Nathan Olson and Olson's Gym were featured in the Goldstream Gazette, on Tuesday, November 10, 2009.

A burgeoning community is bringing more martial arts to the West Shore.

If anyone has noticed the boom it’s Nathan Olson, owner of Olson’s Martial Arts Karate and Boxing Centre.
“It’s a growing community,” Olson said. “There are many people here with a growing interest. The fight community is big in Victoria, it’s bigger than people realize.”
For most of his life Olson has been teaching martial arts on the West Shore and has seen his business expand with the population.
Olson along with West Shore gym owners such as Keri Scarr of Crusher Combat Sports Inc. and Leigh Mueller of Canada’s Best Karate say the bulk of their clients are youth and families.
“The West Shore is where the young families are going,” Mueller said. “That’s why we opened up our Langford location.”
Olson, 33, started teaching karate when he was 10 years old. His father built the first Olson’s Gym on his property on Rocky Point Road in Metchosin in the mid-1980s. For the past five years Olson has been operating his gym at Colwood Corners.That location has
been great for business he said.
“Where I am right now, is a 10 out of 10,” Olson said. “It has given me the opportunity to purchase my own property and have a custom built facility.”
In the new year, Olson is moving his business to a new location, renamed Olson’s Gym, on Mount View Avenue in Colwood. At 8,000 square feet it is twice the size of his current gym. At his new location Olson will continue to offer karate and boxing instruction and will add judo, jujitsu, yoga and kickboxing.

It is not just Olson expanding his business. For seven years pro kickboxer Scarr has been teaching martial arts in various recreation centres throughout Greater Victoria, including at West Shore Parks and Recreation. Now instead of having to travel she will have her own location and be able to offer more classes and programs.
“Time and space is a challenge at the rec centres,” Scarr said.
In January Scarr and her partner Mike Jorgensen are planning to open a gym on West Shore Parkway in Langford.
“There has been a boom (in martial arts interest) since the Ultimate Fighting Championship started,” Scarr said. “The West Shore community is extremely supportive. I have a huge fan base here. Twelve years ago when I started fighting people would just look at us and shame us.”
Along with purchasing her own gym, Scarr is also incorporating her business as well. “We will be the only martial arts business (in
Victoria) that is incorporated on commercial development,” Scarr said. By incorporating the business Scarr said she has the opportunity to seek investors and sell shares in the business.
A benefit to her location on West Shore Parkway is that her students from Duncan and Shawnigan Lake won’t have to travel as far and maybe she can get more students from those communities, she said.
“I have West Shore students who travel to (my downtown classes) and then (downtown) students who travel to my West Shore classes to get more training time in with me.”
Once the gym is open, Crusher Combat Sports will offer mixed martial arts, muay thai kickboxing, submission wrestling, self-defense, sport yoga, Commando Krav-Maga and bootcamps. It will also have a fitness gym with weights and cardio equipment.
At their respective new locations, Scarr and Olson have plans to host fighting events.
“If we can do this together and support each other, it will benefit both of us,” Olson said.
“We’ve been friends for a long time and we’ve trained with each other too.”

Already Olson has secured the bid to host the B.C. Golden Gloves in April. For this boxing event, Olson is going to focus on
bringing athletes from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Washington State to compete with B.C. pugilists.
The West Shore is already a hot spot for sanctioned fighting. Boxing, kickboxing and MMA events have been held at Eagle Ridge Arena, Western Speedway and Bear Mountain Area.
Mueller has been hosting small fights out of his dojo for about a year.
“It helps the students develop more and feel what it’s like to be in a fight,” Mueller said.
“I want it to be family oriented but also provide opportunities for people to advance if they want to,” Scarr said. “I’ve trained and competed with the best people in the world. I can definitely get people where they want to go.”
sports@goldstreamgazette.com