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…
Exploding fingers from the fist
Hooking and deflecting hands
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.
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!
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