Elemental Bending and the Martial Arts

[Azakel]

The was of elemental bending like that off of the Avatar the Last Air Bender are all base off of four different style of Martial Arts.

Each Style and element are similar with each other:

Firebending is base off of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. These martial arts feature quick, successive, ferocious attacks that evoke the uncompromising danger of fire, best suited for a practitioner with high quality agility, flexibility, speed and endurance. Unlike other bending disciplines, firebending has few defensive moves aside from blocking and dodging, although master firebenders are able to create walls of fire to absorb incoming attacks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firebending
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfU5Yip6foc

Earthbending is base off of Hung Gar style of Kung Fu. which features heavily rooted stances and strong kicks and punches that evoke the mass and power of earth. The martial art is based on the movements of animals, including the tiger, which is utilized when initiating hard blows, and the crane, which is used to land gently back on the Earth. There are exceptions to this rule -- the blind Earthbender, Tophs, style is based on Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Unlike other bending disciplines, earthbending maintains a balance between offensive and defensive capabilities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthbender
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoraOme1zZg&mode=related&search=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu

 

[Azakel]

Airbanding is base off of Ba Gua. A style of martial arts with a small hint of Hsing Yi, also known as "mind heart boxing." These martial arts feature swift, evasive maneuvers that evoke the intangibility and explosive power of wind, drawing energy from the center of the abdomen. Ba Gua, which utilizes circle walking, is known for its constantly circular movement which makes it difficult for opponents to attack directly. Maneuvers employ the entire body with smooth coiling and uncoiling movements utilizing dynamic footwork, open-hand techniques, and throws. Ba Gua, with its soft, flowing movements and method of turning an opponent's energy against him, bears some resemblance to Tai Chi , but tends to be more spontaneous and dynamic overall. Unlike other bending disciplines, airbending lacks fatal finishing moves, being an almost entirely defensive art.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbender
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdiincY_zWY&mode=related&search=

Waterbending is base off of Tai Chi. A style which is a martial art that features slow movements and elegant forms that evoke the feel of flowing water. Waterbending's strength is its defensive capabilities. Unlike some other bending disciplines, Waterbending's defensive maneuvers focus on control through turning an opponent's own strength against him, rather than directly harming the opponent. There are three known styles of Waterbending that have been shown in the series to date: Northern, Southern, and Foggy Swamp style. Others may be revealed as the series progresses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbender
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl62JIKSEgY&mode=related&search=

 

[Inky]

Cool. I've taken Tai Chi lessons on and off for the past year; it's very rewarding. That's neat to know it's the basis of Waterbending, even though I've only seen a few episodes of that show.

 

[Azakel]

Cool. I've taken Tai Chi lessons on and off for the past year; it's very rewarding. That's neat to know it's the basis of Waterbending, even though I've only seen a few episodes of that show.

Ya, out of all the above styles I only know a little T'ai Chi myself. If you had a chance to watch the youtube videos I posted there about 48sec each and the guy explains them really well in that short time how the are used with each bending style.

Thing is out of all my weird idea as a Chaos Magician this is one of the idea I take really serious. It's because Martial Arts are a big part of my way, my spiritual path to become something more. And so do the Element themselves, and after seeing the show Avatar it got me thinking. Though I haven't done it with the Martial Art style, I have done some "Aerokinesis"(same idea), and it was neat.

 

[Yusz]

Earth, water, fire and air elements it's really a real thing... 3000-4000 years ago, it's like whole human knows how to bend, even King Solomon can control Wind... Sadly it's been forbidden because it's too many chaos that human do with this bending.. I have a video, it's 5 years ago.. It a first time, i've been train by my grandfather... First you need to expert your chi, before you move to bending techinque... mediafire.com/?ae6lnb11s2rznyb ... increase the brightness beacause this video is too dark.. ... increase the brightness beacause this video is too dark..

 

[Falvlun]

The was of elemental bending like that off of the Avatar the Last Air Bender are all base off of four different style of Martial Arts.

Each Style and element are similar with each other:

Firebending is base off of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. These martial arts feature quick, successive, ferocious attacks that evoke the uncompromising danger of fire, best suited for a practitioner with high quality agility, flexibility, speed and endurance. Unlike other bending disciplines, firebending has few defensive moves aside from blocking and dodging, although master firebenders are able to create walls of fire to absorb incoming attacks.
Bending in Avatar: The Last Airbender - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[youtube]zfU5Yip6foc[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfU5Yip6foc

Earthbending is base off of Hung Gar style of Kung Fu. which features heavily rooted stances and strong kicks and punches that evoke the mass and power of earth. The martial art is based on the movements of animals, including the tiger, which is utilized when initiating hard blows, and the crane, which is used to land gently back on the Earth. There are exceptions to this rule -- the blind Earthbender, Tophs, style is based on Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Unlike other bending disciplines, earthbending maintains a balance between offensive and defensive capabilities.
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[youtube]WoraOme1zZg[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoraOme1zZg&mode=related&search=
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_fu

As an earthbending lemur, this OP made me so happy.

I did not realize that they had matched various martial arts styles to the various elements. That does make sense, in retrospect, and your descriptions seem spot on. Do you know whether these martial art practices were originally linked to elements, or was that just a connection the creators of the show made?

Also, unfortunately, your two youtube videos are no longer working.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

As an earthbending lemur, this OP made me so happy.

I did not realize that they had matched various martial arts styles to the various elements. That does make sense, in retrospect, and your descriptions seem spot on. Do you know whether these martial art practices were originally linked to elements, or was that just a connection the creators of the show made?

Also, unfortunately, your two youtube videos are no longer working.

As far as I know, the martial arts styles used are not directly connected with the element in tradition (except Tai Chi, possibly). Then again, "air" doesn't exist as an element in Chinese tradition. It's kind of their equivalent of spirit.

Honestly waterbending in Avatar reminds me a lot more of this:

[youtube]qYtq0TmGqGU[/youtube]

 

[Orias]

So what would Tae Kwon Do be considered?

Mind bending? :bat: