SINGAPORE – On any regular weekday evening, the Team Slasher gym is a flurry of activity – their crew of boxers and Muay Thai fighters are shadow boxing, sparring, doing technical drills and hitting the pads.

One thing that is unusual is their choice of training location. Over the last 11 months, the 20-strong group of combat sports exponents have been training outdoors at a multi-purpose public court in Bedok with Syafiq Samad, a former Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter and national boxing team coach.