Ginger, on the martial arts behind Airbending

As I mentioned before in my anime post, I've really gotten into Avatar: The Last Airbender recently - my husband and I kinda binged watched the whole 3 book series over the past few weeks. Eventually I hope to post either a video or maybe a text based review/discussion on the whole series, but we'll see how that works out. O.o

Anyways, don't worry - there's no spoilers in this! Some of my friends haven't finished the series yet, and I would get a pounding for giving anything away. This post (first in a series of 4) is about the martial arts that were used to create the different bending forms in the series. I was so impressed with the 'real-life' look of the animated martial arts when I started watching - it's actually the first thing about this show that drew me in. You can actually watch the characters struggle with learning new techniques just like you would with actual martial arts students. It's simply amazing. How can a cartoon be so realistic?  The creators  of Avatar, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Koniezko, actually brought in a martial arts specialist, Sifu Kisu, to help create the different forms of bending to make them look as accurate as possible, while at the same time making them distinctly different.

Airbender Aang (Go fan art!)

We'll talk about Airbending first, since Aang's the last one and all. Airbending is based on the Chinese martial art Ba Gua (offically known as Baguazhang). This martial art attrubes it's creation to Dong Haichuan, who learned from Taoist (and possibly Buddhist) masters in the mountains of rural China during the early 19th century. There is evidence to suggest Haichuan created Ba Gua by synthesizing several pre-existing martial arts taught and practiced in the region he was originally from with the Taoist practice of circle walking. Circle walking is Ba Gua's characteristic method of stance and movement training. All forms of Ba Gua utilize circle walking as an integral part of training: Practitioners walk around the edge of a circle in various low stances, facing the center, periodically changing direction as they execute forms. For a beginner the circle is roughly 6 to 12 feet across. Students first learn flexability and proper body alignment though the basic exercies, then move on to more complex forms and internal power mechanics. Many distinctive styles of weapons are contained within Ba Gua as well; some use concealment, like the "scholar's pen" or a pair of knives (the most elaborate, which are unique to the style, are the crescent-shaped deer horn knives). Ba Gua is also known for practicing with extremely large weapons, such as the bāguà jian (Ba Gua sword), and the bāguà dāo (Ba Gua broadsword). Other, more conventional weapons are also used, such as the staff (gun), spear (qiang), crutch (guai), hook sword (gou) and the straight, double-edged sword (jian). Ba Gua practitioners are also known for being able to use anything as a weapon using the principles of their art. Ba Gua contains an extremely wide variety of techniques as well as weapons, including various strikes (with palm, fist, elbow, fingers, etc), kicks, joint locks, throws, and distinctively evasive circular footwork. As such, Ba Gua is considered neither a purely striking nor a purely grappling martial art. Ba Gua practitioners are known for their ability to "flow" in and out of the way of objects, making ideal for defense against multiple attackers. Ba Gua's evasive nature is also shown by the practice of moving behind an attacker, so that the opponent cannot harm the practitioner.

Ba Gua is an ideal martial art for Airbending: it's movements employ the whole body with smooth coiling and uncoiling actions, not unlike cool and warm air currents. Dynamic footwork keeps the practitioner in constant motion, like air itself. The circular stepping pattern also builds up centripetal force, allowing the practitioner to maneuver quickly around an opponent - perfect for a slighter, more agile fighter.

What Sifu Kisu has to say about it:



Look for installment 2 next week: The martial arts behind Waterbending