Earthbending

Earthbending is one of the four Bending Arts, primarily used by people of the Earth Kingdom. It is a geokinetic ability that is a combination of martial arts and the power to move rocks and the earth. The Earthbending season is the spring, and most Earthbenders are born in the springtime.

Notable Earthbenders

 * Oma
 * Shu
 * Toph Bei Fong
 * Long Feng
 * King Bumi
 * General How
 * General Sung
 * General Fong
 * The Dai Li
 * Master Yu
 * Xin Fu
 * Haru
 * The Boulder
 * Ghashiun
 * Sha-Mo
 * Avatar Aang
 * Avatar Roku
 * Avatar Kyoshi
 * Avatar Kuruk
 * Avatar Yangchen

Origin
Humans first learned earthbending by observing and imitating the geokinetic powers of Badgermoles that naturally inhabit the mountains in what is now Earth Kingdom territory. According to legend, known widely as "The Legend of the Two Lovers," two star-crossed lovers named Oma and Shu (à la Romeo and Juliet), who came from separate villages that were at war against one another, learned the art to meet within the mountain that divided them. To make sure that no one could ever find them, they used their new abilities, in which they learned from the badgermoles, to create a labyrinth of tunnels inside this mountain where they knew they could only find their way to one another. One day, after many meetings in the series of passageways, the man did not come to see his lover, as he had died; a casualty of the villages' quarrel. His lover showcased a devasting assault of her powers and ultimately proclaimed the feud over. Then, the villages collaberated to construct a city, Omashu, in their honor. The pathways they made by earthbending became known as "The Cave of Two Lovers." 'Earthbending' is written as 運土術 which in literal terms actually means 'move earth art' in Chinese.

Elemental Symbol
The symbol for earth and earthbending is a tall rough isosceles trapezoidal shape, the base of which is made up of the Bagua trigram "Kun," denoting "earth." Inside, at the top, is a spiral. The symbol is present on wooden "elemental solitaire" cards owned by the Fire Nation's General Iroh.

Fighting Style
Earthbending is generally based on the 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 intiating hard blows, and the crane, which is used to land gently back on the Earth. There are exceptions to this rule -- the blind Earthbender, Toph's, style is based on Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Earthbending maintains a balance between offensive and defensive capabilities.



Earthbending uses a balance of strength and defense to overwhelm opponents. Common attacks involve levitating nearby earth and stone, and propelling them at foes by way of a punching or kicking motion. A levitated slab of rock can also double as a shield when positioned in front of a Bender. Striking the ground with feet, fists, or hammers creates localized earthquakes or fissures to throw opponents off-balance. Earthbending Masters can turn the ground to quicksand to immobilize an enemy, or catapault into the air and soften the earth and ensure a safe landing. Some can tunnel through the earth to out-maneuver their foes. They are typically barefoot, to increase their connection with the earth. Earthbenders have been known to use hammers (males) and fans (females) to augment their bending, and it has been stated that the Chinese great sword Dadao (heavy war sword, or literally "big knife") would also be best suited for a strong Earthbender. Aang has also demonstrated Earthbending by wielding his Glider Staff. Master Earthbenders, such as Toph, can also create armor out of Earth. Avatar Level Earthbenders can move hill size statues at will and even fracture landmasses, as demonstrated by Avatar Kyoshi in the episodes "The Avatar State" and "Avatar Day."

The principle of Jing is the essence of battle strategy, with a total of 85 possible actions. Positive Jing occurs when one chooses to fight while negative Jing is when one chooses to evade. The Earthbending discipline stresses Neutral Jing, which involves listening, waiting, and attacking at the right moment. King Bumi stresses this in his tactics against the Fire Nation.

Earthbending is not limited to rock or soil alone. An Earthbender can also manipulate coal (and possibly other fossilised materials), gems, crystals, and other earth-based material. Earthbenders also possess limited magnetic capabilities, allowing them to grasp vertical surfaces and cling unsupported to earthen structures. Furthermore, Toph can also bend metal, as it still contains minute amounts of some unrefined earth. Her "sight" enables her to locate and target the small earth fragments that would go undetectable to even the best Earthbenders.



Earthbending is the opposing bending art to Airbending. When first learning to Earthbend, the pupil must first learn confrontational tactics and familiarity with the brute strength necessary to work with earth. This contrasts with the emphasis of Airbenders on mobility and evasion.

Like all of the bending arts, Earthbending is balanced so as not to be more or less powerful than the other arts. The series has repeatedly illustrated that it's the skill and prowess of the user that determines victory.

Sandbending
Sandbenders are Earthbenders who have adapted to live in the Si Wong Desert. They use Earthbending in a specialized style, which emphasizes the manipulation of sand. They move quickly in the desert on specialized wooden catamaran sailers that are propelled by bending miniature, localized sandstorms behind their sails. Because sand is sediment which travels in flows, their style resembles air and Waterbending more than earthbending. It is displayed that most, if not all, Earthbenders are capable of easily bending sand, the Sandbenders of the Desert are simply especially proficient with it due to their particular habitat.

Metalbending
Metalbending was first hinted at by Aang in the episode "The Drill" when he sarcastically states "What I'd give to be a Metalbender," as he tries to make an indentation in a giant drill with Waterbending. The inability to bend metal was first demonstrated in Imprisoned where Earthbender prisoners, taken captive by the Fire Nation, were brought to a completely metal rig in the middle of the ocean. The Earthbenders' helplessness due to their situation was stressed several times in the episode.



Metalbending is a skill that, as of the end of Book 2: Earth, only Toph possesses. Most Earthbender are unable to affect processed metals. Usually, the trace amount of earth still present in metal is so minute that it goes undetected even to the best Earthbenders. However, due to her ability to "see" earth, Toph is able to locate the small fragments of earth in metal, target them, and utilize them to "bend" the metal portion.

In the episode "The Earth King", Toph was captured in a metal cage by Xin Fu and her former teacher, Master Yu. During the next episode, "The Guru", she tries desperately to break the cage until one of her captors berated that even if she was the best Earthbender alive it was impossible to bend metal. It was at the exact moment that Guru Pathik was explaining to Aang about the light chakra and how it is blocked by illusion. He went on to explain that it is an illusion that the four nations are different or that air is any different from earth and also how even metal ultimately is simply just earth that has been purified and refined. Toph realizes this herself and starts meditating on her cage trying to feel the vibrations of the trace amounts of earth in the metal. She then utilizes these traces of earth to escape and entrap her captors in it.

Weaknesses
An earthbender's powers are firmly rooted to the ground they stand on. Removing them any substantial distance from the earth, such as on the ocean, strips them of their powers. Additionally, because of their inability to bend processed metals, the bending abilities of an Earthbender can be negated by securing them within a metallic barrier, separating them from any contact with the earth (with the exception of Toph, see above).