Canadian World Champion Arm Wrestler Devon Larratt addresses CFB Shilo personnel in December 2023 at two presentations where he shared techniques and thought on soldier and sporting resiliency and mindset. Photo: K-J Millar/Shilo Stag News

K-J Millar
Shilo Stag News – Special Feature

Part One:

World champion Canadian arm wrestler Devon Larratt has seen first-hand, with both his left and right, his share of challenges and adversity throughout his armed forces career and his journey to be number one in his sport of choice.

He shared messages of resiliency, simplicity, and the importance of mindset when addressing a mix of troops and civilians at CFB Shilo in December. This is part one of a two-part feature sharing his experiences.

Attendees to the two seminars at General Strange Hall (GSH) heard about the significance of physicality, spirituality and luck when the world champ spoke before the new year with expected overseas deployments starting in March. He drew a verbal picture as to how he sees sports and soldiering as a segued union.

After spending more than 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the now-retired member, who was once an integral cog in the most elite and secretive military special forces machine, the Joint Task Force (JTF2), said he wanted to share his knowledge and experience to assist preparing soldiers to be their best when the CAF does its “highest level of work.”

For those unfamiliar with the various CAF divisions, Joint Task Force 2 is Canada’s national mission force responsible for the military’s most dangerous and sensitive missions, including counterterrorism and hostage rescue.

Larratt started his early Forces journey as a reservist, continuing on to Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) and a tour in Bosnia. He then transferred to the Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR). He finished his Army career at Dwyer Hill in JTF2 as an elite forces member to become just as superior at a different type of hand-to-hand match.

He said while one could state that everything the Forces does is meaningful, whether at home or overseas, some of the most challenging moments are when soldiers go to fight or are part of an overseas mission.

“Whether you’re a supporter or in the combat arms, there is a very high likelihood that you will be in the face of the enemy.”

As a child, the arm wrestling boss always self-identified as a fighter. He loved the feeling he got when wrestling and was drawn to it. As he grew up, his natural thought process was that being part of the Forces was not just the best way he could contribute to his country but was the best way to help humanity.

Weaving his words for the audience to intertwine how sports and combat intersect, he said his father influenced him when he was young.

“So I always heard from my father that all sport is derived from war. All the lessons you learn in war – there is a sport for it.”

He said when soldiers think about building themselves and solidifying everything that makes them better soldiers, they can find many of those fundamentals in the practice of sport.

One of those elements is the need to become physically close to people they train and work with. He encourages martial arts for this because of the close contact and intimacy of the sport.

“As a soldier, you don’t shoot everybody you meet. There’s a lot of times we have to touch people … it’s super important to be extremely comfortable when you’re close to somebody in physical proximity.”

He recounted a night-time mission he was part of in an area deemed hostile, close to Kandahar after Canadian soldiers were killed by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).

Larratt and his team were told to hit up a building around midnight where insurgents were believed to be. He said they cleared the building and an additional two blocks of buildings, completing the task until sunrise.

“Every single building, for whatever reason, was identified as super-hostile. In every single building, we were met with people who wanted to physically fight us.”

He likened it to a World Wrestling Entertainment King of the Ring tournament.

“There were 14 people in front of me. We’re making entry through the front gate. I come into the main compound … and it’s like WWE where all the guys are in the room and they’re throwing each other around.”

“What I realized after that was even as high-level soldiers, you have to practice fighting because you have to be very comfortable at all times touching people.”

“The physical resilience, the mental resilience, the ability to think quickly at that tempo, sports is an absolute wonderful trainer.”

Sport helps soldiers know their body and how to keep it going. Different training will equip each athlete or soldier with different gifts, he said.

A point Larrett has personally reflected on is mindset and how it affects everyday interactions and well-being.

“It’s very important to understand that you don’t always have the same mindset. I think day to day, you’re going have the mindset of being in a community. You’re part of a team – you’re part of your community. You have many groups. You have the soldiers you work with, your families, your friend group, maybe you have a cycling group or a hobby, and you operate on a kind of very peaceful level. Then, for the most part, sport becomes more competitive.”

He pointed out there is also a war mindset in which soldiers must learn to divide the different ways of thinking to navigate back and forth, which sports can assist with.

Soldiers need an outlet for their energy, he said. Armwrestling gave Larratt that release. He was taught to arm wrestle by his grandmother, who, as folktale has it, was the arm wrestling champion of Alberta.

“The ability to let lose my energy was really, really, important. It’s been a constant drill my whole life.”

He said as he got older, he trained more and more and set goals to be a world champion.

“I was 32 or 33 years old and already my elbows were a mess … everything was sliding backwards … They told me you’re done. You can’t do this anymore.”

Doctors and professionals predicted two years left for him in competition. Larratt required surgery in 2013 and was told he would never again be arm wrestling champion of the world. He pivoted his angle and changed hands.

“But, now I’m back again. I’m the oldest heavyweight champion that has ever lived in the sport.”

“When it comes to being able to not quit, when it comes to being able to move forward, goals are the most important thing … There are many ways to fix yourself to become more resilient. The very most important thing is to have goals.”

While setting goals is significant for continued resilience, the goals have to be attainable, in line with your own spirit and in line with who and what you are.

“I’m 48. I do believe I will continue to arm wrestle until I’m dust, probably, and it’s for a very simple reason – just because I love it. When you set goals, it allows everything else in your life to fall in line.”

Life is simple when things fall in line and simplicity is one of the most important concepts for whatever you are trying to do, he said.

“… Simplicity is how you win. You win by being more precise and more simple. It’s not the fourth step you win on. You win on the first step. The first is always the most important.”

He said the simplest things about being a soldier are physical fitness and physical and mental preparedness.

“You have to be as good an individual as you have to be a team player. You can never quit. You can never quit.”

He explained that physicality is a soldier’s shield.

“The more physically fit you are, the more armour you have when the real bullets hit you. The real bullets will eventually hit everyone.”

Those real bullets come later, he said, referring to the mental after-effects of combat and how mental strength is just as important as physical prowess.

Activities such as sports or learning languages are examples of ways to help prepare for anything that is trying to be accomplished, he explained.

“You may not think that playing the piano is what is going to win you the war or succeed on a mission, but I tell you, it could very well be any skill you bring to the table. You never know when it is going to be a value.”

READ MORE: Part Two: Devon Larratt speaks to CFB Shilo of fear, risk and tested spirituality