This comprehensive workshop brings together Les Bubka and Mary Abernethy for an honest, experience-led deep dive into coaching in the real world.

Across 3 hours and 26 minutes, we move beyond theory and into the reality of teaching—sharing personal experiences, lessons learned, and mistakes that shaped our approach. This is a candid exploration of what it actually takes to build strong, effective coaching foundations.

Key themes covered include:

Adapting training for disabled practitioners

Creating inclusive environments within martial arts

Supporting students with mental health challenges

Trauma-informed coaching and its practical application

Learning through failure and evolving as a coach

Blending karate jutsu with modern coaching awareness, this workshop is aimed at instructors and practitioners who want to deepen their understanding—not just of technique, but of people.

Raw, practical, and reflective—this is coaching as it really is.