GA: Why Is It That When The Subject Of Temporal Mechanics Is Bro

Old Friends

Tyzula - Siuha-ha, by Aurora Lynne

In response to this cuteness. It’s just a sketchdump, but I like the way it came out n.n 

I don’t care about The Search. My Headcanon is that Azula became Zuko’s first advisor and helped him ruling Fire Nation. And even though they still fight a lot, they care about each other. 

domestic tyzula 😭😭❤️

Aw you are too sweet! Thank you!! This ask made me smile so much that I had to draw a new Tyzula for you, kind anon!

Another long-scroll post ahead!

As always, I just want to say that I know very little about the technical aspects of most martial arts so take these analyses with a grain of salt. These are just surface-level comparisons I’m making based off what I’ve researched on the internet. If you practice any of these martial arts, feel free to elaborate or correct me on any details.

Watching compilations of Ty Lee’s fight scenes, it seems that her style varies depending on the opponent.

White Crane Fist

Generally, if she’s confident that she has the upper-hand, she appears to use White Crane Fist (白鶴拳). This is most apparent during her 2-against-1 fight with Katara and every fight she has with Sokka.

The most obvious indication that Ty Lee is using White Crane Fist would be the “beak hands” or gōu shǒu (钩手) she often employs when fighting. As you might have guessed, White Crane Fist seeks to imitate the movements of a crane, particularly its sharp pecks.

However, when her opponent is at a distance from her, she’ll extend her reach by using “sword fingers” instead of “beak hands”. Sword fingers are used for lightning generation and Azula often uses them for firebending as well, so it’s might have been a technique that Ty Lee picked up from the Fire Princess.

According to this website, Crane Fist emphasizes circular movements, grace, and subtlety. The style also requires strong balance, reach, agility, and speed over brute force— all qualities of Ty Lee. Finally, Crane Fist frequently targets the tender spots of the body, hence why Ty Lee often aims for the rib cage or armpits when she fights. It also explains why Ty Lee was not prepared when Sokka countered one of her strikes with his exceptionally hard head. All in all, never challenge Ty Lee to a tickle fight.

According to oral tradition, White Crane Fist was invented by a woman named Fang Qiniang (方七娘), who combined her training in Shaolin Kung Fu with the movements of the white crane to create a new martial art. This makes the style especially appropriate for Ty Lee, as Shaolin is also the fighting style of the Fire Nation. Plus, Ty Lee is a very girlish character so it fits her personality to use a style invented by a woman.

Phoenix Eye Fist

When Ty Lee is disadvantaged in a fight, usually when facing armored opponents, she switches to Phoenix Eye Fist (凤眼拳).

Depending on the source, Phoenix Eye Fist is either descended from White Crane or simply techniques within White Crane. Either way, the two styles are very similar. The most obvious difference between White Crane and Phoenix Eye are the ways the hands are held: Crane uses a “beak hand”, while Phoenix Eye uses a one knuckle punch (a fist with the fore-knuckle extended).

The advantage of the Phoenix Fist is that it focuses all of your power into a single hard point, giving each blow greater strength and impact. As a result, Phoenix Fist techniques often focus on strikes to the spine, in addition to the usual “soft spots” (throat, groin, etc.) targeted in White Crane.

While I’ve never practiced either style, Phoenix Eye seems a bit more vicious than White Crane, considering all the spinal attacks. It makes sense that Ty Lee usually only uses this technique when her opponent’s back is covered in armor. Nonetheless, digging your knuckle into people’s spines with all the force of a punch is really brutal. Ty Lee is easily the scariest non-bender in Avatar.

If you’d like to see a real-life demonstration of White Crane Fist and Phoenix Eye Fist, click here.

Additional Thoughts

1. Maybe Ty Lee’s gravity defying leaps are meant to emphasize her bird-like fighting style? Also, Ty Lee’s use of circular movements and tendency to get behind people in a fight does add credence to the “Ty Lee has Air Nomad ancestry” fan theory.

2. She also uses Phoenix Fist hands when she fights a non-armored Suki at the Boiling Rock, though she never lands her signature spine jabs. I wonder if Ty Lee’s use of a more brutal style means that Suki was just that much of a threat or if she was fighting that way to appease Azula, who would not approve of her showing mercy during a fight.

Her variety of styles is also another indication that Ty Lee was never a very villainous antagonist, as she only uses as much force as necessary to take down an opponent. Jeong Jeong would very much approve of her self control.

Like what I’m doing? Tips always appreciated, never expected. ^_^

One of the first things my Sensei told me when teaching the crane fist technique was how dangerous a move it could be. Since you strike with your fingers extended, there’s a high risk of breaking them if you aren’t very careful about what you hit. Which is why it’s targeted exclusively at soft and squishy spots- you can only safely hit things softer than your fingers.

So I love that Ty Lee is mindful to switch out of that style when fighting armored opponents, where a misplaced strike could easily break her hand. Phoenix eye fist is far more suited to that kind of target, as your knuckle is reinforced by your whole fist. Even though your strike will still hit a single point on your opponent, it’s impact will be safely distributed through your fist and up your arm.

I actually didn’t even stop to consider the physics of why Ty Lee switches to Phoenix Fist when striking armor, that’s a really good point @kat-ar-us!

I also love that Sokka caught on to her weakness and countered it in a way that was both funny and (temporarily) effective. “The idea is good but the execution needs work” is basically Sokka’s M.O. throughout the show. He’s not dumb, it’s just that his current skill-set/experience/training can’t keep up with his ideas.

Ty Lee is incredibly smart and it’s really unfortunate that people see “sweet and affectionate” and read that as shorthand for “dumb”. For example, when Ty Lee sees the dust cloud that the Gaang uses as cover, she immediately points out that it’s unusually “poofy”. As in someone “poofed” it into existence. Or when she sees Appa’s fur in the river, she immediately points out to Mai that they’re not wads of fur, which can be the result of natural shedding, but bundles, which implies the fur was collected by hand. And she was completely right both times— it’s also worth pointing out that Azula, who does not suffer fools, always listens and acts in accordance to Ty Lee’s hunches.

And that’s not getting into her abilities as an athlete. The girl is a professional acrobat! You don’t develop those skills without being incredibly careful and considered in your actions. We’re supposed to write Ty Lee off as silly for believing in auras, but considering she’s a chi-blocking expert and this is a world of spirits, I never understood how auras were somehow a stretch.