The elemental bender

Air bio

Airbending, one of the four elemental bending arts, is the aerokinetic ability to control and manipulate air. The peaceful Air Nomads utilized this type of bending in their everyday lives.

Air is the element of freedom.

The key to airbending is flexibility and finding and following the path of least resistance. Airbending is notable for being almost purely defensive, as well as the most dynamic of the four bending arts. Airbenders can overwhelm many opponents at once with large and powerful attacks that could prove fatal. Instead, an airbender strives to use the opponents' energy against them.Due to their aforementioned spirituality, they often adapt to the situation surrounding them and employ negative jing, preferring evasive maneuvers as opposed to direct confrontation.

Air bending abilities

Air ball: An airbender can create a compressed ball of air by moving their hands together in a circular motion. This technique has many applications such as levitating small objects or trapping opponents. Air balls can also be used in a more offensive manner; propelled forward similar to a cannonball, they can knock an opponent backward and off-balance.

Air blast: A more offensive maneuver involving a direct pulse or jet of compressed air shot from the hands, feet, or mouth. The force of the attack is generated more from the bender's own power rather than assisted by momentum. The blast can reach further distances with greater accuracy and is used to inflict greater damage.

Air bomb: A technique that creates a powerful, outward-moving air current in all directions around the bender. Usually performed after landing on the ground from above, this airbending form has great concussive force, and the capacity to completely blow away anything within its radius.

Air cushion: Airbenders can make a cushion out of air to break anyone's fall, including their own.

Air funnel: Similar to an air vortex but on a smaller scale, Aang inventively used this technique as a cannon by creating a small air funnel through which small coal projectiles could be loaded and fired out of the opposite end.

Air manipulation: By using circular, evasive movements, airbenders build up a large amount of energy and momentum, which is released through powerful moves. It also allows for wind-based counter-attacks 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 an air gust and airbenders increase the power of their moves by performing larger sweeps and spins, using the momentum of their movement to produce larger gusts. This is also demonstrated with their use of a staff or fans to increase or create precision within the air currents. Similarly, airbenders can also augment the momentum of thrown objects.

Air punch/kick: Another more offensive move than is typical of airbending discipline, air punches or air kicks are small, compressed formations of air that can be fired off the fists or feet of an airbender. This is similar to many firebending abilities and the air blast, in the sense that it involves the firing of compressed or solidified air at an enemy in a disjunct fashion i.e. the bender does not create a single great stream of air.

Air shield: The most common defensive tactic for an airbender involves circling enemies, suddenly changing direction when attacked, and evading by physical movement rather than bending. However, an airbender can still deflect attacks 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 to push the attack aside, conserving energy and allowing them to turn the movement into an attack at the same moment.