Waterbending
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Waterbending is a mystical martial art featured within the fictional universe of the Nickelodeon animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. A moiety of the Water Tribe, Waterbenders, as the practitioners are known, possess the hydrokinetic ability to control water, steam and ice.
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[edit] Origin
The art of waterbending is said to have been inspired by the moon, with the ancestors of the Water Tribe observing how it pushed and pulled the tides of the ocean to finally learn how to control water themselves.[1]
According to the episode "The Waterbending Scroll," the word 'waterbending' is written in Chinese as 截水神功, which can be translated as "The Divine Ability to Halt Water."[citation needed]
[edit] Fighting Style
Waterbending is based on the style of Tai Chi, which is a martial art that features slow movements and elegant forms that evoke the feel of flowing water.[2] Waterbending's strength is its defensive capabilities. Unlike some other bending disciplines, Waterbending's defensive maneuvers focus on control through turning an opponent's own strength against him, rather than directly harming the opponent.
Waterbending provides a versatility of moves at their disposal. Waterbenders also possess thermokinetic abilities regarding their element, meaning that they can freeze, melt, evaporate or condense the water they manipulate at will.[3] Changing the phase of water allows for multiple maneuvers in the course of a battle, from encasing an opponent in ice to hiding behind a veil of mist. Waterbenders are also able to manipulate water pressure, allowing for techniques such as grabbing and cutting through objects.[4] Waterbending is the opposing bending art to Firebending.[5] Like all the bending arts, Waterbending is balanced out as to not 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.
[edit] Weapons
It has been shown that weapons can be incorporated into the art. Sifu Kisu, the martial arts consultant for the show, has stated that, given the cutting-like techniques, the best weapon to be used with Waterbending would be a katana or a cane sword.[6]
[edit] Specialized Techniques
[edit] Healing
- See also: Qigong
Certain Waterbenders possess the ability to heal wounds and relieve sickness by redirecting chi paths throughout the body, using water as a catalyst.[3] Physically, this draws on the restorative properties of water to organisms such as human beings that are primarily composed of it.
Though powerful, Waterbending healing cannot heal every ailment. In the Northern Water Tribe, due to the traditionally patriarchal culture of the tribe, healing is the only aspect of Waterbending taught to female Waterbenders, with classes assigned for young girls held in huts towards the development of the ability.
[edit] Extensions of waterbending
[edit] Plantbending
A member of the Foggy Swamp Tribe, Hue, has illustrated that Waterbenders can manipulate the vines and roots of plants by bending the ample amount of water within them.[7] Going further, a skilled Waterbender is able to extract the water from plants for more effective utilization, albeit leaving behind withered, dead remains of the former plant life.[8]
[edit] Bloodbending
Using Bloodbending, waterbenders are able to bend the water within living creatures, giving them complete control over them. The technique is only possible under the power of the full moon, when a Waterbender's abilities are at their highest. [8] This technique has only been employed by Hama and then Katara. This ability goes against the original theory of waterbending being defensive which makes most waterbenders not want to use it.
[edit] Weaknesses
The primary weakness behind the art of waterbending lies in the need for an external source of water, for only a very skilled Waterbender can condense the moisture in the air or ground into a usable form.[9] Another significant weakness of waterbending is its dependence on the moon, meaning that during a lunar eclipse or in the absence of the moon, waterbending is impossible.[10]
A Waterbender's power comes from the internal life energy chi. Due to this, a Waterbender's power is connected to his or her present emotional state.[3] If an inexperienced Waterbender loses his or her temper, his or her waterbending power is intensified, but in turn, control is lost. This is seen in the "The Boy In The Iceberg" wherein Katara became angry at Sokka; she involuntrily waterbended and destroyed an iceberg. [11]
[edit] Elemental Symbol
The symbol for water and waterbending is a circle comprised of a stylized rightward-facing ocean wave, with three spiral crests, breaking over three wavy diagonal lines representing water. It also shows how the moon and ocean spirit work together. The symbol is featured in connection with Northern Water Tribe spirituality, and on the pendant worn by Katara, originally carved by a Waterbender named Pakku for her grandmother as an engagement present.[12]
[edit] Spirituality and Waterbending
"The legends say the moon was the first Waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves... Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon, our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance."[13]
Like the moon controlling the tides, Waterbenders move water using their chi to mimic gravitational pull by choosing how to direct their energy utilizing two jings, which in turn work to push and pull the water being controlled.[3] Because of this lunar sympathy, a Waterbender's power is stronger at night, at its absolute zenith during a full moon, and lost during a lunar eclipse. A Waterbender's power is also enhanced during the rain. This is most likely because rainwater is nothing more than moisture from the ocean that has condense into the clouds and precipitates back to the earth.[14] Furthermore, Waterbenders' powers are strongest when they are situated in colder climates, during the winter, or near their native polar homelands.[3]
Legend further elaborates that Tui (meaning "push") the Moon Spirit, and its symbiotic partner La (meaning "pull"), the Ocean Spirit, gave up their immortality to be a part of the mortal world. In fact, these spirits exist in the physical forms of two koi fish eternally circling one another in a pond, in the highly spiritual oasis, in the capital city of the Northern Water Tribe.
Without the equilibrium of these two spiritual aspects, Waterbenders lose their powers. This was illustrated when Tui's mortal form was killed by Admiral Zhao during the Fire Nation's siege of the North Pole.[10] The moon disappeared from the sky, the balance of the world was upset, and the Waterbenders defending the North Pole were rendered powerless.
The Fire Nation's invading fleet was subsequently defeated when the Avatar, Aang, acted as a literal avatar of La and combined with the Ocean Spirit to form a gigantic humanoid koi that swept the Fire Nation forces out to sea. Balance was restored when Princess Yue, who had received a part of Tui's life force at birth to prevent her immediate death, returned that force and sacrificed herself so that Tui might live.[10]
[edit] Notable Waterbenders
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "The Siege of the North". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2005-12-02. No. 19, season 1 (Book 1).
- ^ Nickelodeon's Official Avatar: The Last Airbender Waterbending Guide feat. Sifu Kisu
- ^ a b c d e Teitelbaum, Michael (2006). The Lost Scrolls: Water (Avatar). Simon Spotlight/Nickelodeon, pp. 30. ISBN 1416918787.
- ^ "The Drill". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2006-09-15. No. 13, season 2 (Book 2).
- ^ "Bitter Work". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2006-06-02. No. 9, season 2 (Book 2).
- ^ AvatarSpirit.net Interview with Sifu Kisu, Martial Arts Consultant
- ^ "The Swamp". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2006-04-14. No. 4, season 2 (Book 2).
- ^ a b "The Puppetmaster". Director: Joaquim dos Santos; Writer: Tim Hedrick. Avatar: The Last Air bender. Nickelodeon. 2007-10-25. No. 8, season 3.
- ^ Official Nickelodeon Avatar: The Last Airbender website
- ^ a b c "The Siege of the North". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2005-12-02. No. 20, season 1 (Book 1).
- ^ "The Boy in the Iceberg". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2005-02-21. No. 1, season 1.
- ^ "The Waterbending Master". Avatar: The Last Airbender. Nickelodeon. 2005-11-18. No. 18, season 1 (Book 1).
- ^ Princess Yue in "The Siege of the North".
- ^ Avatar Cine-manga Vol 02, Pg. 88
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