fall-free. That's something he regards as essential  for those of more mature years. He knows what it's like to live with a broken hip.

What we have here is a mutual admiration society.

Josh is every bit as impressed by the Pakeke's grit and determination as they are with his.

These are attributes that came to the fore when his life was all but terminated in his 20s.

Overtired, he crashed his car. Doctors initially feared it would be RIP Josh.

When he defied death the next downer delivered was that it was unlikely he'd walk again.

If by some miracle he did it was decreed he definitely wouldn't be back on the rugby paddock.

 At the time he was playing semi-professionally in Canberra and his career was escalating. 

Those who made these grim predictions didn't know the willpower that drives this big guy known to most hereabouts as the Sheriff of Koutu. 

We'll get to how that came to be as his story unfolds. 

Koutu to the core

He starts it with the revelation he's Koutu to the core - always has been, always will be. 

He's Koutu made - the baby of the late Ambrose and Honey Te Kowhai's whanau of 14.

"We weren't the biggest whanau by a long shot. There were 20 kids in the one over the back fence.

"There was no TV in those days," is his deadpan reasoning why the birth rate of the era was so high.

We quickly learn Josh does a great line in one liners.
His humour’s something else the Pakeke love him for.

Which returns us to their favourite hangout, the Waikite Club. 

Josh played his first rugby there at five.  He was in the inaugural Maori 7s team in the early1990s. 

Rugby wasn't his sole sporting pursuit.

At intermediate and throughout his high school years he boxed competitively.

"I really enjoyed boxing. It gave me heaps of life lessons.

"I still see the guys I fought alongside then. I'm really proud of Aaron Warren who runs the Rotovegas Gym and seeing how the kids he trains are doing. 

"He's one of the most talented boxers I've ever seen."

There he goes again - talking about someone else's achievements in an attempt to deflect from his own. 

Nice try Josh, but back to you.

Manual labour -  The Warehouse

From Western Heights High he initially went down the manual labour route.

"Fencing, farm work, hay making and bailing, chopping and delivered firewood. 

"I got a heap of calluses. I've worn gloves ever since."

"I was going from job to job. I didn't like staying in one place too long. I wanted to try everything."

He gave building work for The Warehouse a go, travelling the country.

"That was a great job, refitting or building Warehouses.

"You got to talk to everybody. At that stage everybody went to The Warehouse."

He gave it away after two years, coming home when his first son was born in 2000.

Throughout his time away he'd be back weekends to play for Waikite. 

That continued when he returned and got a job at Waipa.

"I dabbled all over the place there, manual work, the export section."

Canberra - Gungahlin Eagles

That was until his great Waikite mate and Bay rep Thompson Tapsell enticed him to Canberra to play semi-professionally with the Gungahlin Eagles.

It's run under the Brumbies umbrella.

Josh's first pre-season training game across the Tasman didn’t cover him in glory.

"It wasn’t a happy one, I pulled a hammy."

He'd bucked up by his first full-on game, notching up a couple of tries.

"If you can show any talent over there doors just open up for you.

"Business guys work hard to outdo each other with their job offers.

"I ended up working for one of them who had a scaffolding outfit.

"There were 20 people from Koutu in the company." 

Josh was also working nights as a bouncer. It made for a long day.

"Scaffolding in the morning, team training in the afternoon and evening then bouncing at night.

"I really had to learn how to manage my sleep.

"My days were sleep, eat, train, work nights. There wasn't much time to play."
But came the day he decided to play, joining his mates at the Canberra races before his night shift kicked in.

Crash, aftermath

"I was really tired when I finished about 3am.

"I pulled over at a servo, bought a pie and a drink. I thought I'd

have a quick sleep but there were too many noisy trucks.

"I drove off with the window down. I was singing real loud but I was aware my voice was getting quieter. 

"I said to myself 'I need to pull over or I'll crash'.

"I was aware my body was shutting down."

Josh didn't pull over soon enough. The inevitable happened.

"The last thing I remember was going around a corner. I woke up and a tree was in front of my eyes. Glass was flying past me.

"The keys came out of the ignition. Everything was in slow mo.

"That changed my life for me."

Several cars passed him. None stopped until a good Samaritan pulled up.

"The engine had started smoking. I said to this guy 'Get me out of here'.

"He went to get me out. I let out my first scream. 

"I said 'I'll pull the dash forward and you pull me.'

"I just fell on the ground. This guy was shaking like a leaf.

"I didn't blame him one bit.

"I got him to ring Thompson [Tapsell].

"When he drove past my car on his way to the hospital he didn't recognise it because it was so smashed up."

Life hanging by a thread 

Josh was even more smashed up. 

Both arms were broken, his ankles crushed, his kneecaps  shattered and his front teeth knocked out.

With his life hanging by a thread an operation was imperative but that servo pie and drink had to be digested before he could be  anaesthetised.

"I had to lie there for eight hours before they could knock me out."

But his induced sleep wasn’t deep enough. Josh woke up mid operation. He's typically gung-ho about it.

"It was quite funny really. I thought I was in a dream. It  certainly confused the doctors and nurses.

"I said 'I'm going to be sick.'  I remember they said 'do you want a bucket?'

"I guess that pie and drink were still lingering in my system."

When he came round again it was to the reality of both legs in casts and being unable to move his arms.

Josh being Josh he tried to rush his recovery. He failed dismally.

"When I went to the toilet I'd try and stand up but it didn’t work. I'd fall over."

See what we mean about his trademark grit and determination.

Hard out physio

He credits his hospital physio with being the most positive person he's ever met.

"Doctors said I wouldn't be able to do this and that.

"The physio said 'We'll see about that'.  

"I certainly didn’t go to physio to muck around. I went as hard out as I could."

While bed-bound he wrote a list of pros and cons.

"On the pros side I put I didn't have to go to work. On the other side I said I was stuck there.

"I got depression watching the clock tick over every 24 hours."

There were further operations - his kneecaps were replaced and covered with skin which was grafted from his legs.

Josh encourages kids to put their finger in one particularly deep hole in his leg. It's not for entertainment but to impress on them how important it is to understand the consequences of not driving safely.

Rapid rugby comeback

He was out of hospital in time to play the last game of the Canberra season. It was seven months after the crash that so nearly killed him.

"It was in the fourth grade, the lowest. I did it to prove to them and me I came back and did it."

He was back in Koutuland by Christmas that year and walking "just fine."

He went on to play two seasons worth of rugby for Waikite  seniors "But I'd lost my speed.

"I like to be going hard out but I'd gone from feet with springs attached to having wooden legs."

Sport was fine for leisure hours but Josh was stumped by what to do workwise.

Life's trajectory changed

That was until he saw a health and fitness course advertised online. It was run by the then Bay of Plenty polytech on its Pyes Pa campus. Josh signed on.

"The tutors were inspiring. They changed my trajectory in life. I learnt how to show other people that you can change your goals  and be successful."

Not long after he graduated Josh was trawling through Trade Me when he saw an Edgecumbe gym was selling its equipment.

"I bought it and shipped it here [the Waikite Club].

"It had been agreed at an AGM that I could operate here."

The Waikite gym was born in 2010.

The Pakeke group came to him nine years later.

Ironman 

In 2019 he was given the surprise of his life. Unbeknown to him he'd been nominated for a Tony Jackson scholarship that gave him  entry into the Taupo Ironman. It also gave him pool use, training weekends and six months of coaching by experts. All came free. 

"Knisha Ruland and my partner Tairi Ford nominated and seconded me. 

"All my mates were in on it. I was presented with it at a big party."

On Ironman day Josh crossed the finish line in 14.45 hours.

"I had no real expectations of time.

"My sole goal had been to start and finish the race unscathed.

"I admit I had a wee cry on the bike.

"I was reflecting on how proud my parents would have been.

"Hopefully it inspires my kids to do something similar."

Once again Josh's grit and determination was at play. He conquered the course despite an agonisingly sore hip.

At risk youth, Sheriff title 

As well as running his gym (it's a 24/7 operation) he works closely with the police and other agencies to give at-risk youth a shot at straightening themselves out.

He takes school groups for gym classes during term time and in school holidays runs courses at the youth justice facility.

He coaches girls' rugby and rugby league teams in Tokoroa.

Community work ranks top billing on Josh's agenda.

Which brings us to that Sheriff of Koutu title.

"One of our relatives had his house knocked off. 

"We did some door knocking, people talked.

"We got his gear back on day one." 

That speedy resolution led to another Koutu stalwart, Kingi Biddle, coming up with the sheriff handle. It stuck. 

Josh has a knack of smelling trouble before it happens.

He's known to make unannounced night patrols on his bike. He views it as a community service.

 As those up to no good have discovered he's not a man to be trifled with.

Volunteering

Volunteering at most of Rotorua's major sporting events goes hand in glove with gym and Waikite club membership.

"Most need 50 or 60 'vollies' but we can pull in over 100 if they're required.  

"We do Legends of the Peak, the Tarawera Ultra, Run the Forest, Cranks [Crankworx]."

One of his best mates, Ari Tibble, is Crankworx executive director. As we gleefully remind Josh, Ari's featured in In Profile without a hint of the fuss he's kicked up.

Regardless, Josh has a bone to pick with him.

"I built a track for him all by myself. I was carrying rocks all day then in the end they didn't use that bloody track."

Josh laughs about it now.  He didn’t at the time.

Hip replacement, cancer

Eighteen months ago Josh had a hip replacement. The timing was appalling.

Mere days earlier Tairi had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"That forced me to recover real fast. I had to manage the household while she was going through chemo, radiotherapy, an operation.

"It was a real roller coaster of a time.

"We were going through everything other families with cancer experience.

 "There were tears, a lot of sleepless nights."

Tairi had been assisting him with the Pakeke sessions.

"We managed everything with the power of positive thinking."

The day after his hip op he walked a kilometre. 

Most mornings he walks with his oldest son, Chaedyn, before they work together at the gym.

"I love that father-son time. It drives me to get up." 

His tight-knit Koutu community is equally as important to Josh Te Kowhai as his immediate whanau is. Let's face it ,coming from such a giant-sized family means a lot are his rellies.

During lockdown he organised food parcels for those doing it tough.

Come Christmas there are those who will find a gift card or something for the kids magically appearing at their whare.

Odds are the Sheriff's organised for the festive fairy to pass by.

He does what he does because he loves the place.

"Koutu will always be my home. It's the heartbeat of Rotorua."