Bending

Bending, the ability to manipulate an element, is very significant to all aspects of life in the workd of Terpsechore. There are four known bending arts which bend a specific physical element. The four elemental bending arts are based on the four classical elements; water, earth, fire, and air, and each are manipulated through certain martial art styles which are reminiscent of the qualities of the element itself. Certain benders are able to effectively manipulate their element with very minimum bodily movement, such as only their head. In even rarer cases, it is possible to perform their bending without the aid of physical movement at all, instead using sheer focus and force of will; a skill known as psychic bending. The four elemental bending arts are all dependent on the energy, or chi, within the human body, relying on its flow through the body to manipulate a specific element. Each element is also associated with a particular group of people which dwells in one of the five homeland continents in the world; the Water Bender Homelands, the Earth Bender Homelands, the Fire Bender Homelands, Air Bender Homelands and the United Bender Homelands. Though each homeland continent is affiliated to a specific bending art, not all from any homeland continent. It is unclear how the ability to bend is distributed amongst the population or how closely it is linked to heredity; even among identical twins it is possible for one to be a bender and the other not. Each homeland continent fosters a unique ability for its people to bend the traditional element of their people, but in the United Benders Homeland benders and nonbenders alike are welcome to live regardless of their nation of origin, although the Southern United Lands are dominated by earthbender communities.