In His Own Words
Harrison Saito — educator, martial artist and coach, Chatswood, Sydney. Two and a half minutes, in his own voice.
Harrison Saito — Return to Self
In Seven Chapters
Harrison Saito
Educator · Martial Artist · Coach — Chatswood, Sydney
My father was a war-survivor from post-WW2 Japan, a martial artist, and a Buddhist monk. He gave me discipline. He also gave me the wound. This is what I did with both.
Scroll to open
一 Chapter 1 of 7
間
ma — the space between
Japanese father. Australian upbringing. For most of my life I was fluent in both and at home in neither.
間 is the Japanese idea that the gap between two things is not empty — it is where the meaning lives. I did not choose that as a metaphor. I lived in it first and found the word for it later.
the space between 二 Chapter 2 of 7
父
chichi — the father
My father survived post-WW2 Japan. He was a martial artist and a Buddhist monk.
He gave me discipline. He gave me martial arts. He gave me Buddhism. He also gave me people-pleasing, suppressed rage, and a five-year-old frozen inside a grown man’s body.
Lineage — Japanese Buddhist and martial tradition, first-hand
the father 三 Chapter 3 of 7
傷
kizu — the wound
I took all of it, the gift and the wound, and walked a path that only I could walk.
The same tools that caused my trauma became the exact things that set me free. That is not a turn of phrase. It is the method, and it is why I do not teach anything I have not been through.
the wound 四 Chapter 4 of 7
道
dō — the way
In karate I hold a 2nd Dan black belt. That matters here less as a credential than as a method.
The dojo is where I learned that discipline without honesty just builds a better shell. It is also the room where I eventually took mine apart.
2nd Dan black belt, Karate
the way 五 Chapter 5 of 7
教
kyō — to teach
I teach in a New South Wales high school. I hold a Master of Teaching (Secondary) and a Bachelor of Commerce.
That means I know the HSC from the inside — the syllabus, the markers, the pressure — rather than from a tutoring centre’s brochure. I have walked beside hundreds of students through it.
M.Teach (Secondary) · B.Com · practising high school teacher
to teach 六 Chapter 6 of 7
声
koe — the voice
SBS World News interviewed me about youth and adult mental health, and about martial arts as a way into both.
I have spent more than a decade coaching young people to find their voice. It was strange, and useful, to be asked to use mine.
Featured on SBS World News
the voice 七 Chapter 7 of 7
円
en — the circle
Today I help young people find their voice through HSC mentoring, and I help men stop performing and start living through martial arts, Buddhism, and structured inner work.
The circle in the mark on this site is left open on purpose. So is this.
10+ years coaching · Chatswood, NSW
the circle Scroll to turn the page
一 Chapter 1 of 7
間
ma — the space between
Japanese father. Australian upbringing. For most of my life I was fluent in both and at home in neither.
間 is the Japanese idea that the gap between two things is not empty — it is where the meaning lives. I did not choose that as a metaphor. I lived in it first and found the word for it later.
the space between 二 Chapter 2 of 7
父
chichi — the father
My father survived post-WW2 Japan. He was a martial artist and a Buddhist monk.
He gave me discipline. He gave me martial arts. He gave me Buddhism. He also gave me people-pleasing, suppressed rage, and a five-year-old frozen inside a grown man’s body.
Lineage — Japanese Buddhist and martial tradition, first-hand
the father 三 Chapter 3 of 7
傷
kizu — the wound
I took all of it, the gift and the wound, and walked a path that only I could walk.
The same tools that caused my trauma became the exact things that set me free. That is not a turn of phrase. It is the method, and it is why I do not teach anything I have not been through.
the wound 四 Chapter 4 of 7
道
dō — the way
In karate I hold a 2nd Dan black belt. That matters here less as a credential than as a method.
The dojo is where I learned that discipline without honesty just builds a better shell. It is also the room where I eventually took mine apart.
2nd Dan black belt, Karate
the way 五 Chapter 5 of 7
教
kyō — to teach
I teach in a New South Wales high school. I hold a Master of Teaching (Secondary) and a Bachelor of Commerce.
That means I know the HSC from the inside — the syllabus, the markers, the pressure — rather than from a tutoring centre’s brochure. I have walked beside hundreds of students through it.
M.Teach (Secondary) · B.Com · practising high school teacher
to teach 六 Chapter 6 of 7
声
koe — the voice
SBS World News interviewed me about youth and adult mental health, and about martial arts as a way into both.
I have spent more than a decade coaching young people to find their voice. It was strange, and useful, to be asked to use mine.
Featured on SBS World News
the voice 七 Chapter 7 of 7
円
en — the circle
Today I help young people find their voice through HSC mentoring, and I help men stop performing and start living through martial arts, Buddhism, and structured inner work.
The circle in the mark on this site is left open on purpose. So is this.
10+ years coaching · Chatswood, NSW
the circle The Short Version
I teach in a New South Wales high school, which means I am inside the HSC system rather than commenting on it from outside. I hold a Master of Teaching (Secondary) and a Bachelor of Commerce, and I have been coaching in one form or another for more than a decade.
In karate I am a 2nd Dan black belt. That matters here less as a credential than as a method: the dojo is where I learned that discipline without honesty just builds a better shell, and it is the same room where I eventually took mine apart.
The Archive
Five threads — the son, the teacher, the practitioner, the poet and the voice. Most of it is not a showreel; it is the work itself, filmed as it happened.
Twenty-one films, grouped by which part of the work they belong to. Choose a thread, or scroll the whole archive.
1 / 21 Drag, scroll or use ← →
No pitch. No pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and what you're looking for.
