IT’S NO SURPRISE TO ME I AMMM MY OWN WORST ENEMMMMY
cause every now and then I KICK the livin, shit outta me
and THERE’S A CIGARETTE, STILL BUUUURRRNNNNNING
PLEAAAASE TELL MEEE WHYYYY?
(just a bump in disguise, don’t hate)
Whatever your opponent does, there is a counter. Everyone knows this. It’s the essence of street fighter (and really, life). However, too often does one get hung up on it. I’ve recently understood that I do this too much. Real basic example: he jumps and from this spacing my answer is crouch fierce. I was anticipating something else, had my mind elsewhere, whatever the reason, I missed the opportunity. That moment is now gone but I am stuck in the moment, stuck in the past. I am still thinking “man I shoulda crouch fierced” and taking myself out of the match. I’m thinking about crouch fierce in a moment where crouch fierce does not need to be thought of. At this point I am no longer playing street fighter and if I don’t snap out of it and return to now (the only moment that there IS in street fighter, so why would you think about another moment?), I am officially giving up the match. I am making myself “free.”
In one of these topics someone said cole once told them that even in the middle of a match it’s okay to just take a moment. Close your eyes (figuratively or literally) and take a deep breath. Anything that centers you, brings you back to the moment; back to now; back to the actual match - not what the match used to be. If you can do this in those panicky situations, it’s worth eating the damage if it doesn’t kill you and you can get your resolve. When someone is “in your head” and you are frustrated, panicked, whatever, the match is over and you are no longer playing street fighter. You can either continue down this path and give up the match or let it go and return to the match at hand.
I know it’s easier said than done, but just think about it. Think about it before every single match. Pablo once opened my eyes with a seemingly satirical expression that was actually quite wise. He was playing gief (just to merk on fools, of course) and he was holding forward, walking into every attack. Someone heckled him about how he should block and he said something like, “Hell naw, I don’t do this downback shit. I look towards the future.” and really is kinda clicked that if you’re ever gonna look toward a moment in a match that isn’t now, it should be the future, not the past. Hardbody revealed itself to me. Whenever I was able to tap into this strength of playing in the moment, I would not remember what happened in a match, even though it just happened. This is because I am still in the right mindset; in the right moment - the only moment - now. By staying in the moment, I was staying in the match, and just doing what I needed to do. If ever I made a wrong choice in my counter, it was no longer “augh I should’ve…” because that’s thinking about what didn’t happen in the match. Thinking about what’s not going on in the match is not going to help you when the match IS going on. If I even thought about said scenario, rather than thinking of the proper counter, I just chalked my choice up in my brain as something to not do in the future, in that situation. It’s not “I should have crouched fierce,” it’s “I will not do what I just did in that situation when it happens again.”
I don’t know. That’s my approach. Hopefully it helps someone. It helped me when it clicked.
^^ True enough, Elias, but remembering a past moment in a match against a player, or a character, or an entirely different match altogether, is important too. Not dwelling on it, of course, but if one immediately tries to “forget” what an opponent has just done, how will he react when that moment comes again (which it almost certainly will).
I get what you’re saying for sure… “Don’t dwell on a missed opportunity or a mistake.” However, being able to make a quick mental note about a given moment, and being able to access that note quickly later on and act on it, in addition to playing in the moment, is also important.
Edit: Just realized that you basically said this in the next to last sentence in your post. Still, point taken. =]
I just can’t ever find the right moment to blink… true story.
Nice one. I am glad my retarded way of doing things at least helped someone. What you describe says a lot about me, but it is something I wish more people understood. Countless times I have seen good players lose their composure because of one mistake. Newsflash son, SF is based on taking advantage of your opponent’s mistakes. That is what the life bar is for. Why would you ever give up? That’s just silly.