Anya's flight of fantasy~

[caelestee]

socks!! 🌊🗡💙

[kyrievali]

Fighting Styles: Toph Bei Fong

Today is Earth Day and since I can never pass up an opportunity to make a good pun, I’m going to analyze the physicality/fighting style of everyone’s favorite earthbender, Toph Bei Fong. 

Toph is unique in her usage of Chu Family (Zhujia/Chugar) Southern Praying Mantis Style (tanglangquan/tonglongchuan) kung fu, as opposed to the Hung Gar style kung fu (a popular style that is used by one of the most famous martial artists of Chinese folklore and protagonist of many a wuxia film, Wong Fei Hung) every other earthbender in the series uses. Unlike Hung Gar, which is heavily external and thus relies on physical strength, Chu Gar Tonglong is an internal style that emphasizes turning your opponent’s strength against them. This synchronizes with Toph’s preferred method of combat, which is deeply rooted in counter-attacks. 

Chu Gar Tonglong is a very unique martial art, characterized by its bizarre rhythm and unconventional movements. It’s been compared to the Drunken Fist, only without the seemingly off-balance aspect. Unlike Azula’s Chachuan, Chu Gar Tonglong is not a particularly elegant or beautiful style (in fact, some martial artists even refer to it as the fighting style of the undead due to its off-putting movements),  which also makes sense given Toph’s rough exterior.  

Other characteristics of Chu Gar Tonglong include:

1. Striking in rapid succession, without withdrawing your limbs to their initial position

2. Bent elbows, like those of a mantis, hence its namesake (Unlike Northern Praying Mantis, Chu Gar Tonglong does not commonly use the “mantis fist” that most people associate with mantis-style)

3. Stances usually involve the feet separated wider than shoulder-width apart, with the majority of your weight on the front leg. The back leg is slightly curved and enables maneuverability. 

4. Close-range combat with a heavy emphasis on arm and hand strikes. Typical uses of the hands include…

Slicing strikes

Exploding fingers from the fist

Claw-like raking actions

Hooking and deflecting hands

Elbow strikes

Outward strikes of the knuckles

5. Simultaneous offense and defense with every strike. Again, this is very fitting with Toph’s preferred method of counter-attacks. 

In contrast with Northern Tonglong, Chu Gar Tonglong is very grounded and places almost zero emphasis on kicking techniques. The few kicks there are are very low to the ground, and usually aimed at the opponent’s ankles.

This suits Toph well, due to her blindness and her need to “see” with her feet, as she would require both feet on the ground as frequently as possible, which would make high kicks and flying kicks not ideal for her to use.

In short, Chu Gar is a close-range internal style well-suited for those who don’t possess particularly high physical strength, are fast with their hands, and prefer to remain grounded. Its no-frills approach to fighting and equal emphasis on both offense and defensive maneuvers make it a very unique martial art, and perfectly suited for Toph’s  gruff and belligerent personality. 

I’ll write more on Toph’s non-combat physicality some other time. 

Random Trivia!

Even though Bei Fong sounds very similar to the Chinese phrase meaning “north” (beifang), Toph uses a Southern fighting style.

Chu Gar Praying Mantis is a dying art. There are very few teachers left in the world who know this style and even fewer who are willing to pass it on. Martial arts enthusiasts and Toph lovers should go seek out a Chu Gar master and learn the art while they still can. 

Happy Earth(bending) Day!

[atlaculture]

Since I have exactly zero knowledge of martial arts, this post was very eye-opening.

[failingradish]

Something small while I work on bigger projects 👀

[anya-yui-ae]

Something that really bothers me, especially in Book 3, is Mai and Zuko's dynamic.

Mai is shown on multiple occasions to misinterpret his words and dismiss his anger, or to make light of it.

The situations that pop into my mind are for one: the start of the book, where Zuko starts monologuing about how things might have changed in the 3 years he was gone, and how much he had changed. Mai responds with a joke (I just asked if you were cold, I didn't ask for your life story) and tells him simply to stop worrying.

The second situation I think of is during Nightmares and Daydreams, after Mai says "it's just a dumb meeting, who cares?" Zuko responds sullenly and ironically that he didn't. Mai doesn't interpret his sarcastic meaning and says "well good, you shouldn't be." You can see Zuko becoming increasingly upset as she begins asking why he would even want to go. After it becomes clear that her words have only fanned the flames she suggests that ordering some servants around would make him feel better, apparently not understanding that he wasn't interested in ordering servants around like she was. She realizes that her efforts haven't helped him when she tried to get him to look at her and gives up, stepping away from him and withdrawing her hands in silence.

Both of these situations potray a theme of miscommunication. Zuko isn't straightforward with his feelings, and Mai doesn't seem to understand that (or just feelings in general). In The Beach their dynamic becomes even more clear, showing how toxic their relationship could be by way of potraying Zuko's jealousy and Mai's constant indifference with an occasional flash of anger or annoyance. I once heard it said that some people like to suffer together, and some want to be happy together. I think this is a situation of the former, which I don't think is particularly healthy.

To conclude, Mai and Zuko's relationship is a little complicated.

[anya-yui-ae]

By far the most unrealistic thing in The Ember Island Players episode is the fact that Katara doesn't bring up her mother

Like that's one of the most well known things about her, she talks about it all the time, how did the playwrite NOT know that?

[gayavatarstyle]

people with bad taste are always like “yurr hurr The Beach is about zuko and mai and how they’re a great couple” while intellectuals know that Actually The Beach is about mining any and all of the untapped friendship potential of this striking exchange

[gayavatarstyle]

One of the best twist moments in Avatar is when Ty Lee suddenly and dramatically turns against Azula at the Boiling Rock. Azula was completely convinced that Ty Lee would obey her without question forever, but Azula wasn’t the only one fooled. Mai is just as shocked when Ty Lee rebels as Azula is. Ty Lee’s survival instincts were so sharp that she never let anyone know what she was thinking, not Azula, not Mai, and certainly not Zuko.

Zuko really believed that Ty Lee didn’t understand who he was at all. He completely bought into the act that she’s just a puppet for Azula, who lives in her “little Ty Lee world where everything’s great all the time”. But the thing is, Ty Lee is one of the most perceptive characters in the show, and she’s excellent at keeping that on the down low, but she sees a lot more of Zuko than he thinks, and a lot of what she sees is very familiar to her.

Overshadowed by prodigious siblings?

Wanting to be acknowledged for the talents you have rather than the talents you don’t?

Kept in line by fear?

Spending your whole life bending over backwards to fit the persona the royal family has set for you?

So yeah Zuko. She knows you.

[earthshaker1217]

This characterization is definitely emphasized with Ty Lee’s acrobatics, flexibility, and ability to hit pressure points. There’s a level of subtlety and precision that is required for such skills. She had to know her own body to be able to bend it in such ways, and she has to know other people’s bodies to be able to disable them.

[serialreblogger]

And pretty much from the moment you meet her, it’s fairly clear that there’s more to her than her lighthearted, bubbleheaded persona, long before she uses her battle skills. Look at what happens when Azula recruits her. 

Azula used blatant intimidation tactics to get Ty Lee to comply, ordering the net to be set on fire and all the animals released (which, for the record, would not only have endangered Ty Lee but the circus creatures themselves–I bet Ty Lee was attached to them, and that would’ve been a double threat in itself). Ty Lee is visibly terrified, but instead of calling her out or letting Azula see that she was intimidated, she says this:

Instead of endangering herself by pointing out that Azula crossed a line, Ty Lee falls back on her talk of “the universe” and “auras,” talk that canonically gets her indulged or dismissed but never taken seriously. 

She knows that Azula’s dangerous. There’s no way she doesn’t know that Azula is threatening her. But if she can keep Azula from realizing she knows that, she’s a little safer. 

Because she’s one of maybe two people Azula never considered as potential enemies–even (especially, but that’s another thread) Ozai is a threat in her mind, but Mai and Ty Lee are the closest thing Azula has to trusted friends, right up until their betrayal. 

Ty Lee’s spent a lifetime cultivating a personality that not only allows her to stands out among her siblings–it protects her from being treated as a threat. When you’re friends with Azula, that is an essential facade to maintain.  and she does it consistently enough that no one ever sees through it.

All of the Fire Nation kids are so messed up. Zuko’s just the one who gets in the most trouble, because he’s the only one who doesn’t have a mask.

[phynali]

Amazing discussion and there’s one more thing to add to it, specifically in the context of the episode with The Beach.

Azula gets jealous of the male attention that Ty Lee is getting. It’s not the same as being a threat, but it does put Ty Lee in a dangerous position because she has something Azula wants. It doesn’t take much for Azula to turn dangerous and threatening when there’s something she wants and perceives an obstacle in the way, and Ty Lee knows this. And with just a few words, a compliment to Azula, she sets her at ease and makes herself seem vapid (“just laugh at whatever they say even if it’s not funny”) while giving advice. Which means Azula can take or leave her advice but won’t perceive Ty Lee as a real threat to the attention she craves because Ty Lee is getting attention for “being vapid” and not because she’s naturally beautiful and charming.

Its a simple, efficient, and incredible manipulation of a very dangerous and volatile person. Again the agility and flexibility, and no wonder Azula didn’t see her betrayal coming. Every time Ty Lee has entered even the possibility of being a threat to Azula in any realm, she’s immediately flipped the situation to put Azula seemingly back in control and put herself back into a nonthreatening role. Right up until her betrayal.