Most Thai boxing clubs in the world train between four walls under fluorescent light. Team Boom has another setting available: the club trains in the gym and on the beach, facing the lagoon. This is not a photo opportunity. The beach sessions are among the hardest on the calendar, and they build things the mats cannot.
What sand does to your legs
Running on sand means running against a surface that steals energy from every step. The foot sinks, the push-off dissipates, and the stabilising muscles — ankles, calves, hips — work non-stop to compensate. The result: the same drill costs far more on the beach than in the gym, with less impact on the joints, since sand absorbs the landing. For a boxer, that is gold. Muay thai is won with the legs: footwork, low kicks, the ability to stay stable on one foot while the other one strikes. Sand forges exactly that.
Balance: the thing you cannot fake
On a flat floor, a sloppy stance stays upright. On sand, it does not. Every kick thrown from an unstable surface forces the body to find its real balance, not its comfortable one. Boxers coming back from a beach session all say the same thing: in the gym the following week, everything feels easier. The base is firmer, the pivots cleaner. Sand is a teacher that lets nothing slide.
Pad work facing the lagoon
The heart of a beach session is pad rounds with your feet in the sand and the lagoon behind you. The format does not change — rounds, combinations, a partner holding the pads — but everything costs more. Three rounds on sand are worth their weight. Add the running: short sprints through dry sand, longer efforts on the hard-packed sand near the water. You finish salty, cooked and pleased with yourself. It is also a club-culture thing: suffering together at the water's edge bonds a group faster than any changing room.
Then there is the mental effect, harder to measure and impossible to ignore. Training outdoors at sunset breaks the routine of the gym. The rounds are harder, but nobody counts the minutes — there is too much to look at and too much to do. You go home tired in a different way, and the next indoor session feels almost gentle by comparison. Clubs pay good money for that kind of variety; here it comes with the coastline.
A tradition with deep roots
Training outdoors with whatever the terrain offers is muay thai's oldest tradition — Thai camps run on the roads and hit pads in the open air. Team Boom went to see it first-hand on the team's training camp in Thailand. The lesson brought home is simple: the landscape can be a tool. In Mauritius, our tool is a beach facing a lagoon. Few muay thai gyms anywhere can say that, and it would be a waste not to use it.
How to join one
Beach sessions do not replace the regular Monday, Wednesday and Friday training — group A at 5:45 pm, group B at 7:00 pm — they come on top of it. Like sparring sessions, they are announced at the club: the coach gives members the place and time. They are opened by level, and the format is adapted for those still starting out. So the way in is to walk through the club's door first — on Casse Ghoon Road, Pointe aux Canonniers — or rather to message it on WhatsApp at +230 5981 9849. Start in group B, bring shorts, a t-shirt and a water bottle. The beach will wait a few weeks; it is not going anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
When do Team Boom's beach sessions happen?
They do not replace the Monday, Wednesday and Friday training — group A at 5:45 pm, group B at 7:00 pm — they come on top of it. Like sparring sessions, they are announced at the club: the coach gives members the place and time.
Can a beginner join a beach training session?
Beach sessions are opened by level and the format is adapted for those still starting out. The way in is to join the club and start in group B; the beach will wait a few weeks.
Why train on sand?
The foot sinks, the push-off dissipates and the stabilising muscles — ankles, calves, hips — work non-stop. The same drill therefore costs far more than on a hard floor, with less impact on the joints since sand absorbs the landing.
What does a beach session involve?
Pad rounds with your feet in the sand and a partner holding the shields, plus running: short sprints through dry sand, longer efforts on the hard-packed sand near the water. The format is the same as in the gym, but everything costs more.