Avatar state
issue 18
 
Having grown up in the Ninja Craze of the 80’s, Samurai Sunday’s, watching Van Dam’s and Segals’ rise and fall from movies to straight to dvd’s, and eventually the aging of both Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and of course Bruce Lee is a given, its hard to believe the best Martial Arts is coming from a kids show by Nick. 
While this article is not going to focus so much of the death of Martial Arts in movies, it will focus on something that if anything I want to achieve by spreading the word that this is a much watch TV show not just for Martial Artist, who will get a deeper appreciation for it, but for everyone in general. Avatar the Last Airbender is in its 3rd year
season. And, I can definitely find arguments
to fully support that this is not only the best
kid show on TV, but also the best show
verses your heavy hitters like Heroes and
24.

Now I wasn’t on board when I first heard
about this show, just like you, kids shows
wasn’t something I wanted to invest my time
in. And, I was really under the impression
that it wouldn’t be any good. But fortunately by luck and some nagging from my cousin, that I gave the show a chance, and after several episodes I was hooked. And, not just watching it religiously but also getting involved collecting some of the stuff that Avatar has to offer. The show is just brilliant, from the characters that they have, to the Martial arts choreographed, as well as the deep and engaging plots. Now, I’m not here to make another Wikipedia page for you about Avatar, you can look at it on your own time for more in-depth, but I wanted to give you the sell of why its so engrossing. Like I said, Martial Arts in movies and on TV is pretty much dead. Now a days, you don’t even have to know anything, and they’ll use these cheap cut clip angles from one point to another to make it look like your actually doing something. So, that’s really the attraction to the Avatar show, its not just kick flips, which everyone does now a days, but the show is actually choreographed by different styles of Martial Arts, and the moves for those who are familiar are quite recognizable. What makes the show even more fascinating is the concept known as bending, and this brings about the more mystical aspect of Martial Arts by allowing certain characters to do Martial Arts and have control of 4 specific elements when doing moves: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. The moves they do are also in line with the style that they perform, so it makes for quite an enjoyable visual effect. Now, I am no fan of Wirefu, and literally it only worked once for Crouching Tiger, and all those who have come to follow that formula have failed miserably, coz they forgot the secret ingredient. CT actually had good Martial Arts in it, while those who’ve copied it have tried to do more of a dance choreograph. That’s one of the main reason Avatar is so cool, is that the Martial Arts while fantasy in pinches on the show, for the most part, have believability in it....uhh, other then the bending, obviously. The story follows a very all to familiar theme, but yet they take it at angle that makes it fresh... Let’s see, the intro is long ago, there lived 4 nations, all in harmony, but one day, all that changed when the fire nation attacked.... blah, blah, blah..... now they’re dominating the other nations, and a handful of rebels along with the Avatar is trying to regain balance between all the nations. Sound familiar, Star Wars, LOTR, etc, etc... But, please don’t misinterpret that as Avatar having a weak story line, in fact, outside from the characters, the story is done just so well, that its so captivating. You literally are on your toes, wondering what’s happening from week to week, seeing not only Ang, the Avatar growing in skills as well as in person, but all his other companions developing deeper as characters. My personal favorite, is a smart ass 12 year old tom boy earth bending girl, who don’t get to see till the start of the 2nd season, but clearly she is a fan favorite to all those that watch. Literally, you will fall in love with the characters and you won’t get enough of them. In the end, if there’s one DVD series that you need to buy or watch, its definitely Avatar the Last Airbender. The seasons are broken down by elements, in Season 1 being Water, 2 Earth, and 3 Fire.... All fans are crossing their fingers hoping that it will not end at 3 and will continue to give us more story lines. Anyway, check it out, get hooked, and you won’t regret watching Avatar the Last Airbender. Written by Sifu Ed Cruz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_the_last_airbendershapeimage_3_link_0

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