The doors of Zuma Ultimate Martial Arts in Victoria, British Columbia have permanently closed following a cascade of s*xual misconduct allegations against owner Adam Zugec. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who received his promotion from Marcus Soares in March 2008.
What began as a single brave woman’s Reddit post has snowballed into a full-scale police investigation that has effectively ended one of Victoria’s most prominent martial arts establishments. The Victoria Police Department is now investigating formal complaints filed by multiple women who trained at the facility.
The allegations first surfaced when a former student, identifying herself only as “Jane Doe” to protect her identity, shared her troubling experiences on the social media platform. Jane, a one-stripe white belt who trained at Zuma for approximately 18 months, described a disturbing pattern of behavior that escalated over time.
“He made comments about my face. He made comments about my body. I had a lot of leering. And specifically, he stared a lot at my chest,” Jane recounted during a podcast appearance on Fighting Matters.
Her account detailed inappropriate conversations about her personal life, unwanted physical contact, and instances where Zugec allegedly showed explicit images on his phone during training sessions.
The situation reached a breaking point during a gi class in June when Jane says she repeatedly refused to train with Zugec. “I spent a minute and a half, maybe 2 minutes, telling him no. And just saying like, I don’t want to roll with you. I don’t want to touch you,” she explained. Despite her clear refusal and explicit statement about consent, she alleges he pulled her lapel and initiated the training session anyway.
Jane’s public disclosure opened floodgates, with eleven additional women coming forward with similar accounts. The stories revealed what appeared to be a systematic pattern of alleged misconduct including inappropriate touching, sexual comments, and exploitation of the power dynamics inherent in the instructor-student relationship.
Another accuser, identified as “Janet,” who had trained at the gym for eight years, described her own troubling encounter. “He’s 250 pounds and I’m a very small female, and my husband happened to not be there training with me that day,” Janet said. “He actually ended up touching me inappropriately that day while we were training. In the eight years that I’ve been training, I’ve never had that happen, so I know it wasn’t an accident.”
According to sources familiar with the investigation, at least 13 women have now provided accounts of similar experiences involving Zugec’s conduct at the martial arts facility. The allegations span several years and suggest what investigators are treating as a pattern of behavior rather than isolated incidents.
Jane believes the scope of the alleged misconduct was deliberately concealed. “I think this was a really well kept secret, like, I think a lot of women thought that he was only doing this to them,” she explained. “Then as soon as some of these stories started coming out, it was evident how ubiquitous this was.”
The gym’s initial response proved inadequate for both the accusers and the broader community. While Zuma’s leadership team released a statement acknowledging “painful stories and concerns,” they stopped short of directly naming Zugec or admitting specific wrongdoing. The statement outlined plans for an independent third-party review, an advisory council, and formal boundary policies.
However, the accusers found this response insufficient. “We were initially hopeful that this letter would contain some acknowledgment by the Zugecs of the pattern of misconduct that women have reported,” Jane said in an email. “We are disappointed to find none.”
The women organized an open letter demanding meaningful action, including a direct apology, Zugec’s removal from coaching duties, and public acknowledgment of his role in the alleged misconduct. The letter reportedly gathered 80 signatures from community members.
Recent observations by local residents suggest the facility’s operations have ceased entirely. All Zuma branding has been stripped from the building, and there are no signs of ongoing martial arts activities at the location that once housed one of Victoria’s most successful BJJ and MMA gyms.
The investigation continues as Victoria Police work to determine whether criminal charges will be filed.
