Warning long reply… I don’t have any match vids with my Mak in my youtube (see sig), I think I just have Ibuki matches, but I placed 3rd in a recent tourney with Mak in Milwaukee and I’ve used her since 2005…I need to upload some vids.
There are quite a few good times to dash in karakusa, but it’s risky vs anyone with a good reversal if they expect it or you get predictable. Versus lesser players you can get away with it all day. Make sure you can master the actual input, by practicing doing your hcb+k VERY fast. To do this very quick and fluidly so it looks like “the grab came out of nowhere” you almost have to cancel the karakusa OFF your dash, put in two forward taps and on the second tap keep on it and roll your motion very fast (f, f, df, d, db, b + lk or all three kicks for consistency). This takes practice. Once you get this down you can cancel a dash off a fast low move, usually c.lp, then karakusa, as an alternative to a tick karakusa. (ex. blockstring - dash in, neutral jump late HK, c.lp, dash, grab)
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As JAK wisely said, after a laggy poke. Your spacing must be perfect. Makoto’s dash is very fast- the way people can do this consistently is SPACING, learn the distance her dash covers and the relative distance the grab reaches (it’s a little further than a normal throw). The distance for dash-in karakusa is ROUGHLY half screen, but that distance is shorter or longer depending on who you’re fighting- vs twins and Chun it’s longer because they have small hitboxes, vs Hugo you can be nearly fullscreen and still dash in once and grab because he’s so big and Mak’s dash goes far. A good strat I use to success is to get a knockdown, say at the beginning of a round, back dash and move back and forth slightly to psych them out and see what they whiff. As soon as you see a laggy move dash in karakusa. You can also stay out of range after a knockdown and fake hayates to try and fool them into parrying, then as soon as they get up dash in grab.
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Two opportune times that have been missed thus far are after an air to air reset and after a normal throw tech. If you hit someone cleanly in the air with j.HK or j.HP, they will get reset back down, and if you dash and grab very fast as soon as you land you can catch them that way. Of course this is situational, and it also usually doesn’t work on a trade unless your opponent is put in the corner after the trade (hence making the distance you cover by dashing much smaller and less consequential). Another good opportunity is after a throw tech. Simple as that, there’s a tech from a normal throw, the flash, both characters bounce back. As they are moving back apart buffer your dash and grab. Be wary of strong players, who will stick out lows after a tech hoping you dash so they can land a super.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, learn all of Makoto’s ticks into karakusa. You don’t generally want to dash in like a madman and just grab. You will eat a low into super when you dash, you will eat a shoryu if nothing else. You have to be “ballsy” with Makoto in 3s to get anywhere but she is much better at landing the grab by setting it up. Using a tick puts the opponent into blockstun and puts you at a frame advantage to land a grab. Good ticks are s.lp, s.mp (meaty), c.lp, c.lk, j.mk (best air tick), meaty UOH. So, instead of just dashing in on wakeup and grabbing, dash in as they get up and do a well timed s.lp then grab. Good players will start parrying this, at that point you can knock them down, backdash, whiff a c.lp, dash in and pause then grab (this way, they are tricked into parrying as they see you do a s.lp, obviously). In the air, her j.MK is great for tick-karakusa (example- dash in twice as they wake up, neutral jump, late MK, karakusa). Of course another great way to land Karakusa is c.lk xx lp Hayate, karakusa. Another way too land Karakusa is to get point blank on the person as they are standing up, “do the dance”/ move back and forth slightly, allow them to stand up all the way (to throw off parry timing), then grab. Basically stay next to them, wait for them to rise fully to a neutral state (which also defeats a reversal window as you wait it out), then immediately grab before they can do anything. The last trick I use is basically what I just said, but throw in a Hayate fake when they are almost all the way back up, then grab. 
All due respect I disagree. It is tremendously easier for new 3s Makoto players to learn and consistently execute than the s.MP link or s.HP cancel (which is very tough). Afaik just hitting the super without comboing it does more damage too. When it comes down to it it’s better for new players to capitalize and land it then to try a tough cancel or link and miss a lot…
To the Makotos in this thread, try and learn and practice other ways of landing SA1 off of pokes. c.mp xx super is good and has good range, it is very easy to do (just a cancel), I almost never see this used… You can also do it off of a c.lk but I think it’s a link and it’s hard. You can cancel into her super off of lp or mp Oroshi (overhead special), good on wakeup, and if the person parries the overhead and attempts to counter with poke -> combo you can still cancel the super anyway and hit them. This can also be Kara’d- s.lk, lp oroshi, super.
Hope this helps anyone who sees it.
