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Airbending is a mystical martial art practiced by the Air Nomads. As members of the Air Nomads race, Airbenders, as the practitioners are called, are heirs to the aerokinetic ability to control currents of air. Its season is autumn, and more Airbenders were born in this season than any other.
Origin
Source: Air Learned From: Flying Bisons
It is said that Airbenders first learned their bending from the Flying Bison, a sacred creature in the Air Nomads' culture. The Bison typically use their massive beaver-like tail to create gusts of wind, and as the name suggests, can fly without any visible means of propulsion. It is also said that the Airbenders had borrowed the arrow mark from the Flying Bison for their tattoos. These tattoos symbolize a person's mastery of the Airbending art, and are given to a practitioner once their training is complete. Unlike other nations, all Air Nomads are born airbenders.
Fighting Style/Levels
Trainee-
Spoiler: click to toggle Air Manipulation: By using circular, evasive movements, Airbenders build up massive inertia; this buildup of energy is released as massive power. It also allows for wind-based counterattacks that knock opponents off-balance, mimicking the sudden directional shifts of air currents. Attacks vary from simple gusts of wind to miniature tornadoes and cyclones, maintaining the circular theme. Even a simple movement can create a air gust, and airbenders increase the power of their moves by performing larger sweeps and spins, using the momentum of their movement to simulate larger gusts. This is also demonstrated with their use of staffs or fans to increase or focus the air currents they create.
Air Shields: The most common defensive tactic involves circling enemies, suddenly changing direction when attacked and evading by physical movement rather than bending. However, an airbender can still deflect as needed by throwing up gusts of air close to their bodies as a shield. This is rarely to stop attacks directly and more often pushes the attack aside and away, conserving energy and allowing them to turn the movement into an attack at the same moment. Since air can affect almost all physical objects, it can also be used to enforce the momentum of thrown objects or manipulate other objects (though requiring a higher degree of precision).
Air Barrier: This is a more powerful defensive technique where the entire body is surrounded by a dome of air that deflects attacks from all directions.
Air Marbles: A useless technique used by Aang. He plays with marbles often impressing people.
Air Blast: A more offensive move involving a direct pulse or jet of wind from the hands or feet. The power is generated more from the bender's own power than assisted by momentum. This direct blast can reach further with greater accuracy and is used to inflict greater damage.
Breath of Wind: Very similar to standard air jet but created from the mouth and lungs. It requires extremely good breath control to employ effectively. Size and focus is more easily controlled, including narrow jets that can strike targets as small as insects, to large gale force gusts.
Enhanced Speed: Airbenders enhance their movement in battle, and can run swiftly by decreasing air resistance around them, and even sprint across or run up vertical surfaces by generating a wind current behind themselves to propel them along. Aang has been shown using this to run many times faster than an average human and maintain this for very long periods, allowing him to travel long distances even without gliding or jumping. A master Airbender can use this technique to briefly run across water.
Enhanced Agility: Air movements can also be used as a levitation aid. Airbenders jump high and far by riding on strong gusts of wind and can slow or deflect falls by creating cushions of air. The constant movement required by this art makes airbenders naturally flexible and agile. Even without actually bending they can easily maneuver around an opponent by ducking, jumping, and side stepping, appearing to flow around their opponents without expending any energy at all, letting the opponent tire themselves out and create exploitable openings. This conservation of energy combined with high stamina gives them an advantage in prolonged combat. Master-
Spoiler: click to toggle Air Vortex: A spinning funnel of air of various sizes. This can be used to trap and disorient opponents or as a potent defense since it will deflect and repel any objects and can even throw them back at an opponent.
Air Funnel: Similar to an Air vortex but to a smaller scale, Aang inventively used this technique as a cannon by creating a small air funnel through which small rock projectiles could be entered through the top and could be fired out of the opposite end.
Air Wake: By running in a circle and instantly building huge inertia, a master Airbender can shoot a blast of compressed air shaped like the user's body at a target.
Air Blades: A more offensive move than is typical of airbending principle, this involves a focus slicing air current that can cut through stone or timber with relative ease. This is frequently conjured with a staff rather than the body, using the narrow profile of the object to create a more focused air movement.
Air Spout: Similar to the Water Spout, master Airbenders are able to rotate and control the direction of the Air Spout enough to levitate them off the ground and remain in the air for as long as they wish to or can maintain it. Avatar-
Spoiler: click to toggle Tornadoes/Hurricanes: In addition to very large and powerful air movements, an Avatar level bender can create massive tornadoes and hurricanes at will.
Air Sphere: Similar to the air shield this powerful defense surrounds the bender in a sphere of spinning air that deflects anything coming in at them and can even disintegrate the ground beneath them. Aang sub-consciously uses this every time he enters the Avatar State when angered.
Strong Wind: It is possible for the Avatar to unleash extremely powerful winds. In "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang", while extinguishing three enormous fire whips, Aang unleashed a straightforward wind attack at Ozai. Though the attack missed its target, it did great damage to a nearby rock pillar, breaking it in half.
Independent Flight: Aang was initially able only to hover for extended periods of time while in the Avatar State, but in "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang", Aang utilizes this technique for flight. The Avatar flies at high-speeds while inside the air sphere, which also acts as a barrier to protect the bender during impacts. The angrier the bender gets, the faster he/she would fly.
Special Techniques Gliding: Although all Airbenders can levitate or extend jumps via Airbending, most if not all Airbenders possess a glider for mid range flight. These hand crafted portable wood and canvas structures can collapse into a staff for storage and as an aid when bending. In glider form it is used in conjunction with bending to fly as long as the bender has the strength to maintain the air currents. With stronger winds multiple people can be carried for short distances. As a normal staff, it can be used as a weapon in battle, to aid in bending, and even as a levitation aid when spun above the head like a helicopter propeller.
Air Scooter: The Air Scooter, a form of ground transportation invented by Aang himself, is a spherical "ball" of air that can be ridden balancing on it like a top. He has used the technique in many episodes, usually to provide quick bursts of speed as well as to overcome vertical surfaces, including in The Drill in order to scale the wall of Ba Sing Se. The Air Scooter is also shown to be capable of levitating in the air for short periods.
Amplification: In, "The Tales of Ba Sing Se", Aang is shown blowing into his whistle and sending a high frequency sound wave through Ba Sing Sae to round up the animals. It may be possible for airbenders to control sound because sound waves travels through air. This technique is very similar to the Breath of Wind. It is possible that Aang used this in "The Firebending Masters" when he and Zuko were stuck in the goo in the golden egg room. Those might be examples of soundbending.
Cloudbending: In, "The Fortuneteller", it's shown that (because clouds are made with air and water) a skilled Airbender or Waterbender can manipulate them easily to create various shapes (used in that instance to provide a message to nearby villagers).
*Airbending is the only art that has no specific sub-skill or specialized form that has as of yet been revealed.*
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