Most of us spend our lives indoors, on screens, moving between controlled environments. Over time, our senses narrow. We stop noticing weather, space, direction, our own bodies, or the environments we move through.
The good news is these abilities don’t disappear. They just need to be used again. Once you know how to access them, you can keep that awareness active. With that, you'll never have to fear being hungry, homeless, or alone.
The program is a series of short experiences that retrain attention, awareness, and adaptability through simple guided challenges and games themed to Japanese folklore. The goal isn’t the activity. It's noticing differently afterward.
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PERCEIVE MORE need less

Yushido is a program to awaken your body's innate perception through games set in amazing places throughout west central Florida and beyond. You get fitter, healthier, more capable and confident. Don't just watch a character, FEEL life with full senses. In a year's time, you can be an Okami Yushi who never has to fear being hungry, homeless, or alone.

To do this, you must develop 心と体の調和 (Kokoro to karada no chowa), harmony of mind, body, and spirit. Complete challenges to discover what you've been tuning out. Earn Experience Points (XP) as you go. When you have enough XP, level up to new challenges and new discoveries.
The Challenges
Tanuki Level Tanuki are mischievous shapeshifters. They are found around people, though you may not see them as what they are. If respected, they bring blessings. If mistreated, tricks. This is Level 1. See just how much you're missing. Learn skills to carry with you. Develop your confidence and resilience. Awakening Modern life convinces you the world is dangerous and scary. But there is no such thing as a bad environment. Only bad skills. Play these intro games so you'll know what lies ahead. You'll learn about your senses, the signals you are tuning out, and the most dangerous element of any environment: your own imagination. Discover your Super Powers Most of us only use a fraction of our natural ability. Learn how to access the abilities you've been filtering out. This three-part series focuses on using vision, hearing, and touch to their fullest. You'll need these skills in your later challenges and can use them in everyday life. Which Way! This challenge teaches you the principles and basic skills of natural navigation. Attempt to locate the Tanukis' Lair and find your way back. Find your way in the Wilds or the concrete jungle using these simple techniques. Once the skills become habit, you won't have to remember where you parked ever again. へんしーんんん! (Henshin) Humans are the most adaptable species on the planet. Your ability to transform is your greatest power. Learn how your body adapts in the short and long term. Try out various adaptation strategies used around the world. Get ready...this session will challenge assumptions you didn't know you made. Are you ready to HENSHIIiiiinnn!? Yushi Strong Yushi have to stay fit in body as well as mind and spirit. Training our bodies enhances affects our minds and hearts. The best way to train for challenges, is to DO them. So we turn the world into the biggest and best playground imaginable. These short sessions are themed to your level. Find your own style that matches your unique abilities. No sets, reps, mirrors, or boredom. You must complete at least one at each skill level
Kappa Level Kappa is level 2. Kappa live in water where they are known to pull down unsuspecting people. But if treated with courtesy and respect... and given cucumbers, they will respond in kind and actually guard their friends around water. These challenges take you into natural spaces. You will likely get wet on these challenges. Kappa's Lair Resilience requires managing fear. Our senses tell us where caution is truly needed. Learn to trust it. We won't wait for Kappa to find us. We seek them where few human feet have tred... and make friends! As if by magic, the world will shift from scary unknown to welcoming home. Get your first taste of full perception and try your Yushi skills in a real setting. Plains of Kuromizu Deep in a region of sun-baked flood-plains lies the hidden world of 黒水 (Kuromizu) sheltered from the sun and nourished by blackwater. Your task is to find this oasis and discover its riches. Be warned, the plains may be dry as a desert or flooded. You will never know until you venture in. Use perception to find a basic resource: clean water? Land of Fire Soil At one time, 泥炭地 (Deitanchi) "Fire Soil" existed throughout our region. Sadly most has been consumed. Rumors tell of one last store that lies hidden and uncorrupted. Your quest is to verify the existence of this resource. But you must remain undetected. Hone perception by experiencing how to avoid being perceived. You must protect the secrets of Deitanchi! Road of Ghosts The jungles of Florida reclaim anything left by humans. Still, evidence remains to tell the story. Search for these echoes of humanity. But the way to them is challenging. Negotiate obstacles to complete your quest. Will you find the ruins? Can you piece together the story whispered by the ghosts of this place? Challenge your body and mind in this real life mystery. 夜の界 (Yoru no Kai) To Yushi, night is as good as day. Conquer your fears as you hunt nocturnal 妖怪 (Youkai)...oh yes, they exist. But not like you might think. We'll find them and learn their true forms. All without artificial light. Your night vision will fully activate as you enter the real Realm of Night.
Kodama Level Kodama are tree spirits that appear only in pristine forests to those who can perceive them. These sessions challenge your mind and heart as well as your body. Encounter wonders and develop the inner strength. At this level, you begin to understand that the barriers you feel are not external: you carry them inside you. Spontaneous Paths Trek into trackless wilds...or are they... Encounter a world apart: imposing cross-shaped thorns, balance courses of cypress logs, intoxicating fields of flowers, and more, as you discover that not all roads are made by humans. Can you follow them? To do so, you'll learn to read the signs and signals other creatures are constantly offering. Darkest Night Our society thinks humans require a massive life-support system. Yushi know this is an illusion. Explore the darkest place in Florida. Learn to camp lightly and comfortably. Feel the wind whisper across vast grassy plains. Drift asleep to choruses of frogs and coyotes. See more stars than most people ever do. Experience true baseline and feel your system recalibrate. 木霊の森 (Kodama no Mori) As we move further from the things of man, we also journey deeper within ourselves. Visit an ancient forest in search of Kodama. Kodama can only reveal resources to those who release what holds them back. Your skills will take a leap forward as this place draws your attention to what "whole" really feels like. Sense Walkers What Jedi represent, Yushi do for real. Become attuned to the living system around you by combining all your skills at once. Feel the REAL Force. The only misalignment you'll find is what you carry with you. Your experience will be uniquely and privately your own. But your 指導者 (Shidosha) will be with you and the natural world will provide what else you need. Like Ashitaka, you must learn to see through unclouded eyes? Who’s After Who? Track and try to catch an Okami Yushi on the run, then the tables turn and you become the prey. Yushi skills come alive as you have to use them in context to ‘stay alive’. But don’t worry. A ‘kill’ just gets you a little wet.
Okami Level These wolf-like messengers from the spirit world are equally benevolent and dangerous. You may receive incredible aid or be carried beyond this world. Here your skills will be put to the test. If you master these challenges, you are truly ready for anything. Not For the Faint of Heart Hidden far from the things of man, in the middle of a deep wild swamp, is a hidden treasure box. Challenge your skills like never before as you work together to unravel clues that lead across an array of landscapes to the treasure. Find it and claim a piece as a token of your success...if you leave one of equal value. It's not as easy as it sounds. Heart of the Forest This is the the wildest challenge yet. Draw from all previous experiences to navigate a wilderness to the mysterious Heart of the Forest where you must set the 四方石 (Shihou Ishi), the rumored Cardinal Stones of the Heart. It is said that one who sets all stones in order will receive a blessing to their own deepest heart. Will you receive it? 地獄の平野 (Jigoku no Heiya) Even Yushi must sometimes simply endure. This challenge will test your resolve as you spend 2 days and 1 night in the most inhospitable environment in Florida. If you can still your mind, the magical beauty of this harsh place will reveal itself and you'll leave with a peace that only comes after pitching your tent on the Plains of Hell! Escape! One of the most difficult challenges. This session tests your natural navigation skills. You'll be led on a blind walk deep into unknown terrain. At a random moment, you are released. But where are you? Now your band of Okami Yushi must work together to get every member back to safety within the time limit. Your Shidosha will be with you the whole time, but hints will cost you. Up the Creek You are ready to test your skills in unfamiliar environments. Far north of our training grounds, lies the Valley of Nearly Perpetual Rain, pulsing with streams and cascades. You must travel there and learn to cook, sleep, and stay warm where 'dry' does not exist. Your final test, will be to ascend against the flows to their origin, and bring the very river back as a trophy.
How it Works
How it Works
When you sign up, your Shidosha (guide) will contact you to schedule your first session. Sessions are available every week, but you can move at your own pace. Start at the first Tanuki adventure and work your way through the levels. Earn Experience Points (XP) by participating in all aspects of the challenges. All challenges are scaled to your ability. You never compete against others.

LEVEL BREAKDOWN
TANUKI - 450 XP | KAPPA 1050 XP
KODAMA - 2050 XP | OKAMI - 4050 XP
When you complete the program, you become an Okami Yushi. But this is only your origin story. Like all epics, the end is nothing more than the beginning of a greater adventure. Take the skills with you into your life. You will find it serves you in every context. What's more, you will now be equipped to recognize other perceivers, solvers. They exist. Always have. Always will. And you are now one of them! We are waiting for you Yushi! Let's go!
Find Your Path

Path of the Yushi . . .


One-Shot Sessions

Any Tanuki or Kappa:

$35 Adults (16 & up)
$25 Student (with valid student ID)
$17.50 Child (under 16, must be w/ adult)

Yushi Strong:

$10 Adults (16 & up)
$5 Child (under 16, must be w/ adult)

One Step at a Time

Guided Self-Study

Learn the skills

In your own time and place.

$175 Adults (16 & up)
$90 Child (with adult purchase)

Level Up

Become Okami Yushi!

Access ALL Challenges
BEST VALUE!

(Save 30%)

$525 Adults (16 & up)
$277 Child (under 16, must be w/ adult)

Valid 2 years

All the Way

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About  Yushido

Yushido is one program created by Jonah Mick. He has over 20 years’ experience in science, educational programming, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge. Modern society has given us unbelievable wonders. But it has also given rise to problems: isolation, mental illness, stress, developmental trauma, allergies, even weakening of bones and muscle are increasing to epic levels. These were unknown to most of human history. This program is based in observable scientific and experiential facts. We use mythical language because it’s instinctively rooted in our psychology. Few of us will study a textbook but we love excitement, good stories, and imagination. We can't become truly adaptable using the flawed perception that got us here! We have to tune back in to the dormant senses that have helped humans thrive for millennia before we outsourced it to extractive systems. If you are reading this, you are already on this journey. In your deep core, you feel the draw of this quest. This is Yushido!
 
© 2022 Jonah Mick. All Rights Reserved.