Team Shark, Daniel Pinheiro Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

"Out of all the gyms i’ve tried in SA team shark bjj has been the best. The energy everyone brings is so encouraging and welcoming. Joining Team Shark training with professor Daniel and all the other amazing coaches has been one of the best decisions i’ve made."

"Your going to learn from the Best of the Best here. The whole team is reflective of its Master. From the top down your going to feel welcomed and encouraged. No matter your age, gender or weight. You will find a place here and you will be setup to win. Daniel puts his BJJ family first and I respect him so much for that. #GoTeamShark"

"If you're thinking about coming here for the "free" 42 day warrior challenge, I would read this review as it's what I experienced and nothing more. The Bad: I spoke to an Australian fellow over the phone regarding the program. I was concerned because reading the reviews a "red flag" to me was someone had mentioned arriving and unexpectedly being greeted with a $600 deposit (barrier to entry) to begin the "free" 42 day program. The gentleman over the phone reassured me that there was "two programs"-- one of which was free and one that was paid. This was in response to my concern over that review about the surprise deposit. Upon arriving, the first thing I hear from the man himself (Daniel) is that the program is in fact, not free (at least not in the sense that one was given through the advertisement). During our conversation he says "nothing worthwhile in life is free." Which while I may agree on the premise, I also think if thats the case, the advertisement shouldn't be "free 42 day warrior challenge." Now, allegedly, when you complete the program you are eligible for a refund of that deposit. However, I asked him whether or not there's an implication that someone may not receive their deposit back under X or Y condition (I'm almost certain there is). I felt he was avoiding of the question as he did not directly answer my concern and instead redirected the conversation towards what the purpose of me coming in was that day. Overall this experience feels inconsiderate of your time as a customer. The business model is essentially advertise a program, make no mention of costs you (the customer) can or possibly will incur regarding your $600 deposit, and get you physically in the gym. Once you're physically there, they're depending on you falling prey to a predatory business model (sunk-cost fallacy) which effectively looks like: "I just spent my gas and time coming down here, I need to leave with SOMETHING, rather than nothing." So in this sense, you're more likely to buy into what they're selling in a way that's at your expense. The Good: Daniel is a nice guy and I expected this encounter to be a lot more pushy once he made mention of the deposit. On a 1-10 scale of pushyness it felt more like a 6 (which is relatively low compared to businesses that mimic a similar advertising model). The only reason this review isn't lower is because he seems like a decent guy just trying to make a living. It's even possible that he has no idea that his employee is giving people false/misleading information leading up to the meeting i had today. I don't believe that's likely, but I'll be optimistic. It is a BJJ gym and I'm sure you can enjoy learning BJJ and having a sense of community here as there are people who train here and seem to enjoy it. I think this place doesn't need to rely on questionable business tactics to deceive customers in order to thrive, but it's a shame that as it stands, people are likely to be frequently frustrated as I have been."