A Framework for Life

Professor Drew Vogel’s jiu-jitsu story is really a story about change. In this conversation with host Pete Deeley, he shares how he moved away from smoking and other unhealthy habits and toward the mat — and how that single shift reshaped the path his life was on. Along the way he weighs the academic and career roads he might have taken, and lands on jiu-jitsu as the thing that gave everything else a structure.

Drew makes the case for self-defense as the true foundation of the art, digs into the role competition plays in personal development, and revisits some of his most memorable training experiences. He tells inspiring stories of resilience — including a student, Joe, who fought back from a severe injury — to show how the benefits of jiu-jitsu reach far past physical fitness. Underneath it all is a teaching philosophy built on frameworks: understand your personal goals, then let dedicated practice do the transforming.