A Vancouver Island martial arts gym has issued a public apology after its owner was identified in a recent investigative report as having attended what security experts describe as a neo-N*zi conference held in Vancouver this summer.
Foundry Combat Sports, located in Duncan, British Columbia, released a statement expressing regret after owner Ron Pearce was linked to the July gathering at the Scottish Cultural Center. The event, organized by a group called the Exiles of the Golden Age, drew over 50 attendees and featured speakers promoting questionable ideologies.
“We want to sincerely apologize to our community for the disappointment and harm caused by Ron’s recent actions,” the gym’s statement read. “Attending the event was a serious mistake, and we take full responsibility for it.”
According to the gym’s explanation, Pearce received an invitation from someone in the martial arts community who characterized the gathering as a European history convention. The statement acknowledged that failing to verify the event’s actual nature beforehand “was a grave mistake on our part.”
The gym emphasized its complete rejection of these beliefs: “To be clear we have absolutely no connection to, nor do we support, any N*zi or white supre macist beliefs, ideologies, groups, or individuals associated with that event.”
Foundry Combat Sports’s instagram page has since been removed.
Pearce also posted a video response addressing the investigation. In the recording, he described arriving at the venue and encountering what he perceived as an unremarkable cultural event. He claimed to have observed women and children present, along with historical artifacts he said dated back centuries before the WWII era.
He described the speakers’ topics as covering ancient cultural practices, Norse and Anglo-Saxon mythology, and concepts related to what he called “masculine warrior culture.”
Pearce maintained that he witnessed nothing overtly hateful during the presentations and expressed surprise at how the event was characterized in subsequent reporting.
However, security researchers who monitored the event paint a starkly different picture. The Exiles of the Golden Age, which organized the conference, takes its name from writings by Savitri Devi, a N*zi philosopher who idolized H*tler. Promotional materials for the gathering featured WWII imagery and N*zi symbolism.
International speakers included Swedish content creator Marcus Folen and Paul Wagner, co-founder of the Wolves of Vinland. According to the investigation, Wagner told attendees: “What we do is not an escapism, nor is it a fantasy. It is a war for our future.”
The conference theme reportedly centered on “forming disciplined groups of men who can rebuild our world amidst the coming wreckage,”.
Pearce was not the only fitness professional identified at the gathering. Lane Palmer, listed as a coach at Westshore Boxing Gym in Langford, was named as an event organizer. The gym confirmed he is “no longer part of their gym” after learning of his involvement.
The Scottish Cultural Center’s executive director claimed the organizers had misrepresented the event’s purpose, saying they were told it was “a book release.”
Pearce expressed regret over the consequences of his attendance becoming public. ” I regret it for the fallout, you know, that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze on this one.”
Foundry Combat Sports’ written apology struck a more contrite tone, acknowledging the impact on community members and appealing to the gym’s previous reputation: “We understand that our attendance has deeply impacted members of our community, and we regret it wholeheartedly. We can only hope that our actions, conduct and reputation in the community up until this point are enough to grant your forgiveness.”
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