Was LOK bending just "chucking the elements?"
By Arcus1 52 Comments
When comparing ATLA and LOK, critics of LOK often claim that, while bending in ATLA was incredibly intricate and complex, bending in LOK was overly simplified and simply benders "chucking the elements." While I can see how people might have started to get that idea from pro-bending, I believe that by the end of the series this idea should have been put to rest.
However, it seems that the idea that LOK bending is incredibly inferior to ATLA seems to have perpetuated. In this blog I'd like to do what I can to disprove that idea.
I'll be doing entries for all the elements.
Fire
First, firebending. LOK firebending's often accused of just being like kickboxing, all punches and nothing else. However there's some things wrong with this criticism.
First, firebending in ATLA involved plenty of punches and direct attacks.
It's not all fire whips and overly complex moves.
It's also incorrect to think that firebenders in LOK didn't have any fancier moves:
Fire Shields:
Fire Jets:
Fire Blades:
Breakdance:
Random:
I hope this was somewhat interesting and gets some discussion.
I'll be adding to this blog with sections for earth, water, and air as well. I just figured I'd start with fire.
Feel free to start discussing any of the elements-whether you agree/disagree with me, etc.
Any discussion would be helpful for me in writing up the sections on the other elements-so I know what kinds of things to try to include, etc. Also if there's anything to maybe be added to the fire section.
Earthbending:
Next element up for discussion: earthbending.
When comparing ATLA and LOK earthbending, it is a bit easier to see some differences, and not acknowledging those would be a mistake. The prevalence of multiple subelements for earthbending (metalbending and lavabending) certainly added a new, more fluid aspect to earthbending. By the end of the series, all of the notable earthbenders in LOK also had a subelement, thus impacting their style and resulting in differences when compared to the pure earthbenders of ATLA. Probending also introduced some style changes to earthbending (though perhaps not as significant as it might appear at first), these being most notably exhibited by Bolin.
There's also the problem of comparing LOK earthbenders to Toph. When compared, it's very clear that Toph's style is different from the style of LOK earthbenders. Simply from that, it might be easy to assume that, because of this, something about LOK earthbending was changed. But really, it's the opposite. Toph is supposed to have a different style, even from other ATLA earthbenders. While most earthbending is based on the Hung Gar style of Kung Fu, Toph's bending was based on Praying Mantis style. Her moves are intentionally unique, and LOK earthbenders are not supposed to mirror her style. Rather, they have more in common with the Hung Gar style used by earthbenders like King Bumi.
OK, on to a bending comparison. Usually LOK earthbenders get accused of just throwing rocks, sorta like firebending, rather than showing all the versatility of ATLA earthbenders. Sure, probending encourages a looser, more firebending-esque style of earthbending, so I can see where that idea would come in. But it's not like ATLA earthbenders never launched rocks at each other.
It would also be incorrect to say that LOK earthbenders never do anything except chuck rocks at each other.
Earth Pillars/launching:
Earth Trapping:
Earth Shields:
Earth Waves:
Earth Projections:
Earth Jump:
Stomp and Kick:
Random:
Of course those are hardly the only examples, merely some examples.
Airbending:
In ATLA, Aang was the only airbender, and he was a high-caliber, native born airbender who used it as his primary element. In LOK, there's quite a few more airbenders, which naturally is going to result in more differences in use and technique. This can make airbending in LOK seem very different from ATLA, and in a sense it is. However, had there been more airbenders in ATLA, it seems very reasonable that we would have seen more differences in style, as is the case with the other elements.
Usually people don't seem to have too much of a problem with Tenzin or his kids' airbending. When it comes to Zaheer, his style is certainly different from more traditional airbending, but that was done intentionally. Zaheer wasn't meant to be a master airbender or even a classically trained one. Rather, he was supposed to be a master martial artist who knew enough about airbending to use it as a weapon, modifying it's use to fit his style of fighting-not the other way around. So while his technique is fairly unorthodox, it seems to be fairly well accepted.
The problem usually comes with Korra's airbending. People claim that she just uses it like firebending or the other elements, being too direct and aggressive. And, to be fair, there are some good reasons for that. Her first showing of airbending against Amon was just her punching air blasts.
However, before we go on, I think it's important to realize that LOK isn't the first time airbending and firebending have had similar moves. If you've got a problem with these similarities, the blame should really go back to book 1 of ATLA.
Aang used direct attacks long before Korra.
Nor is Korra limited to simply punching air. I think people sometimes miss Korra exhibiting a variety of airbending techniques or the philosophies of airbending into her fighting style.
Air Spouts:
Airbending Agility:
Defensive Airbending:
Non-straightforward Attacks:
Spiral Movements:
Random:
Hope that's good for some discussion
Waterbending
Finally got around to finishing this.
LOK has no shortage of exceptionally skilled waterbenders, but even still it can be the subject of criticism, usually for being too direct or aggressive or...something.
Sure, waterbenidng's based on Tai Chi, softness and breath, I get all that. But it's not like ATLA waterbenders were never direct or aggressive
Water is the element of change. It's versatile, and it is not, nor should it be, always soft and gentle.
Nor were LOK benders limited to simply chucking water, kickboxing, etc. There was plenty of versatility straight from ATLA
Redirection:
Water Arms:
Octopus Form:
Waterspouts:
Water Transport:
Freeze:
May come back and add more, but this'll do for now. Let me know what you think
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