Shortly after getting the green light from Nickelodeon to begin developing the series, Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creator Bryan Konietzko began looking for Northern Shaolin kung fu teachers in Los Angeles. He did so “to learn more about kung fu for [himself] as an artist and animator,” but also to potentially find a partner to consult on the show’s use of martial arts techniques.
Konietzko found Sifu Kisu, signed up to become his student, and recruited the martial artist to be the show’s consultant. And that partnership ended up working wonders for one of the most influential American animated shows ever. Kisu worked on every episode of ATLA, and worked with a team for follow-up series The Legend of Korra. One of my very favorite elements of both shows is the fluid fight choreography, which borrowed techniques from real martial arts disciplines to create distinct styles for the different bending nations. And the process the team used to get there is just as interesting.
A 2021 Insider video and behind-the-scenes footage released from Nickelodeon give an inside look at a unique process that helped ATLA become the cultural touchstone it is today. Konietzko and his team would create a storyboard with the bare bones of a fight scene’s choreography, and Kisu would work with the animation team to flesh out the full movements, usually acting out the movements himself for reference photography to animate off of.
“It was fun. I was the only person on the planet with my job for a hot minute,” Kisu told Insider.
While it was serious work, there was plenty of room for Nickelodeon-style silliness. The reference footage for Zuko and Azula’s fight on the boat deck was filmed in front of the studio’s giant SpongeBob statue, Kisu said. And the photography for the iconic airbender move from Korra’s credits sequence involved Kisu holding Konietzko in his arms while the latter struck the pose.
Image: Insider
As a skilled martial artist in multiple disciplines, Kisu was uniquely qualified to build out the action language of ATLA, basing each bending technique off an existing martial art. One of his main breakthroughs was implementing martial arts movements into the magical abilities of the show, rather than as supplements to those abilities, as we see in shows like Dragon Ball Z.
“It’s like, if I’m holding a stone in my hand […] and it jumps out of my hand and hits the camera, you’re going to question that, right?” Kisu told Insider. “But if I wind up and make the motion and the antic of throwing that, then that’s going to read more to something you can understand, right? We thought that that would be important, that it should come from somewhere to go to somewhere.”
That means the bending movements themselves were derived from martial arts forms and movements. Crucially, these styles were picked not only because the motions fit Kisu’s vision, but because he felt they matched the ethos of those elements and the fictional nations that use them.
Image: Nickelodeon
Image: Nickelodeon
Image: Nickelodeon
Image: Nickelodeon
Waterbending was styled after tai chi, because the martial art is “less about strength and more about alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization,” Kisu said in behind-the-scenes footage. Earthbenders were based on Hung Ga kung fu, known for its emphasis on strong stances and “rooting to the ground.” Airbending got its influence from baguazhang, a martial art where practitioners move in circles and are “constantly spinning back and forth.” Finally, firebenders draw their influence from Kisu’s preferred style, Northern Shaolin. “It’s a very strong, dynamic style,” he said in behind-the-scenes footage. “It uses powerful hand and leg movements.”
All of this attention to detail and inspiration from real fighting styles helps ATLA’s action feel more real, certainly. But just as importantly, it makes the world of the show feel fully formed, with history and traditions that predate the events of the series.
Kisu has not done much else in the realm of movies and TV after finishing with Avatar, instead focusing on his martial arts school in Colorado. His only listed credits since have been for coordinating stunts for short films (WantAd and Digital Fires) and playing a swordsman in the 2017 low-budget martial arts drama The Curse of the Dragon Sword. Kisu said he wasn’t interested in returning for an Avatar revival, so don’t expect to see his influence directly on the new Netflix series. But his mark on the franchise is inescapable, and will endure as long as there is Avatar to watch.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra are streaming on Netflix and Paramount Plus.