Kung fu (Earth-2213)

"Now we're really gonna start kicking ass! Hey, hey, hold on, Naruto. Kicking ass is just a small part of kung fu. It's a part of it, but a small one. Huh? Kung fu means "excellence of self", being the best you can be."

- - Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, and Asami Sato

Kung fu (功夫) is a martial art and philosophy created by the Sage of Six Paths. It is the characteristic ability which all shinobi's bending techniques are based.

Kung fu has six distinct fighting styles based on animals, those being Tortoise, Tiger, Crane, Mantis, and Monkey, although a variety of other forms are also known to exist. The fighting style ditacte the shinobi's combat stance and how they strike their enemies and opponents. Benders use kung fu as the cornerstone to all of their bending skills, such as Sai's Beast Imitating Drawing and Konan's Dance of the Shikigami. Other shinobi, however, use resources at their disposal in conjunction with kung fu, such as Gaara's sand.