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On [Avatar Kyoshi's page](http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Kyoshi) on Avatar Wiki,
it is stated that

> Avatar Kyoshi used a pair of fans to enhance her bending.

Also from the [Earthbending page](http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Earthbending),

> Earthbenders have been known to use hammers and fans to augment their
> bending.

How can a pair of fans be used to augment earthbending?


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How can fans be used to augment earthbending?


They don't, but Avatar Kyoshi was an Avatar and therefore did not just
Earthbend. She is shown using the fans to enhance her Airbending. This is seen
when she [creates Kyoshi
Island](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/4/4c/Kyoshi_and_Chin.png/revision/latest?cb=20140215112601)
and when she [defeats the Earth King's
guards](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/4/46/Kyoshi_defeats_Earth_King%27s_guards.png/revision/latest?cb=20130627161500).

The fans themselves are merely instruments that were used by Kyoshi herself,
and later adopted by the Kyoshi warriors. As Suki says when she is teaching
Sokka to use them, "Think of the fan as an extension of your arm." She also
mentions that "Our technique is about using our opponents force against them"
which is similar to the principles around Airbending.

When Kyoshi is show using her bending, she is shown doing so with her fans.
They were her weapon of choice, and considering she is the one who taught the
first Kyoshi warriors, they are the ones likely to know her reason best. She
also was teaching the women these techniques because they were being
mistreated by men. The principles of using ones strength against them taught
by Airbending is a good principle to teach to people who may be smaller than
their attacker.

There is no real evidence to support it "enhanced" her Earthbending in any way
other than the fact she was shown Earthbending with the fans in hand. The
cited source for the claim is the episode in which she creates Kyoshi Island,
and while she is shown using the fans, she also enters the Avatar state to be
able to do the high level bending needed to perform the task. The stances she
takes are that of a regular Earthbender/Lavabender, and the fans only really
come into play when she uses them for her Airbending.

Basically, there is no evidence to support this, though also no evidence to
the contrary. It is merely a claim about her use of the fans as a weapon.


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It is also said that Kyoshi had a problem with bending small amounts of
earth."She struggled with precision. She lacked the ability to bend small
amounts of earth" This was taken from the fandom about her. Her fans help her
focus and control her power. Like Zuko and his dual swords helped him learn to
control with firebending.


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