Takobana couples martial art with acting
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday October 2, 2020 17:22
For instance, his movies are completely different because they are mainly focused on action.
“I am a martial artist with a decorated background in Karate, mixed martial arts (MMA) and boxing. However, Karate is my primary discipline, which I have been practising for about 18 years. I represented Botswana at local, regional and international levels where I won multiple championships. Growing up at Special Support Group (SSG) camp, I learnt to make short skits for public demonstrations during events like Botswana Police Day,” he said.
The 26-year-old action man also explained that he was taught basics on how to choreograph a fight and build thrilling storylines. However, he stated that the performance stopped for a while when Karate was not featured that much during such events. That did not shake him as all the teachings stayed with him. Takobana added that the fighting acts skills he learnt come naturally to him whenever he thought of creating interesting fight sequences.
He added that his skills sparked an interest and desire for him to one-day make action films. He said he was a huge fan of actors like Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Since he never saw any local action movie, this multi-talented young man decided to shoot some because he believed in himself.
Even though studies and sports took most of his time, the young man kept himself busy by watching action movies on his spare time to have an understanding of how different fight scenes were made.
“I am also a videographer who has massive passion in joining videos of different types and making various editions. That alone always sparks creativity in me, as I have to come up with ideas of making interesting videos that I can share with my friends and family. I used to have people film my karate fights or training sessions then make short films with fittings background music and transitions just like short highlight reels. I also made short comical videos of different characters and people would keep encouraging me to make more as they found them amusing,” he boasted.
Takobana founded Fight Club Productions Company that also has a Facebook page with the same names. It started off with two short skits during the first national lockdown this year. Together with his cousin, Bokang Gosiame, they recorded their trainings and also made short comedy videos.
They also made a couple of comedy based on a character called Pastor King. After a week, they decided to bring something different to the industry.
Furthermore, Takobana highlighted that shooting films consistently was almost impossible as some members had other commitments. He also said the biggest challenge was lack of filming resources.
He also stated that in future, they would like to venture into long films. Actors include Takobana, Dixon Moatlhodi, Matlho Onowe, Laone Moyo to mention a few. Their short films can be viewed on their Facebook page, Fight Club Productions.