People are afraid of 1frame links more than they should. I used to consider them too risky as well, due to the arguments you present. Watching highly successful E. Ryu, Ibuki and Sakura players made me realize that if it’s there and i am not using it it’s untapped potential. So i decided to practice cr lp, cr hp and srk fadc, cr lp every day till i’ve build the muscle memory to perform it reliably in every situation. It took months but it worked, i drop it online maybe one time out of ten and i am not some execution monster, just a very stubborn dude :P. There are things in this game that require that you are gifted in order to be good at them but anyone can be good in combo execution with enough practice.
Of course you are right that you can’t confirm with just one jab. Spacing is also a bitch at first but if you are constantly practicing cr lk, cr lp, cr hp you will instinctively know when you are close enough for it to connect. So on the ground cr lk, cr lp, cr hp, hp srk, fadc, cr lp, cr hp, hp srk is the your safest bet. In Ultra this will do 306 damage and 540 stun. The best part though comes form successful jump ins. If you can confirm from let’s say a jumping hp, you can do jump hp, cl st hk, hp srk, fadc, cr lp, cr hp, hp srk which nets you 421 damage and a whooping 735 stun. If you have 3 bars you can finish this with an ex srk, increasing damage to 447 and stun to 751. The next time you touch your opponent he will see stars or birds. If your opponent is standing you can instead do jump hp, cl st hk, hp srk, fadc, cr lk, st lp, cr hp, hp srk which only has one plinkable one frame link. This will reduce damage and stun to 407/725 and 428/737 for the ex srk version. You can do the same with Ken’s jumping setups. After every attempted jump mk or lk, do a cr jab and if the opponent hasn’t blocked go for cr hp and srk (294/450 dmg/stun). If you have one bar use an ex srk, for 330/472 dmg/stun. If you have 2 bars fadc the srk and link cr lp, cr hp, hp srk (367/590 dmg/stun) and for 3 bars finish with ex srk for (387/602 dmg stun).
This will also greatly improve your punishes. If you have to do a 3 frame punish your best option is cr lp, cr hp srk. 5 frames and you can skip the jab, 8 frames you replace cr hp with cl st hk. If you have meter you can make it hurt even more with ex srk or fadc loops. You will also improve your punishes from a distance. What MOV does in this video is bait a poke with spacing, avoid it with st lk, punish with kara srk, fadc, cr lp, cr hp srk. It has slightly more range than cr mk and it works even when the opponent is crouching. He never confirms with just one jab. He either punishes (guaranteed first hit), or confirms with another move that he fadc’s. Dakou also uses similar tech. He loves doing cross up jump hp, cr lp, cr hp, srk after a fwd throw for example.
In Ultra SF, ultra 2 will be linkable in more situations without the need to use meter, which leaves you with more bars to do your loops.
All this has one more important benefit besides damage and stun. Most people aren’t afraid of Ken, they just consider him annoying. But do some of these to them for a few times and i guarantee you they will become scared of your Ken’s not so gentle touch, and scared opponents make mistakes.
[EDIT]
Btw, MOV plays from Eita’s place on this video, using Eita’s monitor and setup. He is very consistent with his execution regardless of external conditions.
