Avatar: The Last Airbender is easily one of the greatest TV shows of modern times. It finished over ten years ago and it still sits comfortably within IMDb’s top 20 TV shows list. It survived a terrible live-action film and spawned a spin-off and an upcoming remake. And when you watch the show it’s not surprising because the quality of writing and care put into the characters and the story is phenomenal. Part of what makes a fantasy show like Avatar successful is the detail in its world-building and developing its lore. It makes any story told within that world all the more powerful. Airbending is just one of the many aspects that make this show so fascinating but as it relates directly to the main character Aang it deserves a closer inspection.
Airbending: What is it?
Avatar: The Last Airbender is set in a world where the four main elements of water, rock, fire, and air can be manipulated by those with special powers, known as benders. Airbending is essentially an aerokinetic power allowing benders to control the air around them. It can be used in a number of different ways from moving things with the wind to controlling the temperature. At the beginning of the show, all but one (our hero Aang) of the Airbenders have been killed and the skill is doomed to be lost forever.
Becoming a Master Airbender
While all of the Air Nomads (the original Air Bending tribes) are born with the ability to control the air, becoming a master of the art is a little more tricky. Various tiers of Airbending were developed by the Nomads, 36 in total, with each tier consisting of a separate Airbending skill such as Air Shield, Air Punch, Air Blades etc. To become a master one must successfully master each tier or, as in the case of Aang, develop a new technique. The ability to find new reaches of power within Air bending is no common thing and when Aang developed the Air Scooter (allowing him to travel very quickly) it revealed just how powerful he was.
Avatar Level Airbending
Of course in becoming the Avatar (the only person capable of mastering all 4 bending types), Aang would gain access to power levels far above the average Airbending master. In one memorable moment during a fight with the Fire Nation, Aang unleashed a blast of wind powerful enough to cut through rock; rock being the natural opposite to Airbending this was almost unheard of. The move itself had been developed by a previous Avatar, Kyoshi, to push a huge slab of land into the sea to create her own island.
The Air Bison
According to Air Bending hist0ry (or legend) the art was originally given to the Air Nomads by the Air Bison. These were huge creatures (that look something like a cross between a real bison and a wooly mammoth) who float and fly seamlessly through the air. Aang himself had an Air Bison as a companion, called Appa, that would fly him and his companions across the world as they pursued their quest. The Air Bison were always companions to the Air Nomads who used them and learned from them for most of their history.
The Air Nomads
The Air Nomads themselves were an anomaly among the four other kingdoms in that they did not have a specific area of land in which they lived. As their name would suggest they traveled across the different kingdoms but retained four Air Temples at each corner of the world. Hidden away and usually high up in the clouds, the Air Temples were where young Airbenders would learn their craft. As a deeply spiritual nation, the Airbenders developed their powers almost like a religion or a philosophy.
It’s Mainly Defensive
Such is the highly spiritual nature of the Air Nomads that Airbending is almost exclusively a defensive technique. The other nations use their powers aggressively, but Airbenders are almost never likely to instigate a fight. Rather their skills are developed for avoiding oncoming attacks, traversal, and by harmlessly pushing an opponent away from them. Airbending is, however, believed to be the most versatile and dynamic of the 4 styles and so it’s not that it can’t be used aggressively, just that the Airbenders choose to use it for other purposes.
The Fire Nation Attack
Aang is the last of the Airbenders. We learn at the beginning of the show that the Air Nomads were completely killed in a vicious attack from the Fire Nation. This was an attempt to stop any future Avatars from being made by destroying the nation of one bending technique and then no one could ever learn to master all four. In one devastating episode Aang travels to an Air Temple where he sees the remains of his people as they were left after the attack, he also learns that one of the few uses of aggressive Airbending was used in this fight.
Air Acolytes
In The Legend of Korra, the Avatar spin-off set many years later we learn what has become of Airbending after Aang united the four nations. Obviously there was no way to reverse time and bring the Air Nomads back so the survival of Airbending and its culture relied entirely on Aang. The action happens off-screen between each of the shows, but Aang forms a group of people known as the Air Acolytes to help rebuild the Air Nation. In Korra we see the work they do with Tenzin, Aang’s son, who also established a new Air Temple in Republic City.
Harmonic Convergence
The Legend of Korra goes much deeper into the supernatural and mystical side of bending including the source of power and the Avatar cycle itself. This includes the impact of the Harmonic Convergence, a rare occurrence that happens once every ten thousand years. The effect of the event is to awaken bending powers that were lying dormant within people. Not everyone is born with bending abilities and not everyone is aware of when they have them. This awakening rapidly decreased the need to find potential Airbenders in a person.
Baguazhang
Airbending itself is based on Baguazhang the real Chinese martial arts style that makes up one of the three main Chinese martial arts. It was developed from Buddhist and Taoist tradition and shares a lot of similarities with Airbending. Students learn in stages as they develop simple core techniques into more complex individual skills. Because the martial artists apply many varied techniques, they popularized the “flow” technique of fighting, appearing to push and pull between obstacles and multiple enemies. Comparing the animation to footage of the martial artists, you can see the connection.
Next: Avatar: 10 Things Every Fan Should Know About Water Bending
