HURRICANE — From being bullied in school to fighting crime on the streets of New York with his bare hands, this master martial artist is teaching everything from hand combat to weapon-based martial arts.
And you’ll want to see it for yourself.
Raven Cain, a singer/songwriter, martial artist, philosopher, poet and Buddhist Priest, is a 9th-degree black belt who was recently named “Soke Dai,” the assistant to the grand master, and is authorized to run the Musashi Clan through his dojo – Raven Self-Defense Academy.
“We’re really the first American Dojo outside of Japan authorized to be in the Musashi Clan that started in 1582, a really ancient Samurai clan that our lineage comes from,” Cain said. “It’s a huge, huge, huge deal to have direct lineage to that Samurai clan and I’m authorized to run it through the taka faction of the Musashi Clan.”
Through his Japanese name, Musashi Utaka, Cain is a Kanrei, meaning chief or commander of the Musashi Clan. He also has direct ties to the Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu in Japan. As part of the martial arts hall of fame for two years, he was recently featured in the number one worldwide martial art magazine, The Deadly Art of Survival.
Cain said everyone at Raven Self-Defense Academy is a volunteer, including himself. The fees for students are on a sliding scale, and they sponsor kids from organizations like Bikers Against Child Abuse, which allows youth to train for free.
“It’s not just about fighting, that’s sort of a byproduct of the warrior arts,” he said. “Ultimately, your biggest battle is the one that exists between your own two ears. And that’s the one we’re really fighting, that’s what we’re confronting every single day.”
The specific philosophies of the samurai culture are made to deal with personal demons, which Cain said helped him tremendously at a young age. His dojo’s main objective is life coaching, where philosophies help others to improve their own lives.
“To me, it’s a transformational academy,” Cane said. “It’s not a money-making venture for me, it’s a change venture for me. That’s why I fight so hard to keep this place open and thriving,”
Raven Self Defense Academy teaches Mi Yama Ryu BuJutsu Utaka-Ha, 18 skills of the Samurai which include Miyama Ryu Kempo JuJutsu, Raven Kapap Krav Maga & Raven MMA, which Cain says translates into the school of three mountains. Classes include Kimbo, striking, jujitsu battlefield techniques along with samurai skills involving swords and spears and Krav Maga, an aggressive Israeli military technique that is used for extreme situations and scenarios.
The facility has a boxing team and a Pro MMA team, with Pro fighters such as Justin (DJ) Crawford training at the indoor boxing ring. The facility also offers bodyguard courses and free self-defense classes, which Cain teaches at academies across the county.
So, how did it all start? Cain said his career in martial arts all began when he was bullied at school. His mom decided he needed to do something and signed him up for judo and jujitsu classes at a local community center in Virginia.
“The guy looked like a monster,” Cain said about his first teacher. “He was, too, because I was like 5 and he looked like a serious, terrible person to me, but he looked like magic at the same time because he was throwing these giant men around like it was nothing.”
Instead of soft mats commonly seen in dojos, the classes were taught on hardwood floors, which resulted in painful bruises. Each day of class, he would cry and beg to not go, but his mom insisted.
“One day I was on the playground when the bully came back and was picking on me,” Cain said. “And I threw him. I threw him on a big tree branch, ‘bang,’ and he busted into tears and I thought, well, I kind of like this.”
He decided to stick with it and when “The Karate Kid” film was released, inspired to add Karate to his skillsets. As he continued to learn, he helped his teacher instruct classes up until the age of 18, when he began to run classes himself.
The first dojo of his own began in his living room in Virginia and as the student number continued to rise, he opened his first official location in Virginia Beach. He went on to run multiple dojo locations throughout Virginia and Richmond. To this day, two of his students operate schools in Danville and Richmond, Virginia.
To test the skills he learned, Cain became a bar bouncer, a gig that led him to become a member of the Guardian Angels, a vigilante group in New York City. Cain said the group would walk the streets and subways of New York and stop crime using their trained skills and zero weapons.
“One of my main things is to help people and use these skills as something that not only helps the community but changes lives,” Cain said about his time with the Guardian Angels. “I had to know it worked in real-life situations.”
As he continued to work with the group, he used his martial arts school to teach the necessary skills and opened his own Guardian Angel chapter. The group experienced many harrowing situations such as stepping into gang wars with no weapons and completing citizen arrests with only the use of martial arts.
When one of Cain’s teachers, Blackout Walters, a four-time world kickboxing champion, moved from their hometown of Chesapeake Virginia to Apple Valley, Utah, 10 years ago, he convinced him to make the move, too. Upon the move, Cain, who is also a rock and metal musician, was asked to play an event at a local resort.
Word quickly spread and he was asked to perform at a variety of events across the county. This led to lines around the building waiting to hear him play and into a record contract with Universal Music.
Cain has released five albums and had multiple songs go to No. 1 on the 365 music charts. He said he was hired as a musician for the Van’s Warped Tour, but as he prepared to kick off the tour in Las Vegas, his tour manager fell ill. Without a required tour manager, he was kicked off the tour.
“They were going to give me $90,00 to do this tour,” Cain said. “I signed the agreement, we had the bus and everything. When they kicked me off the tour, I didn’t know what I was going to do. It was horrible. So I thought forget this music thing, man. I’m going back to doing what I do.”
Shortly after, Freddie, the owner of Freddie’s Ink, told Cain there was space to open a dojo in the back of his tattoo shop. Freddie said he could help more people with his martial arts than he could his music, and he jumped at the opportunity. In a few months, the number of students outgrew the space and he moved into a 3000-square-foot location. When that location filled up, he moved into his current dojo location, where he has been for a year.
With a focus on changing kids’ lives, Cain said the school features a citizen award program. Every month, students are given a check-off sheet to take home to their parents. They sign off on things like using “yes, mam” and “yes, sir,” completing chores, homework and making their beds every day – which reinforces things that parents are already teaching.
Students must have the checkoff list completed prior to testing for the next stripe on their belt. Once the checklist is completed, they are sent home with an “intent to promote” grading system where parents grade the checklist items. Once they receive scores three and above, a form is sent to their homeroom teacher, who marks off various items such as turning in homework on time and using appropriate language – all characteristics of a martial artist, which is where Cain said change comes into place.
“Spreading the Samurai mindset and helping people become better people, I call it forging your soul sword – becoming your very best to reach your true potential,” Cain said. “And once you do that, the world becomes a little better. One person touches somebody, and that person touches another person resulting in a concentric ring of change, one person at a time.”
For more information on Raven Defense and to sign up for classes, see their website.
Photo Gallery
Raven Cain stands with a sword inside Raven Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Raven Cain stands inside the dojo at Raven Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Raven Cain stands with a sword inside Raven Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Raven Cain stands outside his Raven Self Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Raven Defense Academy features a boxing ring for training, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
A framed article signed by Chuck Norris hangs on the wall at Raven Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
The Raven Cain Band is shown together, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of the Raven Cain Facebook page, St. George News
Raven Cain stands next to Dustin "Icy Hott" Crawford as he takes victory over Brandon Honsvick, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
Raven Cain poses with Jesse Samon, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
(L-R) Alex Barbaran, Perry Taylor, Raven Cain, Dustin "Icy Hott" Crawford and Jacob Salazar pose for a photo, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
A variety of awards and accomplishments hang inside Raven Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Raven Cain poses with his Martial Arts Hall of Fame ring, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
Raven Cain fights his opponent, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
A variety of awards and accomplishments hang inside Raven Defense Academy, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 27, 2022 | Photo by Jessi Bang, St. George News
Raven Cain fights his opponent, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
A young Raven Cain poses for the camera, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
A young Raven Cain wins a martial art award, location and date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Raven Cain, St. George News
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