Ken Masters

Note: I'm writing this blog also as a note taking reference for progression.

Here is my 2nd blog post or part II on USFIV & my progression. I was actually in a bit of a crisis for a while when deciding on a main character & a secondary since that I have 7 characters in the series that I enjoy. At the end of the day, I wanted a shoto fighter in the roster. The character that I chose to main is Ken. My reasons for using Ken is that because he suits my style of offense. I don't mind the weaker fireball (hadoken) for a stronger offensive game. The other that I intend to put in my back pocket is Chun Li after I have put my Ken on a good skill level. I stick Ryu with them since he has some characteristics in common with Ken. Difference is that he controls space a lot better. SRK, SF Youtube links, & some info on Event hubs are proving to work really well for helping resources. Of course some friends are helping out too.

For the most part, while continuing through the tutorials, I have been working on the following:

• Basics & Fundamentals of Street Fighter
• Ken's tendencies 
• Offensive game (some)
• LP crMK variants
• LP crMK fireball
• LP crMK hurricane kick
• crMK Fireball (blockstring)
• crLP crHP variants (crLP crHP, fireball, etc)
• Foosties
• Gap closing ( F+MK, step kick)
• Whiff punisher (HK)
• Still need to learn to link it if possible
• Anti-Airs
• Overheads
• Few Crossups
• Throwing
• Hit-confirming
• Crossing up
• FADC
• FADC forwad/back dashing through fireballs
• FADC & whiff punishing
• FADC with jumping
• Teching
• Tech-throw breaking
• Ground teching

For the most part, just working on the simple stuff that makes up SF & Ken. The things that I need to do are very obvious, like working on his kara throw, getting some combos, & continue working on this stuff. I'm still inconsistent, but just sitting down in the lab finding this stuff is good alone. 

This is where I'm at right now. I will continue with the next blog of progress as soon as I get it back rolling again. 

Ultra Street Fighter IV

Hello. What's up ladies & gentlemen? This is J.D.E. (or J.D.) bringing another blog entry. This one is me going into the Street Fighter (SF) community, preparing to play Ultra Street Fighter IV (USFIV) offline in tournaments, & enjoy the ride.

I also will make a quick mention of the Chattanooga Fightclub (CFC). I will represent them every now & then in tournaments. It's not a sponsorship. It is my local fighting game community scene as a whole that we have put together, travel, & compete in fighting games when we can. So expect CFC|J.D.E. to show up on the stream when playing.

I've been a fan of SF for a very long time. It is among my top 3 favorite fighting game franchises alongside of DOA & MK. This decision has been a long time coming. I just wanted to waiting until this version, USFIV came out in order to do it. This is also the 1st time that I'm using a fightpad instead of the regular pad. I had the other SFIV builds for a while, but wanted to start from scratch & "learn" it for real with other newcomers to the scene. I've played casuals in a lot of games to show the games love, but this one I decided to get into since it's one of my favorites. I will say that this is probably the most competitive fighting game that I have ever played to date.

There are tons a players that are much beyond my league & have a lot of work to do. I had some friends even tell me that I should just "stick to casuals because it's much to do", but this is what I like to do & honestly one of the things that I live for as a fighting game enthusiast. This is one of the main series that kept me off the street, in the house at night. Seeing this game played in person & on stream just gets me even more hyped to learn & play.

I've been doing numerous amount of video tutorial watching, even making out a playlist strictly for the game itself & the character (s) that I play. I even have a notebook full of notes, much like I did for DOA (yes, I write down a lot of notes studying the games). My main character decision came from 2 things: characters that I enjoy throughout SF & my style of play. The favorite characters are Ryu, Ken, Chun Li, Cammy, Sakura, C.Viper, & Ibuki. In general, I like the shotos a lot like how much I love ninjas (Ibuki) as a preferred fighter in a fighting game. My style of play emphasizes on offense for the most part so I chose Ken to focus on completely with Chun Li probably going to be my secondary once I feel I can venture off.

This is pretty much where I am now. I'm just practicing the basics, fundamentals, & learning about Ken's tools & where his strengths/weaknesses lie. Still lots of work to do, but it was great getting the feel for the game with some friends on Xbox Live. I'll come back with more thoughts as I progress & travel.