This week I was given a little homework assignment by a Ryu player that I look up to as a mentor, Mickey D. We had a long talk about where I was headed with Ryu and also making sure that I was in the right frame of mind to improve and stick with the game. He wanted me to think about what he calls the 'five fundamentals of street fighter'. These five fundementals are: discipline, zoning, momentum, execution, and adaptation. He challenged me to "truly think about" what they mean to me as a player. Not only think of what they "mean" but think of how I use them as a player during my matches and while doing this, explain myself as a player, explain the weaknesses and strengths I have when thinking about the core fundamentals. I told him that I would chronicle my answer in my blog so that others may pose the same questions to themselves, but also maybe glean something from my own answer and self-analysis.
Discipline
I kind of see this fundamental as having multiple meanings. I practice as religiously as I possibly can. I can sit for hours in training mode working on links, combos, and counters and so in this sense I have an extreme amount of discipline when it comes to repetitive practice that others might find boring. I lack discipline when it comes to controlling my emotions before, during, and after a fight. This to me is something that I could probably work on the most as it could end up being detrimental to the longevity of my street fighter career. Meaning that if I'm getting angry about losing or I am embarrassed to fight my friends because they are above and beyond my skill level then I am more likely to want to quit playing the game all together at some point because I'm not enjoying it. Emotional control is a huge piece of the puzzle and having the discipline to have that control is huge for me. On the micro scale I also see "in-game" discipline as being important. Knowing when to NOT to go for that jump in or wake-up shoryuken is huge, but this goes hand in hand with emotional discipline before/after/during a match. If I can remain calm, then I can remain calculated. A clear mind is best for making the quick, smart decisions that Street Fighter requires.
Zoning
Having started out as a Dhalsim player I feel as though I have a pretty good grasp of what zoning is and also how important it is winning consistently. For me, this is Street Fighter at its very core. If I am controlling space better than my opponent then I am most likely winning. I try to focus on zoning with Ryu. I know that some people focus on combos and combo opportunities, but for me at least, this is secondary to zoning. Now, while I have a good grasp on what zoning is and how to zone this doesn't mean that I am necessarily that good at it. Controlling horizontal space can be done with Ryu's fireball and his pokes. I feel as though my horizontal pokes or "Ground Game" as its called, is average at best. I still use the fireball recklessly at times and get punished severely for it. I get caught poking on the ground a lot as well. I whiff a ton of pokes by either doing it when they are out of range or right as they jump in. This seems to be the biggest reason that I get dominated when I do get dominated by superior players. That feeling that I just can't do anything right sometimes isn't about luck or lucky guess from the opponent it comes from improper zoning on my part. Whiffing pokes, unsafe fireballs, and the big one... not anti-airing quickly enough or properly. This is a tough one for me though, how do I improve my ground game? How do I learn to not whiff crouching forward/crouching strong or when its ok to poke without getting jumped in on? It's something that I am sure there is no concrete answer to. It basically will come down to experience. Just being conscious that I am failing in those areas is a good first step to improving them.
Momentum
This was kind of tough for me to define. I touched on it briefly in another post, but controlling the momentum is controlling the perception of pressure for me. This is something I struggle with mightily. The reason for this is that I'm a beginner, for me, its that simple. When I first started playing street fighter I would get the momentum or 'control of the fight' and I would just hand it back over willingly. I was afraid to have the momentum because I really didn't know what to do with it and often times I still don't! I am getting better at recognizing when I have the momentum and trying to maintain it, but for a new player this is one of the hardest things to do because the more experienced player will be calmly thinking about how they can retake the momentum. Also knowing this, the less experienced player can be intimidated by this and give away the momentum prematurely because mentally he already has. This happened to me just today. I was fighting a Sakura with 14000+ GP and normally when I see that the first thought that comes into my mind is "great...here comes a loss." So even before the fight has began I am kind of letting them control the momentum in a sense. I ended up winning the first round, losing out in the second because I took a few too many risks, and in the third I took a commanding life lead early on with great zoning (I was using Dhalsim, which I rarely do anymore) but then I let the momentum slip from my grasp. I began to think that if anyone could come back it would probably be this guy, and that my lack of experience closing out fights like this could come back to haunt me, and sure enough, it did. Not because of my lack of experience directly, but because I let myself believe that. I gave up when I was in the lead. I essentially said "here take the momentum I had, I don't want it".
That is all for part one of my answer to Mickey's question, I hope it has been insightful and somewhat interesting to read. Stay tuned for Part II coming soon...
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