Talk:Bending arts/@comment-72.191.35.111-20120304071618/@comment-4888161-20120331033513

It makes perfect sense. Otherwise the Avatar wouldn't be the only one who could bend all four elements. It has a lot to do with spirituality, but your lineage has to be from the nation of the particular element (except for the Avatar which is a spiritual lineage of sorts from all four elements) if you are going to bend it. Also, not everyone will get that particular ability even if the lineage matches. And mixed lineages complicate it further, like with Mako and Bolin.

The reality is all of them are factors, but even with what we know we can't fully explains what determines a person's bending traits (or lack there of). This is similar to how even with all we know about genes in the modern world we still can't predict every trait or fully explain it.