Welcome to the Pro-Bending Arena! As you are new here I would like to explain some things:
The Rules of The Game
Basic Rules
PLAYERS
•Two teams of three plays each. Each team has a Waterbender, Firebender, and Earthbender.
OBJECTIVES
•To use bending to gain territory in the ring by pushing the opponents backwards over the zone lines, and ultimately knocking them off the back of the ring (if possible).
MATCH
•A match is made up of three rounds. Each round is three minutes long.
WAYS TO WIN A MATCH
•Like boxing, a team wins a match by either winning the most rounds or by a “knockout,” which in this case means knocking all the opponents off the back of the ring within one round.
•Even if a team has won two rounds, they still must play the third round, since a match can end in a knockout at any point.
WAYS TO WIN A ROUND
•Gain territory by the end of the round.
•If no team gained territory, but one team has fewer players left in the ring by the end of the round, that team loses the round.
•If a team has fewer players, but has gained more territory by the end of the round, that team still wins the round.
WATERBENDING RULES
•Each water blast must not exceed one second in duration. For instance, a Waterbender is not allowed to use a constant, hose-like stream of water against an opponent for longer than one second.
•Water must be used in a liquid state, not as a gas or solid. So no steam, fog, or ice is permitted.
•Water is the only element permitted for head strikes.
•Water can only be pulled up from the zone lines, which are metal grates over a water source. Players are not permitted to pull water from outside sources, such as the water pit below the ring.
•Water can only be pulled from the grates at the front or back line of the zone the player occupies. For instance, a player cannot draw water out of a grate from behind their opponents.
EARTHBENDING RULES
•No direct earth strikes toward an opponent’s head are permitted.
•No metalbending (a specialized form of earthbending) is permitted, since the ring is made largely of canvas-covered metal.
•Earthbenders are only allowed to bend regulation rock disks, which are supplied through the floor of the ring.
•Earthbenders are only allowed to pull rock disks from the disk dispensers located in the same zone in which they are playing. For instance, if a player is in Zone 2, he/she cannot pull a disk out of Zone 1.
•Earthbenders are allowed to bend multiple disks at one time.
•The rock disks cannot be intentionally broken into smaller pieces and launched at opponents, since this creates sharp edges.
•The rock disks must remain in a solid form. They cannot be used in a sand form, or as dust.
•Earthbenders are allowed to bounce or ricochet the rock disks off of the ropes, like air hockey.
FIREBENDING RULES
•Each fire blast must not exceed one second in duration. For instance, a Firebender is not allowed to use a constant, flamethrower-like stream of fire against an opponent for longer than one second.
•No direct fire strikes toward an opponent’s head are permitted.
•Firebenders generate their own fire, so they don’t have any riles about fire source.
The Ring
THE RING & ZONES
•The ring is divided into two halves. Each half is divided into three zones; Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3.
•Each team starts each round playing in Zone 1 of their respective halves of the ring.
•Each player must stay within Zone 1, without crossing the line at the front or back of the zone.
•If a player is knocked out of Zone 1 into Zone 2, he/she must now play within Zone 2.
•If a player is knocked out of Zone 1 into Zone 3, or from Zone 2 into Zone 3, he/she must now play within Zone 3.
GAINING TERRITORY
•Players from opposite teams can never occupy the same zone at the same time.
•A team can only move forward over a line into a new zone, or “gain territory,” when all three members of the opposing team have been knocked backwards out of a zone.
•When a team “gains” a new zone, they must now play from within that new zone, not crossing back into their original zone.
KNOCKING PLAYERS OFF THE RING
•Players can only be knocked off the back of the ring, not the sides.
•If a player is knocked off the back of the ring, he/she may not return to the right until the next round.
•If all three members of a team oar knocked off the back of the ring within one round, that team loses and the match is over.
Injuries & Penalties
INJURED PLAYERS
•If a player suffers an injury during a match, play is halted and the player is removed from the ring. Or if the player is injured while being knocked off the ring, he/she is rescued from the water pit below the ring.
•In both cases, the team must continue the match without a replacement.
FOULS
•Stepping over the line, or a “foot fault.”
•Intentionally hitting the referee stand, or a referee with an element.
•Intentionally hitting the audience stands with an element.
•Illegal head strike (with earth or fire).
•Knocking a player over the ropes/side of the ring.
•Although unlikely, players are not permitted to hit the roof structure of the arena (especially glass panes) with bending.
YELLOW FAN/RED FAN
•A player who intentionally breaks a rule might be shown a yellow fan as a warning.
•A player who intentionally breaks a rule after receiving a yellow fan might be shown a red fan, ejecting him/her from the match.
•The team with the ejected player must continue without a replacement.
TIEBREAKERS
•If a round ends in a deadlock, with neither team having gained territory and an equal number of players in the ring, the winner of the round must be decided in a tiebreaker ”face off”.
•The referee tosses a coin, and the team that wins the coin toss gets to choose which player/which element will go into the face off. (Players always face their same element in the face off, such as Earthbender versus Earthbender.)
•The face off takes place in a raised circle in the center of the ring. The players can use their respective elements, as well as grappling (but no “empty hand” striking, i.e. a punch to the face, or a kick in the stomach), to try knock or throw each other off the circle.
•If a player falls off the circle, he or she loses the tiebreaker. The opposing team wins that round.
•If both players fall off the circle simultaneously, the player who lands first (hitting either the ring, ropes, or water below the ring) loses the tiebreaker. The player who lands second wins the tiebreaker, and his or hear team wins that round.
•In the above scenario, if the referees cannot determine which player landed first, there will be a second tiebreaker between two other opposing team members, using a different element.
•If each team has won a round, and the third round ends in a tie, a tiebreaker is used to determine who wins the third round and the match.
((Rules of the game were found here))
