My Ryu: Progress and New things to work on

August 26th, I made a post regarding what my overall game plan was concerning Ryu. Additionally I jotted down some aspects I needed to improve on as well. With that, this is the follow up towards my progress towards those goals.

- Using c.mk, hadou, sadc, hurricane or sweep in footsie battles. I've been doing fairly well with this. My execution and hit confirming are on point, however I need to start remembering to do this in all my matches. Basically what I need to work on is doing it more often in matches.

- Use more empty jump, crouch short combo's after untechable knockdown's. I've been using this technique a lot more often. It seems very strong however when playing against mashers (on wakeup) it'll lose. At the same time, it's not as if I should throw out the tactic at all...using it can get me a free ultra setup after a throw. Great tactic, and I use it pretty often, however knowing when to use it (not against throw spammer's) is the more important part.

- Make it a goal to hit F+Hp every match. I've found that I often times forget to use this move, and still need to remind myself to use it more often. I also think that against certain opponents, this move is almost never going to be thrown out. Characters like: Gief, Vega, Fuerte, Viper...these characters seem fairly "null" as far as this move is concerned because of their mobility (or in Gief's case his options on block). All in all, I still need to remember to use this move more often.

- Start using: FA, absorb hit, Dash in. This is something that I've been using a lot more often. It's actually vital to certain matchups in my opinion, most notably Dhalsim. I've been using it a lot more often, and I think I'm okay as to the amount I use it. Knowing when to use it is vital as well obviously, and it's best used when trying to punish opponents who are trying to use high priority pokes that beat Ryu's c.mk.

- Start jumping over fireballs on REACTION instead of guessing. This has been the most vital part of my game plan as of recently. I've practically MADE it my play style, to throw fireballs, and see if my opponent reaction jumps or not. Depending on their reaction, I'll know one of 2 things...if I can abuse fireballs from up close, or if they psychic jump. Knowing these options, I also know the benefits and disadvantages to both. All in all, I think I've officially trained myself to jump over fireballs on reaction, however it IS important to sometimes psychic jump as well. I have a specific tactic, where I psychic jump, but don't throw out an aerial attack (in case they didn't throw a fireball...anti air'ing will be harder because of a smaller hit box). By doing this, I gain ground and I can POSSIBLY gain a combo...how? If they throw a fireball during my psychic jump, I simply react by pressing a button to begin an aerial attack (mostly j.hk). In this case, I'll either hit the opponent, or they block, all the while granting me momentum.

- Start using walk forward shoryu when not in distance to anti air normally. I haven't really been using this tactic mainly because I don't throw fireballs where reaction jumpers jump so my anti air will whiff. Basically, I haven't needed to use this tactic much. I'm beginning to think it's not that great essential of a tool to bring out.

Conclusion: The things I'd like to begin working on are: using f+hp more often as well as c.mk, hadou, sadc, sweep/hurricane more often. I also want to hone my fireball zoning. Understanding when an opponent is going to jump at me is vital (free ultra anyone?). Lastly, I want to build my anti-air skills. I don't want my opponents getting free jumps on me any more.