Sorry I just want to delve a little bit further into this topic, not as it relates to Gouken, but as a player of SF4.
At any given moment you are going to find yourself with a choice to make. A lot of these choices you make without thinking because you have it programmed into your head how to respond.
The only way to get better is to recognize each situation, quickly analyze the situation and then know your options in each situation.
For instance when you are being blockstringed there are a few things that can happen. You can get blockstringed out to safety, you can get thrown, you can get frametrapped/crtech baited, and you can be crossed up before being blockstringed out.
You should have a plan in place for each of these possible outcomes. It is up to you to train yourself to respond with the appropriate response.
When someone goes to jump over you for a crossup out of a blockstring that should be a free 180 damage for you. That person has to not only jump but also has to wait to cross over you before attacking. You should be looking for this and do jumpback mp xx tatsu, not only for damage but for the real estate you will gain.
You only have two things to look for, a jump and a tick throw/frametrap. The tick throw and frametrap/cr.tech bait is a separate little game you have to play, but you don’t need to cross that bridge until you recognize the attempts for a tick throw.
Blocking is your default option, you don’t even need to think about it. All you need to do is look for a jump or a walk forward and respond appropriately.
Again, it is very important (at least for me) to NOT try to win these games. If I win, great, but I can’t be concerned with playing it safe and trying to win. When I try to win I fall back on what my mind knows NOW and what has worked for me in the past. I’m trying to break that mold and make new things work, know what I mean?
Force yourself to play people who use these tactics in endless and try as hard as you can, even if it means losing 20 in a row, to accomplish the goal you set forth for those matches.
The classic example of this is how people will tell you to learn footsies. Play a game with a self imposed rule of no jumping. Try that for 20 games and see if you don’t learn how to hold your ground better. Remember it is not about winning, it’s about learning so that you win in the future.
Don’t sell yourself short and say,“Hey I’ll never be as good as those guys”. As the saying goes, you have to crawl before you can walk. Practice new stuff and if it fails and you lose, who fing cares, you are learning.
Try these three things over the next three days (remember you are losing to learn, don’t get frustrated with losing and thinking I’m better then this guy, it’s NOT about that, you may very well be better then this guy and you could smash him, but you won’t learn anything or get better by beating them).
Goal 1: AA EVERYTHING with LK tatsu or EX tatsu. Even if it drops them. You will learn when LK tatsu trades, when it drops, when it whiffs and when it actually works. Same with EX tatsu. Even when this shit fails you are learning. You are learning when not to use these moves. Your goal is to learn everything you can about these moves so you can use them effectively in the future. Remember I said AA, not wake up with them. Even if you think it is too slow, do it, cause you will learn what is too slow and what is not.
Goal 2: Stop the leapfrogging. You know how you cr.tech when you are in a blockstring? Your new goal is to not cr.tech everything. You want to wait and tech if you see it coming, and jump back mp xx tatsu if he jumps. Just sit there, block, and keep your fingers over the buttons. Repeat to yourself jump or throw, jump or throw. Seriously, as stupid as this sounds, this is what you want to learn to react to. Condition yourself to understand most people have limited options as this point and you can react to most of them.
Goal 3: This kind of conflicts with goal 1, but everytime you do something where you think you will get hit, do kongo. Throw a fireball and think that jump attack is going to hit you? Do kongo instead of block. If you get stuck in recovery, you get hit, nothing you can do. If you get out of recovery boom kongo. Did a sweep but the opponent jumped it and it is a close call between being able to block or getting hit while in recovery? Kongo, same idea. Did a stand tech and the opponent jumped so you are whiffing a throw? Kongo. The basic idea here is to kongo when people think there is no reason to NOT attack. In the three situations I listed, there will be an incredibly miniscule amount of frames between you either getting hit or being able to block, the opponent is so close to hitting you and think they can hit you in recovery frames that they have no reason not to attack. Remember Kongo is 1 frame startup. This will obviously not be something you want to do EVERYTIME but it’s another tool in your pocket.
Try doing those three things. Play ten games, go back and watch your replay log. Watch each match and see where you may have missed the opportunity. It may seem like a lot of work now but as you make improvements it will be all the reward you need. The thing about this game is, when you lose it is frustrating so winning is twice is sweet cause not only no sour grapes, but you get delicious ones on top of it.
