Transcript:The Essence of Bending with Bryan Konietzko and Sifu Kisu

Bryan Konietzko	Hi, I'm Bryan Konietzko, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Sifu Kisu	I'm Sifu Kisu, martial art coordinator for Avatar: The Last Airbender.
	Cutaway to a clip from "The Chase", where Azula confronts Aang at the deserted town.
Azula	Do you really want to fight me?
	A sequence of moments from various action scenes throughout the series plays, continuing in the background as the featurette cuts back and forth between the interviewees.
Kisu	I'm the movement coordinator. I am developing movements and styles, um, that are unique for each character, and-and most importantly, I'm causing them to appear realistic.
	A clip from "The Earth King" plays, a long take of Aang and Toph fending off attacks from all sides, Aang leaping around while using his staff in conjunction with his earthbending to break apart the stone projectiles, while Toph maintains her root to the ground, bending rock pillars and slabs from the ground to defend herself and the group.
Bryan	Sifu Kisu, can you tell the fans where the movements for the bending come from?
	Interspersed with his answer, footage of Kisu at different angles is displayed on a split screen, showing the martial artist's reference movements for the show, including transitioning from a roundhouse kick into a high kick, brandishing two connected hook swords, and thrusting his palm out.
Kisu	Very simply, it comes from my learnings from my teacher over the last thirty-something years. He has a-a vast curriculum of-of things that he teaches, and I've specialized in a few of them, and I-I brought my specialities, uh, to your show.
	A scene from "The Deserter" plays, as Jeong Jeong begins Aang's firebending training.
Jeong Jeong	Assume your stance. [Aang assumes a horse stance, keeping his back straight while bending his knees and spreading his feet apart.] Wider.
Aang	You're not even look...
Jeong Jeong	Wider! [Aang spreads his feet apart further.]
	Cutaway to a scene from "Bitter Work" during Aang's earthbending training with Toph.
Toph Beifong	Keep your knees high, Twinkle Toes!
	Aang, hunched over and knees bent, struggles to hold up a massive boulder as Toph bends earth pillars beneath his feet, causing him to stumble and fall as he shifts his weight around.
Bryan	Of the styles that we use for the different characters, what differentiates the essences of these different martial arts forms?
	In the background, another scene from "Bitter Work" plays, as Iroh weaves generated lightning through the air with graceful, circular movements of his arms before releasing the bolt of energy from the tips of his fingers.
Kisu	Firebending, of course, um, we use the dynamic and artistic movements of the Northern Shaolin style.
	The featurette then cuts to a title card displaying the words "Fire Bending" and "Northern Shaolin Kung-Fu". The featurette then transitions again to a split screen display, one side showing footage of Azula in "The Drill" executing multiple spin kicks as she sends fire blasts at Aang, while on the other side, Kisu delivers two high kicks while maintaining his balance on his pivoting leg.
Kisu	The powerful kicks, the punches, the low stances, um, the nearly-acrobatic movements...
	As Kisu's commentary continues in the background, more split screen footage plays, one side showing Zuko in "The Crossroads of Destiny" thrusting his body and arms forward as he sends a massive fire blast that destroys Aang's crystalline defenses, his stance low to the ground as he kneels forward on his bent left leg and keeping his right extended behind him, while on the other side, Kisu adopts a similar stance.
Kisu	... it-it cuts through the center of mass of the opponent, it slices right through. The Chāquán, which Azula uses...
	More split screen footage plays, with a moment from "The Chase" playing where Azula firebends at Team Avatar, her arms sweeping about while fully extended, while on the other side, Kisu leans his body forward and lunges with his outstretched arm and hand.
Kisu	... it's actually one of the root essences of the Northern Shaolin.
	Cutaway to a clip from "The Drill", with Azula countering Aang's water whip with several precise jabs and kicks augmented by her firebending, then leaping in the air to deliver two spinning kicks.
Bryan	What about earthbending? [Toph headbutts a large boulder into pieces with her earthbending.] What is the essence of Hung Gar that differentiates it from the other styles?
	Transition to a title card with the words "Earth Bending" and "Hungar Kung-Fu". The featurette then transitions again to a scene from "The Blind Bandit" where Toph kicks the ground, sending a line of torn-up earth at The Boulder's feet, causing him to fall to the ground, his legs split apart in opposite directions.
Kisu	Style is characterized by very low, close stances, which is a S-a Southern tradition.
	Xin Fu uppercuts the air, raising a chunk of rock from the ground before kicking his foot up to send it flying, just as Kisu juts out with his leg; similarly, as Xin Fu roundhouse kicks two more rocks he had suspended in the air, Kisu waves his hands about as he transitions from his earlier move into a roundhouse kick.
Kisu	Hung Gar is trained, um, a slightly different method, and the movements are-are very conser-very compact, very economical, and-which I really thought would, um, fit well with, you know, the earthbending people, who are, you know, very, very simple, grounded, earthy people.
	To demonstrate Kisu's point, after she steps aside to avoid Xin Fu's earthen projectile, Toph quickly punches the air while aiming at the ground, the power of her off-screen earthbending sending Xin Fu flying out of the arena.
Bryan	What about for Katara's movement?
	Cutaway to a scene from "The Swamp" where Katara rolls her arms, raising up multiple large water rings that cut through the vine monster before her. The featurette then transitions to a title card with the words "Water Bending" and "Tai-Chi". As Kisu commentates, split screen footage plays of himself and Katara, both of them executing a similar move wherein they wave their extended arms about as they spin around while surging forward.
Kisu	We use a sub-variation of the Yang-style tai chi, um, which is the Gu-style. The punch in tai chi is-is-is trained slightly different...
	More split screen footage of Kisu and Katara plays, this time from the episode "Jet". Already leaning forward, both practitioners pull their bodies back before leaning forward, gently pushing out their palms.
Kisu	... than the punch in Northern Shaolin. Tai chi, it's done very slowly, so that you understand and feel the connection from stepping from one foot to the other, so that you feel the connection of-of what's called "nine gates" [Bryan gives an affirming murmur.] linking through the body.
	A scene from "The Drill" plays of Katara and Aang using waterbending to cut through a steel brace, interspersed with Kisu's reference footage, with the practitioners gently furling their extended arms against their bodies before suddenly and forcefully thrusting them out.
Kisu	In tai chi, uh, it-it's performed almost boneless, where it looks like, um, that it doesn't have any real power. Yet tai chi is sometimes called the, um, "the iron in the cotton". It looks very soft, but at its core, it's-it's very hard. Or "the needle in the cotton", you-you push in soft, and ah! You jump away.
	Cut to a scene from "Bitter Work", where Katara and Aang are practicing waterbending in a shallow pond.
Katara	Think fast!
	Katara throws a reed at Aang, with Aang quickly slicing it apart lengthwise by bending up a razor-thin wave.
Katara	Excellent. You have the reflexes of a waterbending master.
Aang	Thanks, Katara. [Bows.] Sifu Katara.
	Cut to a scene from "The Guru", where Aang and Guru Pathik meditate beneath a statue of Yangchen.
Pathik	You cannot lie about your own nature. You must accept that you are the Avatar.
Bryan	And then for Aang, what style do you use?
Kisu	For Aang, we use the bagua, the-the circle-walking, as well as some of the linear movements of the, uh, the Xing Yi, the mind-heart boxing.
	Action scenes from "The Avatar State" play as Kisu commentates, where Aang spins on the ground and in the air as he avoids several massive earth coins, then cutting to Aang air scootering and running up the vertical surface of a wall before pushing himself off to dodge the polearms of two Earth Kingdom soldiers in slow motion. The featurette then transitions to a title card with the words "Air Bending" and "Bagua Kung Fu". Cut to a split screen of a clip from "The Warriors of Kyoshi" and Kisu, where the martial arts coordinator and Aang jump and spin through the air.
Kisu	One particular thing about bagua is bagua is-is a very special style, and it's not something just anyone can walk up and learn. It's based on the fact that you've had some pretty long-term training...
	As Kisu's commentary continues, more split screen footage plays of Kisu and Aang during the latter's fight with Zuko in "Bato of the Water Tribe". As Aang uses his footwork to stay behind Zuko as they stand atop a circular well, Kisu performs the bagua circle walk, facing and moving around a central point before launching a strike.
Kisu	... in some sort of traditional style.
Bryan	[Gives an affirming murmur.] Which seems good for Aang and the-the Air Nomads, being so esoteric and kind of removed.
Kisu	Oh yeah.
Bryan	Yeah.
Kisu	And-and, um, it's a very interesting style. It-it-it's based on-it's based on the I Ching, the Book of Change, right? It's-it's based on walking the, um, the eight trigrams.
	Zuko grunts as he lands on the ground, having been sent flying into the air by the geyser of water Aang bent from the well.
Bryan	And I remember talking to you, years ago, how that would be a really good style for Aang because of all of these interchanging spirals, [Kisu gives an affirming murmur.] how that was sort of like dust devils and wind, you know, kind of whipping, and...
Kisu	[Interjects.] Oh, absolutely.
Bryan	Yeah, like a tornado.
Kisu	It's-it's interesting, you know, when I first learned martial arts, I wanted-I just wanted to learn how to defend myself and fight, so that, you know, I wouldn't have to be, you know, afraid, [Bryan affirmingly murmurs intermittently.] and later on, I began to discover that these stances, these movements, these geometries created certain very unique connections inside, and they started to, at least for mys-for my own personal experience, they started to open up, um, spiritual essences that I may have never had, um, access to.
	Throughout Kisu's commentary, the featurette cuts back and forth between Kisu and Bryan and clips from "The Guru" as Aang meditates on how he attempted to deny being the Avatar to his friends, unlocking his truth chakra as he embraces his role.
Pathik	Very good, Aang. You have opened the chakra of truth.
Kisu	So, Bryan, can you tell our audience how we weave in these great martial art movements?
Bryan	Well, to get them from your body into the animation is a long process...
	Cutaway to Bryan and Kisu standing in a gymnasium. Bryan walks up to the camera with a script for "The Desert", pointing to a highlighted scene description detailing Aang and Toph using their respective bending to fend off some buzzard wasps.
Bryan	... and generally, there's something that's in the script that calls for an action or some sort of bending, a martial art, and we have a first session with you where it's just kicking around ideas.
	Cut again to Bryan and Kisu standing in a gymnasium, this time performing some reference movements.
Bryan	[Stands up from a low crouched stance, waving his arms around.] You know, it's kinda... [Performs the same motion, albeit more slowly.]
Kisu	So, you do that-that initial drop [Bends his torso down toward the ground while gracefully sweeping his arms about.] here, then over here. [Whips his body around to face in the other direction, brandishing his hands while bending his fingers as if they were claws, and letting out an aggressive roar.]
Bryan	We tell you what we need, we-we say some artistic ideas that we had in mind, and we see if there's anything that already exists in Chinese martial arts that will translate to that. And then you give us some options, and the storyboard artists take that raw footage and they do their thumbnail drawings. And then after they've worked that out, we have a second session where now we know which of the movements you've given us will work, and we decide what camera angle we need to shoot it from, and then we refine the movements more.
	Reference footage of another martial arts session plays, the camera providing an overhead view of Bryan, leaning his whole body back while crossing together two hook swords, as Kisu carefully swings a broadsword above Bryan in a horizontal arc, the camera angle and choreography being mirrored in a clip of "City of Walls and Secrets" as Jet dodges an attack from Zuko.
Bryan	And then there's a third session where we really make sure we have it all nailed down, all the details of the hand positions, and the-the camera angle, and any revisions or new ideas...
	Split screen footage relating to Zuko and Jet's fight in "City of Walls and Secrets" plays, with the respective practitioners, Zuko to Jet and Bryan to Kisu, standing back-to-back as they attempt to strike the other with their weapons while the camera revolves around them.
Bryan	... um, and then that's all edited here, and then sent to the animators in Korea, and they will study your movements on video, in-in still images, and the way that the artists have translated those into drawings, the way that they've, like, designed the element, and how they're manifested by the movements. And that all gets turned into the animation, and it's a really long process, but I think it's really worth it.
	An extended clip from "The Crossroads of Destiny" plays, depicting Aang and Katara fighting Zuko and Azula.
Bryan	So why do you think it's worthwhile that we put so much effort into representing the authenticity of the martial arts in the show?
Kisu	It gives the characters, and their movements, a-a process, it gives it a feeling of-of reality. [Bryan gives an affirming murmur.] It's-when I-when I started to think about...
	Split screen footage of Kisu and Aang during his fight against Azula in "The Drill" plays, both of them pulling back from their initial poses before thrusting out one of their palms, with Aang striking the earthen wall he had created while Kisu moves his entire body forward. Now focusing on Azula's movements in her fight with Aang atop the drill, the split screen footage shows both her and Kisu transitioning from a roundhouse kick into a high kick as the firebender fends off multiple large rocks.
Kisu	... um, you-you know, you ask me, um, what type of movement we-would be-use for this particular bending, I-I would li-literally go into a fantasy world, and feel like I had, you know...
	More footage of Kisu and scenes from "The Drill" play, with Azula jabbing out with two fingers as she sends a fire blast at Aang, while Kisu maintains his poise while stepping forward and delivering a quick jab with his hand, his fingers similarly outstretched.
Kisu	... just returned from the Avatar world, and say, "well, they would do it like this."
	As Bryan commentates, clips from various action scenes throughout the show play, with occasional footage of Kisu's demonstrations being interspersed within.
Bryan	It was important to Mike and I that we didn't just copy moves from movies, and stuff. We knew that that kinda process would-would eventually run dry. [Kisu affirms intermittently.] Um, we wanted to get to the source of it, so, you know, that's why I sought you out five years ago, right-right, you know, right after we came up with the idea for the show. Another cool thing is even if you don't know martial arts, since these are, like, such ancient traditions, and they're based on the movements of the body that these things that, you know, these-these geometries that the body produces in all different cultures, I think people can feel that resonation, uh, the-the reality, you know, the-yeah. And it's worth it, it makes the animation better.
Kisu	And-and the traditional martial arts are really, uh, just beautiful to behold. It-it-a lot of thought went into these movements. It's just not about kicking or punching somebody, it's about expressing, and-and-and-and building the body's energy, and raising the spirit. And the whole show is like that; I think you put authenticity into everything.
Bryan	Thank you.
Kisu	You know, as far as the calligraphy, as-as far, you know, the-the stories are just mind-blowing. You know I'm the biggest fan.
Bryan	Thanks, man.
	Throughout Kisu's descriptions, the featurette splices in footage of Aang encountering his cosmic projection while meditating in "The Guru". Transition to title cards for "Avatar: Creating the Legend" and Nickelodeon as the featurette comes to a close.
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Commentators

• Sifu Kisu
• Bryan Konietzko