BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Self-Defense TRAINING
Wes Doss, a prominent instructor in the law enforcement community, passed away earlier this year. Author Paul Pawela had the privilege of working with him several times over the years.
ARE YOU TRAINING TO LOSE TOO? ‘Every human being can learn from defeat; in fact, it often makes us stronger.’
STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAUL PAWELA
everal years ago, a book came out titled Train to Win by Wes Doss. At the time, I thought the notion of a book with this title was kind of silly because as law enforcement officers or civilian CCW permitholders, we always train to win and never train to lose. For the record, Doss, who passed away earlier this year, was one of the best instructors in the law enforcement community. He went above the call of duty, traveling across the country with his free law enforcement training events, titled Lights, Sights & Lasers. However, even in his book, he
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does not address the subject of losing. As a lifelong trainer in both firearms and martial arts, we rarely talk about losing the fight, whether it’s military, law enforcement or civilian engagements. But unfortunately, sooner or later, it is going to happen. The best way to deal with it is to recognize it when it is happening, regroup and reassess to live to fight another day. Not long ago, one of the most dominant females in mixed martial arts to ever step in the ring, Ronda Rousey, was upset and soundly defeated by a former World Boxing champion named Holly Holm. Holm had also been welltrained in kickboxing and grappling, and it showed in her fight with Rousey.
Most of Rousey’s fights before Holm did not go more than one round, as Rousey usually dominated her opponents in short order. Thus, she never lost. In fact, she had never lost in an MMA fighting setting until her match with Holm. Afterwards, Rousey was whisked from the ring with her head tucked down and with a hoodie covering her face in disgrace. Here’s the real problem: Sometime later, Rousey publicly admitted on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she contemplated suicide because the loss devastated her so much. Let that sink in. One of the best fighters in the world considered taking her own life because she never lost a fight and was crushed when she did. americanshootingjournal.com 33
