The Bending Arts - Air

[Cute Things In Jars]

Traditional Airbending

[Stage One:]
Air is the element of freedom. With this stage, you practice the mentality of going with the flow and being one with the wind. Your training is guided by the currents, not by your strength.

Gust
The user throws an open palm outward and a gust of wind rushes forth. This isn't very powerful, but may be able to blow light objects, like paper.

Retrieving Winds
The user makes an open palm, knuckles out, and pulls their hand towards them. This results in a current of wind pulling an object towards them. The heaviest this can lift is a normal rock.

Redirecting Flow
The user makes a wind current around them that is meant to take in a small projectile and then redirect in any direction of their choosing. However, their body must move in that direction in order to aid the current.


[Stage Two:]
The bender is now starting to practice form and ability as opposed to the spiritual aspect. They are now able to use wind in a more practical manner as far as combat is concerned.

Air Thrust
The user musters an air current behind them and pushes it strongly against their backside. This causes them to rocket forward at a very quick speed. However, one should be aware that they cannot stop at once.

Wind Bullet
The bender makes a current between their hands which spins rapidly. Then, they must place a small object, such as a small stone, into the current. It will whip around in the wind until the bender decides to release it, and then it will rocket forward with enough force to cause bodily harm.

Wind Bolt
As the staple attack of the style, the user can use any form of movement, such as a punch or kick, to throw a strong wave of air at their opponent. This hits with a blunt force and can knock them off their feet if it is strong and direct.

Air Shield
This is the staple defense of airbending. The user places their hands in front of them and a strong current rushes to their aid. It forms a circular shield in front of them which can block and negate other bending techniques up to the shield's rank and lower.


[Stage Three:]
The bender is now fully understanding of the spiritual aspect of wind. Their practice now focuses solely on form and dexterity.

Wind Cutter
The bender throws their hand in a chop at an angle. This conjures a very fast air current that has the ability to cut through material. It can cut flesh and clothing, and at most, can leave striations in stone.

Air Burst
The bender aims an open palm strike at the ground and a 360° blast of air encircles them and flies outward. This provides great concussive force at close range and can knock away attackers who are very close.

Wind Drill
The airbender punches forward and a spiraling current of wind lances forward. This has a slight amount of piercing power, but is mainly used for the amount of stopping power it contains and the fact that it can repel enemies that are hit directly in a violent spin.

Air Blade
The user forms a spiraling vortex around their arm which can be used as a close-range sword. It has cutting power, to a slight degree, but mainly serves to deflect and push away.


[Stage Four:]
The bender now has a perfected form and is incredibly agile. They will now focus on the sheer power and creativity that comes with the usage and unrestricted nature of air.

Flight
The bender has now established the ability to fly freely. This takes form as a vortex surrounding their midsection and legs, which can push them through the air. They are incredibly agile in the air, but attacking while maintaining this current is incredibly difficult.

Cyclone
The user makes one spin with both their palms outstretched. This begins to form a powerful cyclone of wind with a ten foot radius stemming from the user. Any object caught in the current is taken into it and spun around at alarming rates. This can easily sweep people off their feet.

Air Sphere
The bender is surrounded by a complete sphere of wind. They are able to levitate slightly in it, but it also blocks out all attacks that are lesser in rank to it. Movement is highly restricted while inside the sphere.

Wind Explosion
The user takes a strong step forward and shunts with two open palms. This releases an extremely powerful and large force of wind. It has the ability to throw people as if they were tiny pebbles, uproot trees, and even collapse weak buildings. It picks up dust, dirt, and debris, often giving it a dark color.  

[Cute Things In Jars]

[Wild Tornado Stance]

[Stage One:]
With the good side of the wind itself, there's also an extremely dangerous side of the wind. In this stage, you start off learning the movements of the Air, the flow of wind must be learned before the wild movements can be learned.

[Movement of the Air]
The user moves throughout the area as if their weightless, able to do flips and spins, like a ballerina, as attacks of other elements come in(MUST BE SMALL THOUGH, like tiny fireballs and such), the attacks are dodged as the user moves. If the attack is LARGE though, it can still hurt the user.

[Dance of the Benders]
The user's flow is bettered with this as wide-scale bending techniques can be jumped over with the assist of the air as they jump. The jump is high enough so that the attack that comes through will be done and over with allowing for the user to land safely back on the ground.

[Wild Wind Beginnings]
The user moves their own body in the direction of the wind current, being able to redirect themselves away from an attack if it comes.

[Stage Two:]
The user has gained the better flow of the Wild Tornado Stance and can now venture into the more dangerous side of it.

[Wild Crazy Leg Spin]
The user moves around with that of a wild breakdancing movement, the user pulls off a crazy-leg-type breakdance move where, from outward, the air picks up and becomes a strong barrier of air where the opponent's attacks of CERTAIN elements are deflect and/or simply blocked.

[Wild Crab Walk]
In order to evade attacks that come for the opponent, aimed for their head, the user falls back into an immediate crab-walk, dodging the attack

[Craaaazy Handstand]
The user goes into an immediate handstand and fire concentrate balls of gusting wind towards the opponent OR they could kick out with both legs and send gusts of wind out from both legs towards the left and right side.

[Stage Three:]
The user's reaction time is better as they now feel upon the distortions of the air as people move around in the area, and their flexibility along with speed as well

[The Quick Tornado]
The user pulled off the same move as the Wild Crazy Leg Spin but faster, this allows for a tornado to pick up cause the opponent to rise up into the air and then the opponent would fall to the ground from a dangerous height.

[Get Back Jack!]
The user puts their palms out in front of them and uses the air to move more quickly around the area BUT ONLY IN ONE DIRECTION. The speed of how they move is great but can lead to the user's demise, if they're not careful.

[Like a Boss!]
The user pushes themself high into the air with air, two tornadoes form underneath and the user is then lifted high into the air from two grand tornadoes. This is part one of another technique.

[Stompin' On Your Land!]
The user then lands onto the ground sends a grand gust of wind all around themselves, shooting outward and having that of knockback damage.

[Stage Four:]
The user's movements become much much much more wild, the stance takes that of a capoeira movement, the user's body becomes EXTREMELY flexible.

[Madness Leg]
The user kicks the opponent, axe kick wise, and sends wind down as the kick occurs, if the kick is blocked and the wind is not, then the opponent receives the cutting damage of the wind, if the wind is blocked but the kick isn't, physical damage is to be had.

[Extreme Ram!]
The user is on the ground, they push up off of the ground and towards the opponent like a bullet, as they come in straight for the opponent, they send the air out and straight for the opponent like that of a punch, having the strength of a battering ram.

[Drilling Ram!]
The user is on the ground, they push up off of the ground and towards the opponent like a bullet, EXCEPT, instead of the previous attack where the user sends wind out like a battering ram, the user spins like that of tornado and drills into the opponent.

[The Grand Finale]
The user pulled off a multitude of breakdancing movements, complete with spins and jumps and flips, this sends multiple upon multiple balls of condensed wind towards the opponent that come in by the hundreds.  

[A faint smile]

[ＬＥＡＦ ＩＮ ＴＨＥ ＷＩＮＤ] ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
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; however, due to the pacifist nature of the Air Nomads, such attacks are rarely used. That is not to say there are no potent Airbending attacks.

▰ ▰ ▰ STAGE ONE

• Leaf in the Wind

This particular style is named after one of the most important aspects it contains: movement. Employing the school of thought for Adaption, Airbenders will seek the simplest and most efficient way around an attack. They will pivot, twirl, dive, jump, roll, spin and utilize any other method of evasion to best avoid an attack. While using Leaf in the Wind the bender isn't focused on countering or attacking, merely warding off any attack that comes to them. From afar this would be the bender simply dodging a launched attack, but even from very close range it is possible. When an opponent punches they would mimic the motions almost exactly, shadowing their assailant so they are never hit.

• Air Cushion

Airbenders can make a cushion out of air if they fall from any height that could otherwise be dangerous to them. It completely stops them from smashing into the ground and slows their descent. This cushion can be used to save other people or even objects.

• Air Shield

The most common defensive tactic, though less powerful than the air barrier, it 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).

• Enhanced Movement

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 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 thus creating exploitable openings. Airbenders enhance their movement in battle; they 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 forward. When used by a skilled airbender, this technique can enable the airbender using it to travel at a speed almost too swift for the naked eye to be able to see properly. A master airbender can use this technique to briefly run across water. There are drawbacks to the great speed an Airbender can achieve, namely lack of control. It can only be done in a straight line and after a moment of build up. Stopping is very difficult and turning is nigh on impossible.

• Hypersensitivity

Airbenders possess a high level of sensory sensitivity which enables them to detect threats and perceive their surroundings through feeling air currents and the vibrations in the air, similar to how earthbenders use seismic sense to sense their environment using earth. This is considered an 'active' ability until the airbender is master, upon which it becomes passive.

• Gliding

Utilzing some sort of tool at their disposal (ie. glider staff, wing suit, etc) the airbender is able to glide through the air by manipulating the currents around them. This is not flying. If their method of gliding is destroyed or damaged their ability to glide greatly suffers and ultimately fails.

• Air Scooter

The air scooter is a form of transportation; a spherical "ball" of air that can be ridden balancing on it like a top. It is generally used to provide a quick burst of speed over a surface and is capable of providing a platform upon which the airbender can levitate.

▰ ▰ ▰ STAGE TWO

• Current Control

This ability is the next stage of Leaf in the Wind, moving from purely utility based to providing a means of attack. By using circular, evasive movements, airbenders build up massive momentum; this buildup of energy is released as massive power. 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 simulate larger gusts. For each post that is spent 'controlling a current', the bender can release a more and more powerful blast of wind.

• 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. At lower stages the bender would be capable of manipulating objects, where a more adept airbender could create bigger air balls to surround larger targets.

• Air Funnel

It could be used to shoot small objects, like marbles or stones, at high speeds, similar to bullets. Similar to an air vortex but on a smaller scale, it is capable of being directed in one of two ways. The bender could use the funnel to rapidly suck something towards them or redirect the flow to launch out projectiles/sources at high speeds.

• Air Barrier

A more potent version of the Air Shield. The bender will create a constantly moving barrier around their body. Rather than redirecting attacks it instead meets them head on with a strong force of wind and deflects them from the bender. This can also be used as a way to breathe underwater or in other situations where oxygen is not easily obtained.

• Air Vortex

A spinning funnel of air of varying size, the air vortex can be used to trap or disorient opponents as well as to deflect any objects thrown at it.

▰ ▰ ▰ STAGE THREE

• Air Punch/Kicks

A 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 Blast

A more offensive maneuver involving a direct pulse or jet of strong wind 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; a master would be able to destroy something with a powerful air blast whereas a beginner may at best use this to knockback opponents.

• Air Bomb

A technique which 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 Swipe

The air swipe is both a defensive and offensive technique in which an airbender conjures a crescent-shaped structure of compressed air capable of deflecting colossal projectiles. Beginners would be capable of conjuring smaller blades relatively the size of a person, whereas a master could create a large crescent of compressed air.

• Air Wheel

This is a modified version of the air scooter. Air is rapidly spun around the airbender and carries the person as inside a wheel. It is able to cut through solid objects.

• Breath of Wind

Similar to the standard air blast, but created from the mouth and lungs. It requires extremely good breath control to employ effectively. Size and focus is more easily controlled, from narrow jets that can strike targets as small as insects, to large gale force gusts capable of cooling magma into solidified rock.

• Air Blades

A more offensive move than its typical of airbending principle, this involves a focus; slicing air current that can cut through stone or timber with relative ease. This move could prove fatal if used on an individual.

• Suction

A technique used to bring people or objects toward the airbender. This is not as strong as a vacuum, though at high levels it can be very powerful. It is a singular, powerful, pull that the air bender creates by forcing the air to move towards them at a sudden and rapid speed.

• Air Wake

By running in a circle and instantly building massive momentum, a master airbender can shoot a blast of highly compressed air shaped like the user's body at a target. This move has extremely high concussive force.

▰ ▰ ▰ STAGE FOUR

• Air Coccoon

A master airbender can rotate while jumping/gliding/flying to wrap themselves in a cocoon of wind. This is a very compressed form of a barrier and is capable of stopping attacks flat out or protecting the bender from an intense impact.

• Tornado

This is a smaller scaled version of the air vortex which airbending masters can use as a means of both combat and transport. By encircling themselves in a spiraling air current, masters can travel at high speeds and even ascend near-vertical drops. Multiple masters working together to create a tornado would be able to generate a much more powerful and larger version of it which they, together, can control.

• Strong Winds

This is an extremely powerful and continuous blast of air from the master bender. The attack is a constant stream of blunt force slamming into the target, over and over again as long as the airbender is motioning for it. On stone it is capable of causing it to crumble away over time, and on a living being this would be devastating to their body.

• Flight

Being able to fly without an aid, such as a glider, grants the practitioner more stability and freedom in the sky, while also permitting the use of bending mid-flight. Although a powerful technique, the ability to fly is hindered by additional weight and the currents of the wind. This means any sort of great disturbance in the air (storms, suctions, currents, etc) can and will blow the bender off course and make it very dangerous for them to fly.