Breaking down Jake's training

Started by Exostrike, August 06, 2019, 07:05:40 AM

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Exostrike

So I was wondering how best to break down Neytiri's training of Jake so it can be applied to the rest of the avatar team (and not totally research for a fanfic).

I thought about breaking it down into 4 groups, physical, skill, language and cultural. Physical and skill blend a bit at times but I hope the breakdown is acceptable

Physical


  • Raw strength
  • Navigating the forest
  • climbing
  • parkour

Skill


  • Archery
  • Riding (both Pa'li and Ikran)
  • Survival
  • Foraging
  • Hunting
  • Tracking
  • Combat

Language

Pretty straight forward, learning Na'vi (which Jake clearly struggled with)

Cultural


Probably the most nebulous but also the most complex


  • Na'vi social customs and norms
  • etiquette
  • philosophy/world view
  • Ewya as a religion or world view (to see)

If anyone else has a better way of breaking it down or note anything I've missed let me know.

Tirea Aean

Cool list :D

It's hard to say what details there are on most of this since much of it is given in a single video log montage or one small scene each for the rest. I wonder if we'll ever know more canon details of his training.

Toliman

Yeah, good list (from that little which we know) :) I have not a better idea.

Quote from: Tirea Aean on August 06, 2019, 08:33:39 AM
I wonder if we'll ever know more canon details of his training.
It would be interesting to know, we have to hope...

archaic

OK, I'm a little late to the party here, but I have looked at this for fanfic too so here is my two cents. And apart from what we actually see on screen, this is all just guess work.



I felt that Jake's physical strength is fine, Avatars are way more muscular than any Na'vi we see on screen.


Early lessons in most of these are likely to be segregated, such as the Pa'li and Archery lessons we see.
Where as navigating the forest, climbing/parkour, survival, foraging -  I feel these are much more overlapping for the Na'vi on a day to day basis, and Neytiri would have probably approached the training, coming from that mind set.

Hunting and tracking, again these would be seen as essentially parts of the same thing, hunts are not always successful and even an unsuccessful hunt can provide good practice. Where as an early lesson that provided an opportunity for a kill, would be unlikely to be passed up, as the Na'vi rely on hunting for food.

Combat was something I assumed was not something the Na'vi saw as a learned skill but as what came naturally, unlike Jake's USMC hand to hand combat training.

The language I'm fairly sure would have suffused all of the above, when ever opportunity occurred, as well as separate specific lessons as well.



When I wrote my own fanfic script for Avatar2, I used Naytiri teaching Jake about foraging as a way to recapture the sense of wonder at the forest and the world and lives of the Na'vi.
Pasha, an Avatar story, my most recent fanfic, Avatar related, now complete.

The Dragon Affair my last fanfic, non Avatar related.

Exostrike

Quote from: archaic on September 19, 2019, 03:26:30 PM
OK, I'm a little late to the party here, but I have looked at this for fanfic too so here is my two cents. And apart from what we actually see on screen, this is all just guess work.

Yeah same here and yes this was research for fan fiction.

However I quickly realised that the training itself wasn't that interesting to read about and so it quickly became more a setup for character building or was brushed over.

You can read it here if you like: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20430725/chapters/48469607

allrock123

#5
For an interesting seed "reflection" on a possible recognition's within the name  Jake Sully,, search "Jake Swamp" and "The Search for Jigonsaseh"  (real world lost Haudenosaunee history ) ask who where the Kah-Kwah or Erie people ? interesting surprise there ) there are lots of other cultural reflections in the film mirror story examples from living cultures all around our world .. for example root meaning "zulu phrase "sawubona"  Its important to note "Jake"  by example is a "wounded warrior" who walks in another shoes..   

Toliman

Quote from: allrock123 on October 12, 2019, 12:01:48 AM
For an interesting seed "reflection" on a possible recognition's within the name  Jake Sully,, search "Jake Swamp" and "The Search for Jigonsaseh" 
That is quite interesting perception  :) Yeah, you are right with this.