By Don Bendell

Whoops! You Dropped Your Gauntlet Down in Front of Me!

In every state, there are laws directed at people like me, professional martial artists, professional boxers, kickboxers, and mixed martial arts pros. Such laws are referred to as “back to the wall” laws. In essence, they mean that such people simply cannot get into a fight, unless it is a clearcut case of self-defense where someone endangers your life or the life of an innocent person who cannot defend themselves. In other words, I cannot have road rage like some drivers.

This is a tremendous responsibility, and the question in any confrontation I ask myself is, “What would a normal judge say? Well, Mr. Bendell, when Mr. Smith got mouthy and you saw the potential for violence, why didn’t you run away or walk away quickly to diffuse it? Just because it was your right, was it wise or prudent for you to stay?”

The last stanza, in the late Kenny Rogers’ 1979 hit Coward of the County, he sang:

"I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you've done
I walk away from trouble when I can
Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek
And Papa, I should hope you understand
Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man"

Many years ago, I created DON BENDELL’S CODE OF THE WEST and I live by it:

Cowboys should treat women like ladies, period.

Cowboys fight fair, they fight only when they have to, and when they do have to fight, they win, period.

You know exactly where you stand with a cowboy. There are no gray areas, only black and white, but not when it comes to skin color.

A cowboy is only as good as his word.

A cowboy protects his family, spread, and community.

A cowboy will fight for, and take care of orphans, widows, and those who are oppressed.

A cowboy will go out of his way to avoid a fight and is always willing to share his grub, campfire, and water.

A cowboy believes in his God, and he believes in America and will fight and die to protect either.

You see, I am not just a martial artist but I am also a cowboy. Therefore, I am also a man. When judges and/or prosecutors repeatedly let vicious felons go free on their own recognizance, when a multiple-violent offender sucker punches a 93 year old woman on a city street putting her in a coma, or a man working in a fast food restaurant sucker punches an eighty-some year old man leaving him dead. When violent rioters destroy streets and buildings, attack police officers, when a national election is illegally and expertly interfered with just so one party will win, when my grand-daughters have to worry about simply going into a restroom where grown men or boys are exposing themselves claiming that they’re a girl at heart, when baby after baby is murdered just because some consider its birth to be an inconvenience, when some pantywaist politician abuses their elected power to mercilessly and repeatedly attack a sitting or former President because he scares them; well, then I reckon they decided to toss their gauntlet down in front of me.

Real men don’t make threats, but we do sometimes make promises. I have a promise for the Adam Schiffs, the Clintons, Pelosis, the Gitensteins, the Klains, the ten billionaires financially backing Joe Biden, the Obamas and all of their puppets in-between, you tossed your gauntlet down before me, and I have picked it up. It is not just me. I have a very large posse. You will recognize us. We are all on white horses, black horses, brown horses, yellow horses, and red horses, and we are all wearing red, white, and blue outfits.

I promise you all this. This is my country, which God blessed us with, and nobody is taking it, or our freedoms, away from us. You have tried hard, but you have failed, and we are taking it back . . . period.

In 1968, I was a young Green Beret first lieutenant and a young, rich, spoiled Vietnamese Special Forces sergeant whose wealthy daddy bought his stripes and Vietnamese Green Beret for him challenged me to a duel. His goal was to make me lose face in front of the Montagnard mercenaries I was leading. I was wearing a .357 magnum revolver in a quick draw holster, and he was wearing an Army Model 1911 .45 automatic in a military holster. I stared daggers at him and told my interpreter to count to three in Vietnamese and then we would draw. Guess who is still standing here? Green Berets and real cowboys do not bluff. I have spoken.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Don Bendell is a best-selling author whose style has been likened to Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, and Robin Moore. Don is a former US Army Special Forces Captain and 100% disabled Green Beret Vietnam veteran, and a 1995 inductee into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame. Don owns the Strongheart Ranch in southern Colorado, with his social psychologist and fellow author, wife, Dr. Janet Bendell. Don is the author of 30 books, mainly westerns and military thrillers, with over 3,000,000 copies in print worldwide, a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2011, and a successful motion picture which he also produced, directed, and co-starred in. He has 6 grown children and 13 grand-children and has a Master’s degree in Leadership from Grand Canyon University.