Well I didn’t know that LOL

vivite:

Can we take a moment to observe this scene?

I don’t know if it was just made to be flashy or epic or what but it seems like actually taking away someone’s bending is a big deal that practically has it’s own lightshow, and it’s not just poking someone in the forehead. To take away someone’s bending you have to bend their life energy. Also, Aang is touching two parts - the mind and the heart. I’m going to go and guess that these are two of the chakras he’s closing, since we learned that when a chakra gate is closed, energy can’t flow freely.

When Amon “takes away bending” it’s not flashy at all. And he keeps talking about chi-blocking, not energybending. He also only uses one hand, and none of the people we’ve seen whose bending has been taken away glowed like this. 

So perhaps what he’s doing is just temporary, and the people whose bending has been “taken away” is simply just blocked? And since there are new modern styles of bending now I don’t think a lot of people bother with meditation or have even had proper bending instructors. Maybe they’re not aware of how to re-open their chakras. 

But besides that - if Amon really is energybending, wouldn’t he be a hypocrite? Energybending is a bending art, even older than the four traditional ones.