It should be the end of the story, since you can't prove otherwise your disbelief can only be opinion.
I'd say you're right re your training. I recall hearing a squad of paint ballers (lol) once beat the crap out of a squad of Marines in a search and destroy game. I assumed the paint ball crew gets to practice a lot more since they fund it themselves. On the other hand, live fire, live blade, and full-contact experience is burned in deeper than that of any exercise or role playing.