Firebending training



Firebending is one of the four main bending arts in the world of Avatar. Firebending masters often employ breathing exercises as fundamentals during training, as power for Firebending comes from the breath.

Breathing


Breath control seems to be a very important part of Firebending training, as Jeong Jeong made Aang practice it for hours at a time while he was studying under him. While overseeing Zuko's Firebending training, Iroh criticized him saying that "Firebending power comes from the breath, not the muscle". Later, Zuko was heard saying "breathe and release" showing that breath control is important. The correct way to do this seems to be to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth slowly. Iroh stated that power in Firebending comes from the breath, which becomes energy in the body and is released as fire. Jeong Jeong stressed the importance of proper breath control, comparing Firebending with other bending arts: "A rock without a bender won't throw itself, but fire is alive, it breathes, it grows".

Energy and Drive


For every form of bending, there must be a drive within a person to bend. Originally Firebending was about energy and life, but was later distorted into rage, hatred and destruction by the modern day Fire Nation. After Aang learned the true source of Firebending from the ancient Sun Warriors, he stated the fire "is like a little heartbeat." Initially, Zuko's drive was to capture the Avatar, and that was what made his bending powerful, however, when he changed sides and joined Team Avatar, his bending was weakened. He had lost the drive to Firebend, but regained it when he realized it was his duty to help Aang bring balance to the world.

Heat
One of the most vital sources of Firebending is the sun, which makes it an important priority to be able to feel the heat and energy it releases. During his Firebending training, Aang was instructed by Jeong Jeong to stand for long periods of time outdoors, feeling the heat of the sun. Consequently, when a solar eclipse occurs, Firebenders lose their ability to bend because of the lack of its energy.

Types of Training
There are two known types of training forms. The traditional form employed by most Firebenders in the Fire Nation, and the ancient form employed by the Sun Warriors, Iroh, Zuko and Aang. The traditional forms use strong strikes that require firm stances, not entirely unlike Earthbending. The style that the Sun Warriors learned from the dragons employs a more natural and flowing movement, and allows the user a more flexible style of combat, as seen many times by Zuko, who had initially learned some of the unique forms from Iroh during his private training.

Firebending Exercises
While training under Zuko, Aang had Firebending homework. He was instructed to do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time he heard a badger frog croak. It is possible that there are other forms of Firebending Exercises.

Sun Warriors
The Ancient Sun Warrior civilization employed the original method of learning Firebending rather than the modernized method which is solely based on anger and inner drive. The Sun Warriors took immense pride in their culture and value the traditional methods of learning Firebending. For a long time during the War, they were an undiscovered civilization, thought to have gone completely extinct until Aang and Zuko traveled to their civilization and learned of their present existence.

Ritual
People who wished to learn the true nature of Firebending needed to go through a ceremonial ritual where they presented a piece of the eternal flame to two masters, Ran and Shaw, who happened to be the last living dragons. The ritual was traditionally coupled with ceremonial music playing, bowing down and Firebending displays. If the masters deemed them worthy, they would pass on the secrets of the art of Firebending; if deemed unworthy, the person would be destroyed on the spot.



Dancing Dragon
The Dancing Dragon is an ancient Firebending form employed by the Sun Warriors, who learned it from the original Firebenders, the dragons. The Dancing Dragon is based on three types of attacks: low kicks, high punches or hits and double punches with both fists. In real life, the dance is based off Northern Shaolin Kung-Fu. It is fierce, quick and strong.