PORTLAND, OR — Apex Jiu-Jitsu, a five-location franchise with 14 instructors and an employee handbook last updated in 2019, removed black belt instructor Daniel Reeves on Monday after discovering he taught a weekend seminar at a non-affiliated gym 40 minutes away.
The removal took 47 hours.
Saturday, 2:14 p.m.: a student at Apex’s Beaverton location tagged Iron Forge Athletics in an Instagram story showing Reeves teaching guard retention to approximately 20 people. Saturday, 2:31 p.m.: screenshot forwarded to the Apex leadership group chat. Saturday, 3:45 p.m.: emergency call between three of Apex’s four regional directors. Minutes from the call describe the seminar as “a direct violation of instructor exclusivity expectations.” The fourth regional director was not on the call. He has not been on any call since March 2023. Sunday, 9:00 a.m.: Reeves’s key card deactivated across all five locations. Monday, 1:17 p.m.: certified letter confirming his removal.
Instagram story to certified letter: 47 hours, 3 minutes.
Reeves had taught at Apex for nine years. The seminar covered a guard retention system he developed over 18 months. He was paid $400. There was no meeting. No hearing. No prior warning.
Apex’s employee handbook contains a 12-page section on “Brand Integrity and External Representation” and a half-page section titled “Reporting Concerns About Instructor Conduct.” The half-page section directs employees to email hr@apexjiujitsu.com. The email address, tested by ThePorra on Wednesday, returned an auto-reply indicating the mailbox was full.
In March 2022, Apex leadership received a formal written report concerning what the organization has since referred to exclusively as “a sensitive personnel matter involving a senior instructor.”
The report was submitted by two students and one assistant instructor. The nature of the allegations has not been described by the organization. The status of the review has been characterized, in every communication since March 2022, as “ongoing.”
Both students who filed the report have since left Apex. The assistant instructor was transferred to a different location in January 2023 and stopped asking for updates shortly afterward. A prospective student who inquired about the matter during a trial class in September 2023 was told the organization “takes all concerns seriously.” She did not sign up.
In February 2024, Apex hired an outside HR consultant to assist with what a board member described as “organizational culture alignment.” The engagement lasted four months. No report was produced. The consultant’s LinkedIn now lists the project as: “Assisted a martial arts organization with internal communications strategy.”
Apex’s October 2025 quarterly newsletter affirmed the organization’s commitment to “safety, trust, and transparency.” It did not mention the personnel matter. It did announce new pricing for the kids’ program.
Following the removal of Reeves, Apex released a statement citing its commitment to “discipline, integrity, and the values our founders established.”
The founders were not available for comment. They have not been available for comment since August 2024.
The senior instructor named in the March 2022 report taught his regular Monday evening advanced class this week. Fourteen students attended. He covered arm drags.
Daniel Reeves, who taught guard retention 40 minutes away for $400, was not among them.