Earthbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the geokinetic ability to manipulate earth and rock in all their various forms
Earthbending is one of the most diverse of the bending arts
earthbenders have learned to adapt fighting styles that are more suited to a fast-paced pro-bending match. Most earthbenders participating in pro-bending have learned to keep mobile and only root themselves long enough to actually launch and direct the earth discs provided in the arena. Bolin's earthbending is typical of the style used within the arena, although he has exhibited some of the more traditional forms and movements when outside of it.
Earthbending uses a balance of strength and defense to overwhelm opponents.
The earthbending discipline stresses neutral jing, which involves listening, waiting and attacking at the right moment.
Earth ending abilities
Earth and stone levitation: The most common attack involves levitating nearby pieces of earth and stone of numerous sizes (more powerful benders can move larger masses) and propelling them at foes with punching or kicking motions.
Earth block: Earthbenders can bring up blocks of earth and launch them at their enemies.
Earth column: A more powerful version of rock projectiles, this technique involves forcing columns of rock out of the ground. Using a similar principle, an earthbender can shoot a stream of small ruts and protrusions from underground at their opponent. This can also be used to enhance the benders' jumps. It is, however, limited to the ground and does not have the same range as a rock projectile.
Earth compression: It is possible for earthbenders to compress large chunks of rock into smaller, denser chunks, or to compress several smaller chunks into one big piece of rock.
Earth gauntlet: A much less advanced version of earth armor that can be used to throw back opponents with hard solid force. The technique is useful in that it grants some level of the protection of earth armor but allows the rest of the body to remain flexible.
Earth hand/mannequin: An earthbender with a decent grasp and knowledge of sculpting can craft replicas of human appendages or bodies from any rock source and move them from place to place.
Earth launch: While earthbenders like being rooted to the ground, they can quickly move rock beneath them and launch them several tens of feet into the air, whether to catch airborne opponents or to travel faster.
Earth material manipulation: Earthbending is not limited to rock or soil alone. An earthbender can also manipulate coal, gems, crystals, chalk, salt, and other earth-based materials, like meteorites and jennamite.
Earth shelter: This can be used by earthbenders to create a shelter or dome which can provide instant shelter in the wilderness. It can also be used to trap enemies, but this application would not work against an earthbending opponent, who would be able to cancel out the technique. These can also be created in combat as a defense against non-earthbending attacks.
Earth wall: Earthbenders can create walls of earth, which can be used for both defense and offense, as well as for practical things, like construction.
Ground shift: Earthbenders can alter the ground beneath others to move them out of their way. The sudden movement can be disorienting to the target.
Rock cuff: Earthbenders can quickly fashion cuffs out of rock to immobilize their opponents.
Rock shield: A levitated slab of rock can also double as a shield when positioned in front of a bender. This can also be performed with a slab or sheet of bedrock thrust out of the earth's surface. The shield can be hurled at the opponent for quick retaliation
Slab shackles: With proper timing, an earthbender can bind an opponent's arms with triangle-shaped slabs. This technique is generally used if the opponent is in a vulnerable position, for example on their knees.
Earthbending master level
Dust cloud: By shaking the ground back and forth, earthbenders can create dust clouds of various sizes to provide cover, the particles of which can also be manipulated themselves.
Dust-stepping: A variation of the mist-stepping and fire-stepping techniques used by waterbenders and firebenders, respectively, by creating very thin pillars of increasing size, a fast earthbender can use this technique to quickly scale walls.
Earth armor: Earthbenders can bring rocks, dust, pebbles, or crystals around them and mold them to fit their body and create something similar to armor. They can also hide inside the earth by bending the rock around them as a shell. This earthbending move is great for defense, especially against fire. It is not as effective for offensive moves since it limits the practitioner's range of motion.
Earth wave or earth skating: High-level earthbenders can create a wave of earth to ride on and use it as a form of transportation. The downsides of the wave are that it takes a lot of energy to produce, as well as intense concentration; the slightest distraction could cause the user to lose control of the wave. They can also force a wave of earth outward and use it as an extremely powerful offensive attack
Lavabending: Certain powerful earthbenders are able to change the phase of the earth they are manipulating, melting it into lava for more versatility in battle, similar to what waterbenders do with ice. A bender using this ability can form the lava into different weapons or summon magma from the ground.
Metalbending: Most earthbenders are unable to affect processed metals. Usually, the trace amount of earth still present in metal is so minuscule that it goes undetected even by the best earthbenders, lending to its use in detaining earthbenders. As metalbending techniques were further refined, benders eventually learned how to manipulate metal without being in close contact with it, and amateur metalbending students were able to apply this skill to small objects such as coins and canes.
Mudbending: It has been demonstrated that earthbenders, like waterbenders, are able to bend mud due to the presence of earth within.
Sandbending: Sandbending is an alternate earthbending style that has been adapted for use in the Si Wong Desert by the people that live there. They move quickly in the desert on specialized wooden sailers that are propelled by bending miniature, localized sandstorms behind their sails. Because sand is sediment which travels in flows, their style resembles air and waterbending more than earthbending. It is implied that most, if not all, earthbenders are capable of easily bending sand, but because of the loose shifty nature of sand, it is not an easy transition for the average earthbender. The sandbenders of the desert are especially proficient with it due to their particular habitat.
Seismic sense: skilled earthbenders are able to sense vibrations through the ground, "seeing" by sensing their surroundings and making a mental image of it. It allows for a 360-degree field of "vision", outside of normal line-of-sight. To operate, the user needs direct contact with the ground, preferably without something like shoes in between. The technique is only usable on surfaces the user can bend. It was also the basis of unique ability of metalbending.
describes his earthbending style as "light on his feet", which grants him greater maneuverability and evasiveness during matches. Jaune also employs modernized bending-like attacks along with more traditional earthbending.
The Hung Gar style of kung fu is the main influence for earthbending; they both feature "heavily rooted stances and strong kicks and punches that evoke the mass and power of earth." Hung Gar itself parallels animal movements such as the tiger's hard blows and the crane's affinity to landing gracefully on the earth. the blind earthbender's style, is based on Southern Praying Mantis, a precise stepping skill which user uses to maintain constant contact with the ground and "see".
Earthbending, however, draws from a great number of the styles related to Nanquan (southern fist), which is a collection of Chinese martial arts styles from Southern China. This includes Choy Li Fut, Choy Gar, Hung Ga, Lau Gar, Li Gar, Mok Gar, and Wing Chun.
The concept of neutral jing is also closely related to the philosophy of "sticky hands", a practice common to some southern Chinese martial arts such as Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis and Wing Chun. The purpose of sticky hands is to enable the practitioner to predict their opponent's next move. Similar to Toph detecting the movements of others through her connection with earth, a practitioner learns to detect their opponent's upcoming move by maintaining constant contact between their own arm and their foe's arm (may also be between their hands or wrists). By practicing with a partner in this manner, a practitioner will learn to "read" the slight movements of their opponent's arms to detect their next attack and subsequently move accordingly to either strike before the attack is made or move in the same direction with the attack and effectively neutralize it. Concepts such as listening, reacting, balancing attacks and defense, and drawing power from a stable lower body are often referred to in the practice of sticky hands, again, closely relating to many primary concepts in earthbending.
(Jaune will use traditional earth bending and modern earthing(so he doesn't cause collateral damage) the earth bending style of standard earthbend, toph, bolin, metal bending toph and her daughters and lava bending bolin)