HUSBAND-WIFE FIRST COUPLE EVER IN HALL OF FAME!
 
            SOUTHERN COLORADO: 5th degree black belt Master Shirley Bendell of Florence, Colorado was shocked and surprised at a banquet at the Pueblo Shrine Club Hall at Pueblo West, Colorado when she was inducted into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame, joining her husband Grandmaster Don Bendell, a 1995 inductee, to become the first husband and wife ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Former World Champion and 1988 inductee Grandmaster Bob Chaney flew in from Temecula, California to make the surprise induction. Public about being a former victim of gang and acquaintance rape, Master Bendell was cited for her renowned Sexual Assault Prevention clinics for women and girls which have saved many females from rape and domestic assault; her innovative Mini-Ninja program for 3, 4, and 5 year olds which was the first of its kind in southern Colorado and is now copied by every major school in the state; and it was brought out that Master Shirley Bendell when competing in tournament competition not only won first place every time she fought, she has never had one single point scored against her by another woman in sparring competition.
            With tears flowing before the audience of several hundred, Master Bendell was first surprised with a “This is Your Life- Shirley Bendell” ceremony with one of her 2 Green Beret sons on his way to Afghanistan walking out in his dress greens, as well as her oldest son and his family, her 2 best friends from high school in Youngstown, Ohio in the late sixties, and other family members and friends who flew in from all over the country. Messages of congratulations were read from friends Bo Derek, H. Ross Perot, and other celebrities.
            A grandmother of 7, mother of 3, and step-mother of 3; Master Bendell owns and operates Bendell Karate in Pueblo West and Canon City with her husband and is a 5th degree black belt master instructor in Song Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do, Freestyle Karate, Shita Jujitsu, and Judo. Shirley has a Bachelors degree in film and television from Colorado State University-Pueblo and is working on her Masters degree in Business Leadership at Grand Canyon University along with Don. Don is an author, editorialist, and public speaker.

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