edit: double post
lk tatsu > c.hp is definitely not a 1-frame link, it’s way more lenient than that. lk tatsu > lk link is almost impossible to miss… the stun window off the tatsu almost feels like a eternity.
The combo isn’t really the hard part. In my opinion, what’s more important is for people to understand which double tatsu combo to use in a given situation. For example, cross up jump mk, hp, lk tatsu, c.hp is guaranteed on some characters, while for some the c.hp after first tatsu will whiff if the mk cross up is a little too deep. We all want damage, though, so it’s hard to force ourselves to go for lk instead sometimes.
I haven’t tried doing triple tatsu combos (i.e. hp, lk tatsu, c.hp, lk tatsu, lk, ex tatsu) during matches because even when there are situations when I think it would work, I’d rather not f up my combo.
it is a one frame link 
u can link lk tatsu into s.mk or cr.hp but not cr.mk
i think it’s just the visual clue that may help you or you just got the timing down
the character specific comes, thats why i prefer s.hp.
s.hp->lk tatsu cr.hp-> works on most of the cast
Thank you very much for the help. And yes, it is a 1 frame link because the LK Tatsu gives you a 4 frame advantage and the c.HP has a 4 frame startup (apparently). That’s means you have 1/30th of a second to press c.HP (since the game is actually 30fps with each frame “cloned” to make it a pseudo 60fps, according to Ed Ma. So one “frame” is actually two identical frames and therefore is 1/30th not 1/60th of a second).
Talking of the visual cue, I know it’s basically when she lands, her legs kind of sway after both feet come down. It’s sort of right as the sway begins (but if you wait for it to be obvious, it’s too late). I still get it inconsistently, though. In fact, even my inconsistency is inconsistent since some days I only mess it up once every ten successes and other days I can barely get it to work at all. 
Just to confirm, when people say use the command input display to see if I’m plinking properly, do you mean to check that the MK is following the LK, not coming at the same time or with anything else in between? If that’s all I have to make sure of, it doesn’t sound too bad.
I go for it all the time lol fuck it, it’s just online and nothing makes me laugh harder when I see Sak busting out her cr.HP in slow-mo because I missed the link and she has the “OH SHIT” look on her face because she’s about to eat a mashed out ultra. Love this game.
Ah interesting stuff about the cloned frames, 1/30th of a second is still extremely tight 
If you’re plinking properly the input display should look something like this:
:lk::mk: - frame “2”
:mk: - frame “1”
Obviously there’ll be some directional inputs thrown in before and possibly after, if you’re holding a direction when you press the buttons they’ll obviously be included next to the button inputs. If all you see is a double button input (like when doing an EX move) then you didn’t do it right (I think).
I just noticed something (maybe I’m just slow); if I do j.mk crossup and try to do c.lp c.hp l.tatsu s.lk the lk whiffs (at least against Ryu). I guess I could just do j.mk s.hp l.tatsu s.lk instead (though s.lk still whiffs sometimes :S), or do j.lk for crossupping. I was just wondering what you do? Am I just spacing wrong? I tried against the corner and it’s the same thing there, so I don’t think it is that at least.
OK, so I guess they are 1-frame and 2-frame links. I suppose it’s a good thing that the timing doesn’t feelt that hard? 
I would recommend just removing c.lp altogether and do hp, lk tatsu after the cross-up. Combos do more damage without the c.lp anyway, and hp should be guaranteed after the cross-up regardless the height jump mk hits. I usually don’t use c.lp after the cross up unless the opponent blocks the jump mk.
Also, that will keep you in closer proximity with the opponent, which means there will be higher likelihood of landing a EX tatsu with 4 hits instead of 3 hits.
Oh, okay. I mostly do c.lp to hit confirm… I have never really tried just “reacting” to if j.mk connects or not. I’ll try that then. Thanks.
hey, im new to SSF4, and SF in general, used to play SF2Turbo on the genesis, but i was never very good. i played SF4 with my friends a lot, and i love playing as sakura, but i generally get beat down so far. just wanted some general advice as to what i should start learning first when it comes to playing her. i know a lot of her combos and i practice the crap out of them, but i was wondering if there was a mindset or technique to improve my consistency. ive tried plinking (without good results), trying to figure out if theres a more basic way to improve. till then ill be in practice mode, thanks in advance for any advice.
If you’re using c.LP > c.HP to hit confirm you can skip the LK Shunpuu and go straight to EX, otherwise can use HP xx LK Shunpuu for a hit confirm.
Well, the damage/stun I lose for not doing an extra shunpuu is totally not worth it, so I’ll just go for HP.
Just another little thing, it felt like c.HP pushes them back less than s.HP, but as far as I know, s.HP l.tatsu c.HP is possible, but not c.HP l.tatsu c.HP is not (on “normal” hitboxes).
Yea, that’s another thing. c.HP does have more push back than s.HP.
If you have trouble getting st.HPxxlk tatsu and keep doing cr.HP then what you could do is cr.MPxxlk tatsu cr.HPxxEx Tatsu. This will work on everyone as cr.mp doesn’t push them back and you only lose 15 damage points. I use this because I have a bad habit with the QCB motion and if I go for st.HP I usually get cr.HP.
If I do mess up and get cr.HPxxlk tatsu and I know the next series will whiff, sometimes I use it as a little frame trap…works great sometimes, other times not so much lol
Which moves of Sakura beats ryu’s j.hp? I always seem to be caught by it…
c.HP should under the right circumstances.
It’s not that I have trouble doing s.HP instead of c.HP, it’s just that sometimes it feels like s.HP after j.MK pushes them further away than j.MK c.HP. I’m gonna test it more today, maybe I was just doing j.MK stupidly.
A question: what do you do against Vegas jump-ins (that is, if he’s too close for l.srk)? His claw seems to stuff c.HP all the time.
how much frame advantage does blocked air shunpu give?
This might have been discussed in the past, but I’ve been experimenting the couple of days to try to punish projectiles on reaction with EX shunpu but I haven’t had much success.
It seems like in many cases, the opponent recovers just in time before I reach them. Am I just reacting too slow, or do I need to be closer than mid-range to make this work? I’ve caught couple of Guile players shooting Sonice booms at me from close proximity, but I figure most characters won’t do that.
Should I just stick to EX dp?
It’s really difficult to react fast enough with an EX Shunpu, you’ll have more success with MK/Hk Shunpu instead, even though the payoff is lower.