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

 * Avatar Yangchen
 * Avatar Kuruk
 * Avatar Kyoshi
 * Avatar Roku
 * Avatar Aang
 * King Bumi
 * Toph Bei Fong
 * Long Feng
 * The Dai Li
 * Master Yu
 * Xin Fu
 * Chin the Great
 * Haru
 * Tyro
 * Oma
 * Shu
 * Terra Team
 * General How
 * General Sung

Origin


Source: Earth

Learned From: Badgermoles

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 devastating assault of her powers and ultimately proclaimed the feud over. Then, the villages collaborated 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.

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 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, Toph's, style is based on Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu (using its precise stepping to maintain contact with the ground for her to "see"). Earthbenders typically go barefoot, to increase their connection with the earth.



Earthbending differs from the other bending arts in that it maintains a distinct balance between offensive and defensive capabilities (though water involves a more refined version by channeling defense into offense). Earthbending uses a balance of strength and defense to overwhelm opponents.

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.

According to Iroh, earth is the element of substance. Earthbending is used by those who are persistent and enduring.



Earth & Stone Levitation: The most common attack, involves levitating nearby earth and stone of numerous sizes (more powerful benders can move larger masses), and propelling them at foes by punching or kicking motions.

Rock Shield: A levitated slab of rock can also double as a shield when positioned in front of a Bender. This can also be performed as a slab or sheet of bedrock thrust out of the earths surface.

Earth Sinking: More advanced Earthbenders, such as Master Yu and General Fong, can forcibly sink their opponents into the ground, imprisoning them or even suffocating them in earth.

Earthquakes/Fissures: Striking the ground with feet, fists, or hammers creates localized earthquakes or fissures to throw opponents off-balance. This same process can be used to sculpture a landmass or to slice large chunks of rock clean of a surface to create avalanches or rockfalls.



Quicksand: By turning the ground to quicksand to immobilize an enemy, or catapult into the air and soften the earth to ensure a safe landing. They can also do the reverse of this, compacting sand together to create harder projectiles or a firmer grip on the ground. Rock Avalanche: If an earthbender is near a cliff or mountain, he or she can cause many rocks of a multitude of sizes to fall down on his or her opponent.

Earthen Column: A more powerful version of rock projectiles, involving forcing columns of rock out of the ground. Using a similar principle an earthbender can shoot a stream of small ruts and protrusions from underground at their opponent. This can also be used to enhance the benders jumps. It is however limited to the ground and does not have the same range as a rock projectile.

Earth Material Manipulation: Earthbending is not limited to rock or soil alone. An Earthbender can also manipulate coal, gems, crystals, and other earth-based material, like meteorites.

Rock Hanging: Earthbenders also possess limited magnetic capabilities, allowing them to grasp vertical surfaces and cling unsupported to earthen structures. The Dai Li are the only ones that have demonstrated this ability, although it may be that they are using their earth gloves to cling on the surfaces.

Earthbending Master Level


Earth Tunneling: Earthbenders can move through the earth to out-maneuver their foes either by opening tunnels or by pulling the earth past them, literally swimming through the ground.

Earth Armor: Earthbenders can bring rocks, dusts, pebbles or crystals around them and mold them to fit their body and create something similar to armor. They can also hide inside the earth by bending the rock around them as a shell.



Earth Wave: The Earthbender creates a wave of earth that they ride on and use as a form of transportation, as Aang and Toph have both done in "The Crossroads of Destiny" as well as Roku and Sud in The Avatar and the Fire Lord. They can also force a wave of earth outwards, and use it as an extremely powerful offensive attack, as Aang was seen doing in "The Avatar State".

Avatar Level Earthbending


Greater Earth & Stone Levitation: With their greater power and stronger connection to the earth (being the reincarnation of the planets spirit itself) The Avatar can move hill-sized statues at will.

Tectonics: The Avatar can create crevasses so deep they even fracture landmasses as shown by "Avatar Kyoshi" in "Avatar Day when she separated Kyoshi island from the mainland.

Special Techniques


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, but because of the loose shifty nature of sand it is not an easy transition for the average earthbender, the Sandbenders of the Desert are especially proficient with it due to their particular habitat.

Mudbending: It has been seen that earthbenders can bend earth in mud as well. As it is made with both earth and water, Mudbending is a skill both usable in Earth and Waterbenders, though in principle, it's waterbending in nature. In The Drill, Katara halted the flow of the slurry on the back of the drill to prevent Ty Lee from following her, later on with Toph's aid, they were able to push the slurry back into the drill. Also seen when Katara and Toph end up fighting when they were supposed to be training Aang in The Runaway.



Rock Gloves: The Dai Li have mastered a rock glove technique. Similar to earth armor, they cover their hands in small rocks then project them at a target as bullets or compacted fists to blugden the opponent. A more refined and favored method however is to use them as detachable hands, maintaining the hand shape and literally grabbing and restraining the opponent from a distance.

Opposing Bending Art
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. Earthbenders require a firm root in the ground, while Airbenders are constantly moving.

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.

Weapons
Earthbenders have been known to use hammers and fans 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. In addition, the earthbender in Zuko Alone demonstrated earthbending with his war hammers.

Metalbending
Metalbending is a ferrokinetic sub-skill of Earthbending developed by Toph. Most Earthbenders 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, although not with the same power or ease seen in normal earthbending.

Weaknesses
Earth Connection: An earthbender's powers are firmly rooted to the ground they stand on. Removing them any substantial distance from the earth, such as in the air or on the ocean, strips them of their ability to bend.

Metal and Wood: An extension of the last weakness, because the majority of them don't know how 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. Toph, however, is an exception to this (see Metalbending), except in the case of a wooden barrier.

Reliance on the Lower Body: Earthbending is at its strongest when the feet are in direct contact with the ground, enabling them to transfer their kinetic energies into their bending for fast and powerful moves. In The Western Air Temple, Zuko accidentally burned Toph's feet, forcing her to flee by crawling on all fours. Zuko tried to apologize and Toph tried using her hands to bend, but the result was weaker bending that was easier to be dodged, as shown by Zuko. Eventually, the effort placed on bending with her hands causes her to flip into her back, and at that point, she was in full contact with the ground and was able to launch a tall rock pillar, to which the ex-fire nation prince was unable to dodge. This weakness is very similar to how disabling a waterbender's arms prevent them from bending, but the exception to this was in The Earth King, when Katara managed to generate a larger than normal water whip just by using her legs.

King Bumi has been shown to Earthbend using minor head gestures.

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. In a way, this symbol vaguely resembles a seated Badgermole.