Transformation and Growth through Jiu Jitsu with Chrissie Vogel
Release Date: 11/14/2025
Kindness, Discipline, And Harmony with Professor Jason Cruz
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Jason Cruz Rickson Gracie Jiujitsu "Pure Bred" Rooted in tradition, Jason’s journey began at age seven training on wooden floors and makiwara boards. He earned a Traditional Karate Black Belt and is a Guro in both Pangamot and Lameco Filipino Martial Arts, which along with his experience in Jeet Kune Do served as the foundations for his striking style. A "purebred" Rickson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt, Jason’s lineage is unbroken from his first trial lesson with Master Rickson Gracie to receiving his black belt from the hands of the Master. A dedicated coach and elite training...
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Professor Dave Meyer: When Someone Calls For Help, You Are the Help
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Host Pete Deeley welcomes Coral Belt Professor Dave Meyer to The Jiu Jitsu Mindset, noting Meyer’s Ageless Warrior Lab podcast and his animal welfare work. Meyer explains he began ujitsu jat age six, making it inseparable from his identity, and says martial arts discipline and strategy improved his effectiveness in animal welfare, where he raised $160 million. He connects martial arts ethos—being “the help,” defending the weak, and controlling ego—to his choice to advocate for animals, reinforced by his religious upbringing’s “repair the world” ethic. Meyer discusses...
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Trauma to Triumph: Dr. Jason Shields and the Power of Jiu Jitsu
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Professor Dr. Jason Shields on Jiu Jitsu, Meditation, Trauma, and Competition Host Pete Deeley welcomes Professor Dr. Jason Shields to The Jiu Jitsu Mindset. Dr. Shields describes how Jiu Jitsu uniquely taught him resilience through losing, regaining control, and finding a “home” community, plus the tap as maximal threat with maximal safety. He explains his hyperfocus was cultivated through long-term inner work after severe childhood trauma from his Vietnam-veteran father’s PTSD and his mother’s healing path via transcendental meditation and supportive communities; he shares a...
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Crafting a Timeless Path | Rafael Lovato Jr.’s Unstoppable Journey
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Rafael Lovato Jr. on Timeless Jiu-Jitsu, Competition, and Overcoming Adversity Host Pete Deeley welcomes Professor Rafael Lovato Jr. to discuss passion, discipline, and growth through jiu-jitsu. Lovato reflects that, had he not pursued martial arts, he might have followed music or fitness, influenced by his father, a professional organist and martial artist. They explore links between music, engineering, and jiu-jitsu as arts involving creativity, structure, and problem solving, and Lovato emphasizes open-minded learning across martial arts. Lovato explains how training built resilience during...
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Professor Steve Maxwell on Old-School Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Challenge Matches, and Training for Longevity
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Professor Steve Maxwell on Wrestling, Early Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, Challenge Matches, and Training for Longevity Host Pete Deeley interviews Professor Steve Maxwell on Jiujitsu Mindset about how wrestling and strength training shaped his life, his early lifting roots near York Barbell, and how wrestling built conditioning, toughness, and skills that carried into jiu-jitsu. Maxwell describes training in the early Gracie Academy era with Rorion, Royce, Rickson, and others, emphasizing self-defense, distance management, takedowns, and principles (“invisible jiu-jitsu”) versus today’s...
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Professor Jack Taufer on Learning, Longevity, Competition & “Invisible” Jiu-Jitsu
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Professor Jack Taufer on Jiu-Jitsu Learning, Longevity, and “Invisible” Mechanics Host Pete Deeley welcomes Professor Jack Taufer to The Jiu Jitsu Mindset and asks how Jiu Jitsu has shaped his life since starting at 15 in 1995, compared with paths like skateboarding, basketball, woodworking influences from his late father, or a possible finance career. They discuss jiu-jitsu as technical and physics-based yet expressed differently by each person, how skateboarding contributed balance, and how learning differs from other sports through constant adaptation to an opponent. Taufer describes...
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Think Street, Train Sport, Practice Art with Professor Chris Haueter
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
CHRIS HAUETER 6th Degree Black Belt 6th degree Black Belt and member of the dirty dozen (the first 12 non-Brazilian black belts). was the first American to submit a Brazilian in competition, the first American to compete as a black belt at the Mundials in Brazil and he continues to travel the world spreading his Jiu Jitsu philosophy of think street, train sport and practice art. He is also known for his golden rules of grappling, coining the term combat base as the base with one knee up and one knee down, and saying, "It is not about who is good, but who is left. It's time on the mat. You...
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Tait Fletcher on Jiu-Jitsu, Truth, Persistence, and Healing
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Tait Fletcher on Jiu-Jitsu, Truth, Persistence, and Healing Pete Deeley interviews Professor Tait Fletcher about how combat sports shaped his life and character. Fletcher traces his path from Dog Brothers stick fighting to early Jiu Jitsu training in the 1990s, learning from figures including Arlan Sanford, Amal Easton, later also receiving a black belt from Eddie Bravo. He describes competing widely, fighting in MMA, training with notable fighters, and appearing on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3, emphasizing Eddie Bravo’s systematic coaching. The conversation focuses on jiu-jitsu as a source...
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Professor Scott Burr on Radical Accountability and Training with Rickson Gracie
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Host Pete Deeley interviews Professor Scott Burr on how jiu-jitsu shaped his life by enforcing radical accountability, honesty, and responsibility for results. Burr describes coming from a traditional Korean striking art through MMA into Jiu-Jitsu, valuing its endless depth and continuous intellectual challenge, similar to writing. He explains his learning style as principle-driven, needing clear parameters and an overview before rapid improvement, and notes turning points like suddenly applying armbar concepts. Professor Burr discusses adding judo later to improve getting fights to the...
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Jiu-Jitsu as a Force Multiplier: Clay Cox on Ownership, Timing, and Raising Lions
The Jiu-Jitsu Mindset
Jiu-Jitsu as a Force Multiplier Ownership, Awareness, and Leadership with Clay Cox, a Black Belt under the legendary Rickson Gracie. Host Pete Deeley opens by recounting being submitted at a well-run Phoenix tournament and promotes JiujitsuMindset.com, Submission Coffee, and the Jiujitsu Mindset Online Academy kids class before interviewing Clay, a long-time jiu-jitsu practitioner and business leader. Clay describes starting jiu-jitsu at 19, his disciplined military-family upbringing, and a tech career path from early internet work to MCI, Verizon Wireless, Google, and leading a major business...
info_outlineThe Jiujitsu Mindset: Transformation and Growth with Chrissie Vogel
In this episode of The Jiuj Jitsu Mindset, host Pete Deeley shares insights into the journey and experiences of Chrissie Vogel, co-founder, and instructor at Framework BJJ. Vogel discusses her initial interest in Jiujitsu, the transformative power of the sport, her competition experiences, and how Jiujitsu has impacted her life and the lives of her students. They also delve into the importance of community, the unique nature of Jiujitsu training, and the personal growth it fosters. The conversation highlights Vogel's philosophy that Jiujitsu meets practitioners where they are and evolves with them, making it universally accessible.
00:00 Welcome and Personal Updates
00:41 Introducing the Guest: Chrissie Vogel
01:58 Chrissie's Journey into Jiujitsu
05:37 The Philosophy of Jiujitsu
08:13 Physicality and Personal Background
15:46 The Role of Competition in Jiujitsu
19:51 A Painful Lesson in Training
20:16 The Quiet Coach's Wisdom
20:49 The Structure of Jiujitsu
20:58 A Memorable Tournament Experience
22:02 Building Relationships Through Competition
22:25 The Unique Community of Jiujitsu
23:55 The Impact of Jiujitsu on Personal Growth
24:55 The Journey of Self-Discovery
31:30 The Devotional Aspect of Training
37:54 Inviting Newcomers to Join the Journey
39:34 Final Thoughts and Gratitude