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The Bending Nations
Nature: Firebending is easily the most aggressive and offensive of all the bending arts. Its source of power is in the breath, not the muscles (unlike earthbending). "The breath becomes energy in the body, the energy extends past your limbs and becomes fire" (quote from Iroh). Firebending is also fueled by rage and emotion. Firebenders seem to have several qualities in common for the most part, with seemingly few exceptions. The first is an agressive personality, which undoubtedly comes from firebending's aggressive nature. The second seems to be impatience (Azula and Iroh being exceptions), both Zuko and Admiral Zhao demonstrate this quality. I'm not sure what specific part of firebending this could come from, but can sort of see a connection, fire is rash, wild, and untamed, much like Zuko (at least in Book 1) and Zhao.
Technique: Lightning being an exception, firebending's moves as far as how the legs and arms of firebenders move seem relatively simple. The other elements have complex twirls and spins (and, as seen when Bumi fights Aang in Chapter 5 of Book 1, even weird dances), whereas firebenders seem to generate most of their attacks by quick jabs and punches, or spinning kicks. The punches tend to generate either a small burst of flame that doesn't travel far, or small condensed fireballs. The kicks send out deadly arcs of fire, and (in firebending's seemingly most complex manuever) a series of connected spinning kicks sends fire rushing out in all directions. Multiple firebenders can combine their power and attack as one, resulting in a missle of sorts that shoots at long range, and is extraordinarily powerful. The strategy of firebending tends to be to overwhelm the opponent, and compensate for firebending's lack of defensive moves by sending out a never ending barrage of attacks.
Martial Arts Style: Northern Shaolin with a dash of "Northern 7 Star Preying Mantis". This style is based on extending the body in aggressive, far reaching techniques. The goal of Northern Shaolin style is to blow through the oppenent, making it the perfect style for the Fire Nation. Northern Shaolin teaches 5 elements of movement; Water, Earth, Fire, Metal, and Wood; each of which is a different way of offense or defense.
Nature: A solid and steady art, earthbending has the strongest root of the bending arts, and probably has the best mix of offensive and defensive moves. The power in earthbending comes from the muscles, and the power of the body, as evidenced by the very muscular build of almost all earthbenders. Earthbending doesn't appear to have any effect on the personality of earthbenders, due to the extremely spread out personalities of various people in the Earth Kingdom. This is probably because earthbending lacks a specific style, it is strong and steady but doesn't have a unique feel. This means that earthbenders tend to have their own individual styles, whether they try to wear their oppenent down by blocking every blow that comes their way, or solidly knock away at their oppenent's defenses. Earthbending's weakness is that it is almost impossible to bend purified and refined metal, even though it contains small pieces of earth. The only earthbender ever seen to bend metal is Toph. The tendency of Earthbender's to reflect properties from all the other nations probably comes from their being the largest nation as far as size, and having the most interaction with all of the other nations.
Technique: Earthbending has a mix of simple and complicated moves that generate their attacks. Earthbenders can knock their opponent's off balance by striking the ground and causing small, localized earthquakes. Also, they can create small cracks or fissures in the ground for opponents to fall in, either during combat or as a trap, and raise solid slabs of stone for both offensive and defensive purposes. Using the earth as a launch pad, an earthbender can propel himself high into the air, to dodge an attack, and, upon coming back down, can either crash into the ground creating a powerful seismic wave attack, or soften the earth to ease his landing.
Martial Arts Style: Hung Gar, a mix of the "Tiger" and "Crane" animal styles. This style practices deep, low, steady stances (including the "horse" stance", which Toph tells Aang to get into during Book 2, Chapter 9, Bitter Work), and strong hand techniques. The emphasis in Hung Gar is placed on firm, steady, and solid stances, and contains a mix of internal and external movement. Hung Gar's focus on balance and steadiness, like rock itself, makes it the perfect martial art for an earthbender.
Side note: The Chinese character "Hung" is typically a family name, which translates to "to stand firm and tall with integrity".
Nature: Waterbending is one of the more defensive of the bending disciplines, it's style originates from ancient healing practices. It is said that the Waterbenders first learned how to bend their element from the spirit of the moon, and use their chi to control the effect that the moon has on water. Therefore, waterbenders are much stronger at night, and especially strong when the moon is full. The strength of this element comes from its extraordinary defensive powers. Waterbenders use their element and their skill to use opponent's attacks and energy against them. As water is the element that can also be used for healing, this redirecting style presumably comes from this background, where healers traditionally redirect energy in one part of the body to another, where it is needed more.
Technique: One way a Waterbender can defend himself is by creating a solid block of ice as a shield, or literally freezing his opponent. Also, a waterbender can escape from a fight by creating a wall of steam as a cover. One way Waterbending can be used offensively is in the "Octopus" stance, where the Waterbender encases himself in a large amount of water, and sends out tentacles that whip at the oppponent, or, for defensive purposes, grab incoming projectiles. One of the weaknesses of waterbending is that a Waterbender is dependent upon a supply of water to bend. Although they carry around skins of water as backup, if necessary, an advanced Waterbender can take the moisture in the air, and condense it to a useable amount of liquid. Finally, the most poewrful move in bending rests with the Waterbenders. When close to an opponent, a Waterbender can control the large amount of water naturally present in the human body, and use it to make anyone a virtual puppet.
Martial Arts Style: Tai Chi, a style based on controlling energy that is entirely internal, and emphasizes the natural flow of energy. Tai Chi flows smoothly from one pose to the next, making it appear almost like an elegant, graceful dance. Disciples of this discipline try to outlast their opponents by using their opponent's energy to their advantage, and using as little as possible of their own. "Tai Chi" translates to "Supreme Ultimate Fist".
Nature: Like Waterbending, Airbending is also a defensive based style, possibly the most defensive of all the elements. An airbender is capable of defending himself against many opponents through random connected twirls, spins, and unexpected responses to attacks. It is by far the most yielding, versatile, and dynamic of all of the elements. This style underscores the Air Nomads teachings to value all life, and their generally tranquil lifestyle.
Technique: Airbenders, due to their lightweight and free moving element, have more mobility and agility during a fight than a bender of any of the other elements. One of the trademark tactics of Ba Gua, the martial art of the Airbenders, is to confuse an opponent by constantly staying behind the opponent's back (as demonstrated breifly by Aang when he fights Zuko inside of Zuko's quarters in Book 1, Chapter 1). Also, Airbenders tend to change directions rapidly while circling their enemies in order to disorient them, and make themselves a harder target. Though incapable of actual flight, an Airbender can manipulate the air around him so that he can jump incredibly high, run at amazing speeds, land from a long fall without hurting himself, and even cling on to small balls of air to leviate for several seconds. One of the few offensive moves of airbending is to create a small tornado and blow opponents off their feet (Aang uses this move against Jet in Chapter 10, Book 1).
Finally, the iconic tool of the Airbenders is the staff they each carry. It can mechanically transform itself into a glider, allowing airbenders to bend the air around the glider and achieve flight, though they can only carry limited weight. Airbenders can also twirl their staffs, or indeed, any straight pole, over their heads like helicopter blades to hover if necessary, and can also use them to amplify the power and width of their attacks. However, despite all the mobility and versatility of Airbending, it has its weakness in that it does not have a finishing move. Even though this is a weakness, this is also appropriate because it goes along with the principles and teachings of the Air Nomads, which is that all life is precious.
Martial Arts Style: Ba Gua Zhang, which, similar to Waterbending's Tai Chi style, is very internal, has its roots with the 8 "trigrams" (sort of like parts) of the "I Jing" (a group of eight animals). "Baguazhang" translates to "Eight Trigram Palm". The trigrams refer to the animals which the style of Ba Gua is based on: the Lion, Snake, Bear, Dragon, Phoenix, Rooster, Qilin (a Chinese and Japanese mythological beast), and the Monkey. A technique called "Circle Walking" is used to train disciples of Ba Gua stance and movement. This is effective training for learning to change directions without losing momentum or even stopping momentarily.
Page Last Updated: May 1, 2008 5:04 PM
