Mountain & Prairie Podcast

David Cronenwett is the owner of Helena Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a third-degree black belt under American Jiu-Jitsu legend Rafael Lovato Jr. David started his Jiu-Jitsu journey in Seattle in 1996, back when finding a place to train was like stumbling upon a secret society. Over the years, he’s not only refined his own game but has shared this art with hundreds of students in Montana’s capital city since opening his academy in 2016. But David’s path to Jiu-Jitsu wasn’t exactly a straight shot. He grew up in New Jersey, made his way west to study classical guitar at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle right as the grunge scene was taking over, and eventually found himself in Montana, drawn by the wilderness and a deep-rooted need for something more. That “something more” turned out to be a mix of conservation work, backcountry living, and, of course, Jiu-Jitsu—an art that would come to define much of his life. In this conversation, we go deep into the philosophy of Jiu-Jitsu: why it grabs certain people and w