Earthbending

"'Earth is the element of substance.'"

Earthbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the geokinetic ability to manipulate earth and rock in all their various forms, prevalent in the Earth Kingdom and the United Republic.

Earth is the element of substance, while the people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse, strong, and enduring. Following the lion turtles' decision to relinquish their role as protectors of mankind, Oma and Shu were the first earthbenders to learn this art from the badgermoles.

The key to earthbending is utilizing neutral jing, which involves waiting and listening for the right moment to strike and, when that moment comes, acting decisively. In other words, earthbenders generally endure their enemies' attacks until the right opportunity to counterattack reveals itself.

Origin
During the era of Raava, the power of earth was temporarily bestowed on the inhabitants of a city atop a giant lion turtle while they left the village to hunt for food. After the inhabitants permanently left the care of the lion turtle, humans first learned to earthbend by observing and imitating the geokinetic abilities of badgermoles living in the mountains in what is now Earth Kingdom territory. According to a legend, known widely as "The Legend of the Two Lovers", two star-crossed lovers named Oma and Shu, who hailed from separate warring villages, were the first people who learned the art from these creatures so that they could meet within the mountain that divided them. To make sure no one could ever find them, they used their new abilities to create a labyrinth of tunnels inside the mountain, which only they could navigate. One day, after many meetings in the series of passageways, the man did not come to see his lover, as he had died, a casualty of the villages' quarrel. His lover showcased a devastating display of her earthbending abilities and ultimately proclaimed the feud over. The villages subsequently collaborated to construct a city, Omashu, in their honor. The pathways they made by earthbending became known as the Cave of Two Lovers.

Fighting style
Earthbending is one of the most diverse of the bending arts, ranging from the rigid and collectively learned earthbending of the Dai Li, which is the most commonly used earthbending style, to the individually taught styles, such as Toph's unique earthbending technique. Earthbenders are generally muscular, tough and direct, and like all benders, their technique reflects on their individual personalities.

With the advent of pro-bending, 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 differs from the other bending arts in that it maintains a distinct balance between offensive and defensive capabilities, though waterbending involves a more refined version by channeling defense into offense. Earthbending uses a balance of strength and defense to overwhelm opponents.

The principle of jing is the essence of battle strategy of all bending arts, with a total of eighty-five possible actions. Positive jing occurs when one chooses to fight, while negative jing is when one chooses to evade. The earthbending discipline stresses neutral jing, which involves listening, waiting and attacking at the right moment. King Bumi stressed this in his tactics against the Fire Nation; he allowed himself to be imprisoned in New Ozai for many months before liberating the city on the Day of Black Sun simply waiting for the right moment to fight and liberate the city.

Earthbending 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. The Dai Li used this technique against Team Avatar during the Day of Black Sun.
 * 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. Haru and his father, Tyro, used this technique, compressing several small pieces of coal into one big coal boulder. The fact that two earthbenders were required to perform it suggests that this technique is quite difficult.
 * Earth gauntlet: A much less advanced version of earth armor that can be used to throw back opponents with hard solid force. Aang used this technique when fighting against Azula on the drill. Sun used two earth gauntlets simulteanously while fighting a waterbender in an underground bending tournament. 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.