VIPER Explains the Hajiki Screw

A hajiki Screw ("flick SPD") motion lets you do a Spinning Pile Driver or Mexican Typhoon extremely quickly, and it's ideal for grabbing whiffed low kicks. More explanation below but first a quick 2ch note.

I've been reading about the hajiki Screw technique on 2ch for a long time, but based on context I thought it simply referred to a quick walk-in SPD. Also the term comes up most commonly when people are saying silly stuff about Rikiya so I never paid much attention.

One night at Versus, VIPER kindly explained the motion to us Yanks. To do a hajiki Screw you give the joystick a small but firm flick in a circular direction and tear your hand away allowing the spring to carry it around. For 1P side you start with the joystick right and flick it clockwise. For 2P start at left and flick counter-clockwise.

It might sound a little alien but this motion isn't very difficult. VIPER said it took him twenty minutes practice to get the hang of it on one side and about an hour on the other. Your humble blog editor was able to do a hajiki Hyper Bomb almost immediately. You can try it on the character select screen: with a proper hajiki motion the highlight rectangle should go around and land where it started.


Do not practice Flick SPDs on your laundry!

VIPER said the motion is easier on a looser (broken-in) stick. He didn't mention this, but I'd speculate that it's easier on Seimitsu than on Sanwa — dead zone is a little different — but it's definitely possible on both.

Here's a quick video of VIPER demonstrating the hajiki Screw. First for 1P side then for 2P side.



I asked if Pony used hajiki Screw and Shu (Ken player) laughed and said no but he said Gunze and most Hawks use it. Shu said that when a Zangief player uses it well vs. whiffed Shoto low medium kick and low roundhouse the match starts to get unwinnable. Daigo supposedly said as much after losing to Rikiya thirty times in a row.

Here's one more video of an actual match. Attempted Hajiki early in the second round. The YouTube interface covers it up; you have to mouse away to see it.

The MAO Sneak - Confounding Cross-ups with Claw

When Claw does a crouching jab he moves his body forward a bit. This can be used to avoid many cross-up attacks. Sneak under the cross-up then throw your opponent when they land. Claw shifts forward right as the move starts; give the MAO Sneak a shot even at the last minute or when getting up from a knockdown.

This won't work against wide attacks like Zangief's body splash or DeeJay's medium kick but it can be used to avoid many others including Chun-Li and Dictator's medium kicks.

I don't really know when this move was invented or by whom, but MAO has been using it more and more in the past year or so. Thanks to Riz0ne and Ganelon for consultation.

Here are a couple examples: vs. Ken, vs. Blanka

Minimum Logic 2 - The Button Release Fireball

Here's another item that Nekohashi posted a few years ago. Once again the specific details are for Ryu but the concept works for various characters. The original post is here. I paraphrased and omitted some parts.

"Button Release" AKA "Negative Edge."

"Sumo Drop" AKA "Hyakkan Otoshi." Charge down, up + kick.

---

For this technique you take advantage of the fact that you can do special moves with a button release to throw a fireball that way. [Hold punch, down, down-towards, towards+release punch.] There's no need to do this every time but under certain circumstances it can work to your advantage.

You can use a button release motion to prevent having accidental normal attacks come out in case you couldn't throw a fireball. This means you not only guard against having that accidental normal get tagged, but you can also focus immediately on your next play.

In fact this situation comes up in places you may not have noticed. Take Ryu vs. Honda for example. You knock Honda down then throw a jab fireball that's right on top of him as he's getting up. If you try to follow up with a fierce fireball as quickly as you can, but he avoids the first one with a reversal Sumo Drop, you'll get an accidental straight punch (i.e. far standing fierce.) If that Sumo Drop hits you, he then gets a juicy okiseme chance; what was an advantageous situation for you quickly turns very gloomy. On the other hand, if you wait to see if the jab fireball is blocked you must throw the fierce one a moment later. Depending on the spacing this will give him time to vertical jump over the second fireball. A third fireball won't necessarily be safe and your barrage is much weaker.

You can avoid these pitfalls with a button release fireball. It can be done at the earliest possible moment, and if Honda does a wake-up Sumo Drop you can simply hit him with a Dragon Punch.

Detailed flowchart:
1. Jab fireball as Honda is standing up
2. At the earliest moment (as the jab fireball would dissipate,) do a button release fierce fireball
3. Jab fireball misses as opponent does wake-up special move, you're free to do whatever
(If the jab fireball hits or gets blocked, you'll throw the fierce fireball like normal)
4. Respond to opponent's wake-up move appropriately (DP, low RH, block)

Once you master this technique, you can shut down various attempts by your opponent to gamble with wake-up moves through the first fireball. The trick is also very handy with a super fireball. While the above example was for Ryu, you can use it with Guile and other characters, too.

Minimum Logic 1 - The Built-in Dragon Punch

Here's a Super Turbo trick that Nekohashi put on his blog a few years ago. The original post is here. Info about safe jump option selects has been widely disseminated for SF4; I thought it'd be nice to post some nitty gritty for SF2.

"Built-in Dragon Punch" and "option select Dragon Punch" are more or less interchangeable. The idea is that the DP motion is "built-in" to the previous attack.

"Hit stop" is the brief (about a quarter of a second) freeze for both characters when an attack hits or gets blocked.

Translation note: I paraphrased some of this but kept Nekohashi's voice; first person comments below are his.

---

For this trick you do a safe jump on your opponent and then if they do a wake-up attack you'll beat it with a DP. If they don't do the wake-up, however, after the jump attack is blocked there's no DP. Safe jumping is well known amongst SF2 players, but with this built-in DP you can further enhance the technique. The theory is that if you blocked [after safe jumping] you could have DP'ed.

Detailed flowchart:
1. Input the safe jump attack
2. Reach the moment for the safe jump to hit or get blocked
3. Complete the built-in Dragon Punch command
4. Safe jump kick whiffs as opponent does wake-up reversal
5. Since the safe jump kick didn't make contact, the whole sequence is shortened by the hit stop duration so you get a Dragon Punch as you land

We want to put this to use against wake-up attacks that can't be punished or to crush gambling wake-ups + inflict damage (+ loop.) Ultimately the goal is to discourage any wake up reversals and leave them with no choice but to block the jump kick.

You have to input the command for the Dragon Punch extremely quickly in conjunction with the safe jump kick. For a safe jump roundhouse with a built-in jab dragon punch the actual button presses should be happen with a quick "TATAN." They should be about one to six frames apart — do it as fast as you can. If you think about the timing for canceling a jumping punch into an air HK with Ken, this is similar to that. In the event that your opponent blocks your safe jump kick you must finish the Dragon Punch command before your feet touch the ground.

Some notes about Ryu's built-in DP vs. various attacks.
Green: option select OK. Red: option select NOT OK.

Vs. Ryu: Hurricane Kick, Dragon Punch (trades), Super Fireball (delayed super freeze makes this ok)
Vs. E.Honda: Headbutt, Sumo Drop, Super Headbutt (super freeze means timing is difficult)
Vs. Chun-Li: Super (no safe jump vs. Tenshokyaku [RH version])
Vs. Guile: Flash Kick (DP generally loses to Super Flash Kick)
Vs. T.Hawk: Tomahawk Buster (usually loses so there's no point)
Vs. Fei-Long: Flame Kick, Chicken Kick, Super
Vs. Cammy: Cannon Spike, Spin Knuckle, Super
Vs. DeeJay: Machine Gun, Short Jackknife (don't let him get a read on you)
Vs. Boxer: Super (DP loses to Buffalo Headbutt but it can take out Crazy Buffalo)
Vs. Claw: Scarlet Terror
Vs. Sagat: Tiger Uppercut (don't safe jump vs. Sagat LOL)

Special case:
Vs. Blanka: if you jump in with a punch at a range that would stop Vertical Balls you can add a built-in fireball or super fireball to defeat wake-up Back Hop attempts.

Once you get the hang of this technique it's just a matter of coming up with your own preferred setups. Against Honda I find that doing it with jump kick -> low roundhouse -> fierce fireball feels nice. If the built-in DP hits that's fine, if the jump-in -> low roundhouse hits that's fine and if the whole thing is blocked you press the advantage. Consider Aniken's setup:
jump short (built-in DP) -> crouching medium punch -> low roundhouse (-> fireball)
If this hits, his opponent is knocked down and near dizzy. It's also easy to hit confirm, and Ken can lock down with the fireball or stop at the low strong and look for a knee bash mixup. That makes it an extremely well rounded sequence.

This type of option select can be done with any attack including a normal move. For example, you can use a crouching uppercut to stop Ryu's Hurricane Kick. Time it properly [on the slow side] and then if Ryu blocks your jump-in you get nothing, if he does a wake-up HK you'll beat it with the built-in punch and if he does a wake-up DP you'll land and block it. When I saw Shiki playing Boxer at Star Cup he was doing this well.

[NH2 says: you can mess with this on an emulator. Get a MAME cheat file and turn on the easy special move cheat for 2P's (would-be) wake-up special move. Then assign 1P's jump kick and 2P's special move all to the same button. Now if you do a deep jump kick with a built-in Dragon Punch you can see how the trick works. The timing isn't exactly the same — this will only work against slower wake-up attacks.]

Taira's Trickery and Other Tales from Tougeki '07

Since I'm light on material for an SBO '08 preview post I thought I'd get this SBO '07 review post up instead. Below you'll find some Dictator trickery and behind-the-scenes notes on 2on2 tag strategy.

The various Dictator techniques below are listed character by character. Covering other match-ups where they might be useful (endless throw loops ought to work vs. some O.ST characters, for example) is beyond the scope of this post. For an explanation of the terms "near corner" and "far corner" check over here.

Most of this information came from Arcadia (SF2 correspondent: Gian) with some extra details from Leynos.

Psycho Magic and Other Corner Traps

CE Dictator vs. ST Dictator
CE Dictator can pin ST Dictator in the corner with the following loop:
double knee press -> crouching strong -> standing medium kick -> double knee press -> etc.
Double Knee Press AKA Scissor Kick. Unless they've got a super ready, the ST Dictator player can only pray that their opponent makes a mistake somewhere.

ST Dictator vs. CE Dictator
By the same token, ST Dictator can use this loop on CE Dictator:
standing short -> double knee press -> standing short -> etc.
If either side gets backed into the corner they're dead meat.

Psycho Magic
The general form for the "Psycho Magic" corner trap is as follows:
standing short -> crouching strong -> strong psycho crusher -> standing short -> etc.
This works on various characters but it's limited to the near corner. The most important thing is that the Psycho Crusher gets blocked twice.

ST Dictator vs. ST Dhalsim
At the SBO '07 semifinals Taira broke out a new type of Psycho Magic that works against Dhalsim when he's in the far corner.
crouching jab -> crouching jab -> standing short -> strong psycho crusher -> crouching jab -> etc.
When done properly, this Psycho Magic is airtight. The Dhalsim player must hope their opponent mistimes a jab so they can throw or teleport.





"Taira Nage" - Taira's Tickery

ST Dictator vs. CE Guile (mid-screen)
Taking advantage of Dictator's superior throw range and Guile's inability to tech throws, Taira had this throw loop ready to go for SBO:
cross-up medium kick -> standing strong -> throw -> repeat

ST Dictator vs. CE Guile (corner)
Although Muteki was careful to avoid getting knocked down mid-screen he wound up getting caught in Taira's special corner variation:
safe, vertical jump short -> standing short -> throw -> repeat



For both of these throw loops, Guile's only way out is to stay in a crouch so that he can stop the throw attempt with a reversal Flash Kick. If the Dictator player is on the ball, however, they can convert the jump attack into a combo.

Road to the SBO Finals

In addition to playing brilliantly, Kurahashi and Nuki got a good read on their opponents' team order throughout the tournament.

In the third round Team Kuranuki anticipated that Shiki and Tama would go in that order and since Nuki had been practicing against Kurahashi's CE Guile all summer he was ready to take out Shiki Guile. Kurahashi sealed the deal vs. Tamashima and they had their revenge for losing at the Sugamo qualifiers.

The only match where they were caught wrong-footed was versus Sako and Nekohashi. It seems like both sides misread the situation. Kurahashi thought Sako might run O.Hawk and was eager to take him out. Nuki, on the other hand, was extremely confident vs. any Ryu except ShootingD and also wanted a piece of Sako. When Nekohashi switched from CE Dictator to ST Ryu and Sako brought out Chun-Li that lead to one of the stranger battles of the tournament.

In the finals Taira and Shiro apparently anticipated that their opponents would run Nuki (Chun) then Kurahashi (CE Ryu) so Taira switched from ST to CE Dictator to better deal with Kurahashi. CE Dictator is a fine choice against ST Chun-Li, too, since a properly timed Psycho Crusher works well as air defense.

Taira and Shiro had the right idea: Kurahashi did want to run Ryu, but Nuki talked him out of it. Convinced him to stick to his guns. So the trap was set and all that was left was for Team Kuranuki to drop the hammer.

ST Trickery: Honda's Auto Mix-up

A while ago, I posted about a special input that will let you throw your opponent if they're idle and DP them if they try a special move. When using E.Honda you can take advantage of his stored command throw glitch to do a special Sumo Auto Mix-up that can defeat some tick escape attempts.

Here is the command for this trick:

→↘↓↙ charge ↖ + P + K

In plain english we've got:
half circle back stopping at down-back to store the Oicho command throw
continue to hold down-back for a couple seconds to charge a butt slam
up-back plus punch plus kick to complete the auto mix-up

You'll want to use this as part of a tick. After you knock your opponent down, make them block a crouching jab as they stand up then finish the above command. If they do nothing you'll snatch them with a command throw. If they try to escape the tick with a special move you'll pass right through it with a butt slam attack. At least, you'll start to go through it -- this trick won't work against all reversal attacks.

Note that in order to have the butt slam charged in time you'll need to do the first part of the command well before you try to tick.

Hat tip: Iroiro Tsuaku Hito and other folks at the T.Akiba bbs.

Super Turbo Trickery - Near Corner vs. Far Corner

So I needed to define a bit of terminology for a future post and I thought I'd discuss some related trickery while I was at it. Info from T.Akiba, Harahi, KG (also his Gief vid below) and Leynos.

UPDATE 10/2/09: Added a couple items courtesy of Riz0ne.

When you're on the 1p side of the machine, the near corner is on the left and the far corner is on the right. For 2p, the near corner is on the right and the far corner is on the left. This doesn't change as characters move around the screen: the far corner is always the one farthest away from your life bar.

Here's some trickery where the direction you're facing makes a difference.

Ken HCF Funky Kick (Vs: Ryu, Ken, Akuma)
Video
Ken can use his ←↙↓↘→ + Kick move to cross up a Shoto opponent under the following conditions:
- Ken is right up against them. As close as possible.
- Opponent is crouching.
- Ken is facing the far corner.

Blanka Ball (Vs: Blanka)
When a mirror match opponent has been knocked down in the far corner, use a horizontal ball to cross them up.

You can cross up Honda after he's been knocked down in either corner.

Zangief Roundhouse Grab (Vs: Ryu, Ken, Akuma)
Video
When you've got a Shoto backed into the near corner, it's possible to cross them up after a bite by simply walking past them.

This trick works on Claw and Honda independent of left-right issues. Chun and Cammy can be crossed up when they're close to (not in) either corner.

Dictator Psycho Crusher (Vs: Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Guile, Dhalsim, Boxer, Claw, Dictator)
Video
After knocking your opponent down in the far corner, cross them up with a fierce Psycho Crusher.

The rest of the cast (less Chun and Cammy, who are immune) can be crossed up on either side of the screen. Versus T.Hawk, timing is a little tricky.

Psycho Magic is a general term for Psycho Crusher corner trickery of which this is one type. Stay tuned for more in the future post mentioned above.

Dictator Jump (Vs: Honda)
It's possible to simply jump over E.Honda when you've got him backed into the far corner.

Also, Ryu and Ken can use an air Hurricane Kick to go past Honda into the far corner.

Shoto Hurricane Kick (Vs: Dictator)
After knocking Dictator down in the far corner you can use a Hurricane Kick to squeeze past him. Here are a couple examples:

Ryu, O.Ryu, Akuma: hit with a short Hurricane Kick then do another short HK to go past Dictator.

O.Ryu, Akuma, Ken, O.Ken: crouching roundhouse cancel into medium HK.

This trick works to a lesser extent against Claw in the far corner. Also vs. Fei-Long and Dhalsim (point blank medium Hurricane Kick with O.Ryu) on either side.

ST Vid - The Auto Mix-up

I was chatting about some SSF2T trickery with the nice folks at sobat carnival and they put this video together.

The Auto Mix-up (7MB divx)

This trick is possible with almost any character. For example, with Boxer:
↙ hold, ← + strong, ↖ + jab

Take a look at this old match and you can see Daigo mess up the auto mix-up in the beginning of the third round.

H/T: ABC, monmon

Classic SF2 Video - Nagoyan

Somebody posted a great vintage SF2 video on nicovideo recently. It was supposedly made way back in 1991* and features Tasaka (at the time a Chun-Li specialist) among other old schoolers demonstrating various tricks and combos. I re-upped the movies to youtube and typed up some notes (hat tip: T.Akiba) below.

* - Man, at my local arcade we were still getting the hang of DPs back then.

YouTube Playlist

Baiting Throw Attempts
One key technique here involves baiting counter-throw attempts and punishing with this or that. Blanka is especially vulnerable to this trick since he has that stupid double swipe attack.

Yoga Killing Arts
There's a lot of overlap between the Dhalsim techniques in the Nagoyan video and the ones on the 48 Killing Arts of Yoga. I wonder if Tasaka's crew were rivals with Foosuke and Team Y.S.B. Watch out for Yoga Sniper, Side Magic, Yoga Bonjour, etc.

512 Moves
In classic Street Fighter 2 there's a small chance that you'll get a special move simply by pressing an attack button. Since the odds of this happening are 1 in 512, these are called, "512 Special Moves."
I couldn't spot any 512 Moves in the video myself, but if you see a mysterious Sonic Boom or Sumo Missile this could explain it.

512 Guard
In the same fashion as the above glitch, there's a small chance that you'll automatically block even if you weren't holding back on the joystick. This can happen even if you were recovering from a move, too.

Okiseme Throws
This one was unfamiliar to me so I can only offer conjecture:
When a character gets to their feet after being knocked down, there's a brief window where they are immune to throws. If you attempt to throw them at a precise moment, however, the game will sometimes (randomly?) ignore this immunity. See pt.12 @ 8:48 for a clear example.

Counter Damage
Blanka takes double damage when he's hit out of the ball. Also, Ryu sometimes takes double damage when he's dizzy.

Zangief's Rapid Crouching Short
After doing a crouching short with Zangief, if you quickly press jab he'll do another crouching weak kick instead of a punch. Keep hitting jab and Zangief will kick rapidly.

Blanka's Semi-Unblockable Bush Buster
Instant (aka zero frame) attacks have a 50% chance of being unblockable if they're done close enough. It's like the attack is so quick that your opponent doesn't have time to put their arms up to block. Take a look at pt.10 @ 0:44 to see an example of this.
This phenomenon persisted all the way through SSF2T. Here's a list of zero frame moves:
WW Blanka - vertical jump fierce
Any Blanka - horizontal and vertical balls
HF, SSF2, O.ST Ryu and Ken - air hurricane kick
Akuma - air hurricane kick
HF Zangief - quick lariat

CPS1 Chains
If you press short + fierce simultaneously you'll do a fierce attack. You can chain from a regular short kick into this as if it were another short. To combo crouching short -> backfist with guile it goes like this:
down + short -> neutral + short + fierce
This is called a CPS1 chain because it works through SF2HF (the last SF2 game to use the CPS1 hardware.)

The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga - 41-48

41. Yoga One of the Most Dangerous Throw in Japan
(Yoga one of the most dangerous throw in Japan)*

Hama came up with this technique on his own, so I don't know anything about it (kidding). I first heard about it at a staff meeting for this manuscript.
When fighting against Zangief, this technique is where you use a walk-in throw at the beginning of the round.
As soon as we disseminated this at the meeting in Jimbou, we went to Bickys (an arcade advertised in Gamest) to test it out, but Fukui (Zangief-using Bickys regular) reversed it nearly twenty times.
Just when Idagoro and Hamah were thinking, "maybe this technique is useless," Pony (Zangief player featured in Gamest) showed up and fell for it.
It's useful after all!
There was a plan to change "in Japan" to "All Over the World," but that was ridiculous so it was scrapped.

P.S. Sorry Pony

[* - English in original]

42. Yoga Foolishness

Frankly, this is a dumb technique.
Basically it's a simple throw from behind (jump and land behind opponent -> throw), except while you're in the air you do a jump roundhouse. It looks foolish so it's named as such.
Still, Idagoro likes to use it with a jump jab.

43. The Finger of Death

When you anticipate that Guile is going to do a Flash Kick, point at the screen at the same time that he uses it.
It's not like Guile sees your finger and then does the Flash Kick, so the only outcome is you pointing at the screen. It's still fun when you pull it off.
You've got to take your hand away from the buttons, however, so if Guile goes for a throw instead of the Flash Kick you won't be able to deal with it. Having discovered this weakness, we mostly stopped using this.

44. Yoga Ukku

When you mess up the timing of a jump and you're saying, "at this rate I'm going to get hit by my opponent's fireball!" do a jump fierce or jump strong attack and say "ukku" while toughing it out. This is very effective against Sagat.

45. Yoga Ultimate Double

This combination works reliably against an opponent with a small throw range. Amongst Dhalsim's techniques this one is quite painful.
The technique entails getting close to your opponent and using a close standing strong -> fierce throw.
......Don't say it's cheap; this technique is very useful.
There is a similar thing called the Yoga Super Ultimate Double (drill kick -> fierce throw), but since the damage is less stable and it's difficult to do, it's not recommended.

46. Yoga Ultimate Triple

I can't say that this technique always does huge damage, but it does occasionally inflict as much as an average Spinning Pile Driver.
At close range do close crouching jab x2 -> fierce throw.
......It's rumored that this is an [inescapable] tick.
There are techniques that do more damage, but in terms of ease-of-use, the Ultimate Triple is better.

47. Yoga Ultimate Quadruple

When your opponent jumps at you, hit them as they land with a cross-up short slide -> crouching jab x2 -> Nospey.
If the short slide doesn't cross up, reduce it to crouching jab x1.
Either way, note that this works reliably against Ryu and Ken.

As you've probably surmised, the pinnacle of these Yoga Ultimate xN techniques is the Melancholic Five. [#20]

48. Yoga Miracle Voice

It's often said that Dhalsim hasn't got any wake-up attacks. In SF2 Classic the close standing jab worked for most wake-ups, so that was OK, but in CE that wasn't enough and he became a character completely without a wake-up move.
Because of this, many Dhalsim players were mocked by Ryu, Ken, Guile and even Chun-Li (no way the Spinning Bird Kick is a wake-up attack!) to the point that countless evenings went by where pillows were soaked with tears.
But wait, even Dhalsim has a wake-up attack. Rejoice, everybody.
You can truly say that The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga are capped with an appropriate technique.
The method is simple:
As you are standing up into a well-timed attack, input the command for a Yoga Fire. Do this and all you'll hear is:
Yoga~
When you haven't got any health, and death is certain you might as well use this, right?
......Hoo, you must not die feeling like everything is going black before your eyes, everybody.
It's better to have this technique than nothing at all, right?
Am I wrong? Tell me that you agree, I beg of you!
If not, I'll just swallow my pride and admit that this is meaningless.
Anyway, please use this here and there to surprise your opponents.

The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga - 31-40

For a Yoga Fire tick, Dhalsim does Yoga Fire (blocked) -> throw.

Hat tip to T.Akiba for the skinny on the Guile Midnight Hell glitch.


31. Yoga Crystal Bomb

This is a truly magnificent technique.
It's said that this is a powered-down technique that only compensates for the limitations of the Delight Sight Kiss [#30]. Anyway, it has its uses.
To perform it, simply make like you're going to do a Delight Sight Kiss, but instead of using a headbutt, whack them with a Yogaku.
The merit here is that you can pull this off without having people think that you messed up a Yoga Fire tick.
"As I thought that something had flashed before my eyes, there was a 'Bomb!' sound, and I was eating Yogaku. Anyway, it stung." (So says Blanka)

32. Yoga Double Headbutt

Frankly, writing about this technique is scary.
You see, Hama said, "just forget about that crap!"
In spite of his opposition, however, I dare to describe it.

Against an opponent who has previously fallen victim to the Yoga Headbutt Throw, the chances that they'll try to counter throw after getting hit by a headbutt are high. In that situation, feign like you're going to try to throw and then hit them with another headbutt to land a Yoga Double Headbutt.

Since this trick has yet to work on anybody, if a reader gets it to work please contact me.

33. Yoga Galactica Phantom

Legend has it that this technique was perfected at a power plant.
It seems like a Galactica Magnum technique was developed at the same time, but that one is a phantom art that is still not understood.
The key here is to take advantage of SF2 Classic Blanka's close standing fierce.
After you attack with a drill kick -> headbutt sequence, if your opponent mashes the button to get a counter throw, Blanka will accidentally do a close fierce. Hit him here with a Yogaku, then another drill kick.... (etc.)
Your opponent can easily escape if they time their throw properly or if they use a close standing strong, so this has a short life span.
Even in SF2CE, after a drill kick if you feign a throw attempt and attack with a Yogaku it's possible to stuff Blanka's ball, although the timing is very strict.

34. Yoga Side Magic

Usually when you use the Okeyan Kick [#16] it trades.
If you're near the corner, however, Dhalsim gets pushed back farther, and you can avoid the Sonic Boom. This is truly the magic of the corner -- the Yoga Side Magic.
If Guile throws a fierce Sonic Boom this is somewhat difficult.
(With proper timing this works even against the fierce.)
To some extent this all negates the Okeyan Kick, but there are still situations when you can use the trade = OK attack. In that case, use that technique. OK, OK.

35. Yoga Endless Rain

When you're fighting against Guile, first knock him down with a Yoga Fire such that you are standing at opposite sides of the screen. After this, simply shoot well-timed fierce Yoga Fire attacks.
If Guile tries to escape with a Sonic Boom, just keep on firing. He may try to jump in here, but since he's coming from a good distance he'll generally use a jumping roundhouse, and you can close the gap with a short slide -> throw.

The Fire that knows no end now becomes an Endless Rain.

36. Yoga Crazy Train

SF2 Classic Guile had a defect called "Midnight Hell*" (special move seal.)
When this occurred and you had a substantial health lead, simply doing repeated roundhouse slide kicks became surprisingly intimidating.
You see, if your opponent messed up their counter attack they'd eat the roundhouse slide and then quickly get pinned down and die.

On SF2 Classic, you could say without reservation that this was the technique Guile players most feared (kidding!)
Also, against other characters or on SF2CE this was still fairly useful.
Compared to the Crazy Train, the Shou Shou Train and Chuu Chuu Train are merely toys -- the Crazy Train is the one true locomotive.

[* - When Guile gets hit during a move's recovery, he becomes unable to perform Sonic Booms and Flash Kicks. He can fix this condition by whiffing a ground attack.]

37. Yoga Bomber

Once your opponent has very little health, finish them off with a noogie (strong punch throw.) If you hold up on the joystick here, you can jump after they die; immediately do a mummy attack to use this technique.
On SF2 Classic the post-KO slowdown made timing the mummy attack tricky. When SF2CE came out it became extremely easy, however, so the name became Even-a-monkey-could-do-it Yoga Bomber and nobody used it any more.

P.S. In Quiz Sangokushi (or possibly Tonosama no Yabou*,) in response to the question "Which of the following is one of Dhalsim's special moves?" I wonder if anyone but Idagoro responded with 'Yoga Bomber.'

[* - These are arcade trivia games by Capcom with a Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Nobunaga's Ambition motif.]

38. Yoga Triple Rod

You could say that Dhalsim's techniques number in the hundreds; there was a time when even the slightest movement would get a name that would echo throughout the arcades.
Because of this, in the end there were names that were constantly used and other, less interesting moves were never spoken of. This is one of those.

Close in on Guile and hit him with the tip of a far crouching jab. When you do another crouching jab it won't hit your opponent. After this do a far crouching fierce and, since he's thinking "their attacks are out of range," Guile will throw a Sonic Boom and your fierce punch will hit him in the leg.
Ideally, you should stuff his attack before he releases the Sonic Boom. Or if you're near the corner, Side Magic will allow you to block it.

Well, everyone uses this technique, but I want people to remember this name for it!

39. Yoga Flying Pirates

Sniper attacks are boring if they don't catch people on the ground.
Still, if you're annoyed at the way Chun-Li jumps to escape ticks then this is for you.
After you make Chun-Li block a Yoga Fire or a drill kick, feign like you're going to throw her and then jump up or back and do a jump roundhouse kick. Then enjoy watching Chun-Li get hit as she tries to avoid the throw with a jump.
If your opponent uses a Spinning Bird Kick instead of a jump you can beat it cleanly with a drill kick.

This was difficult on SF2 Classic but after CE came out it was hard to see the drill kick failing here. It seems like Jenety (Jimbou area Chun player, quite strong) falls for this a lot. (Right, Hama?)

P.S. Sorry Takahashi!

40. Yoga Most Dangerous Throw

When fighting against Guile on SF2 Classic, if you executed close standing strong -> throw with the perfect timing he wouldn't have a chance to do a Flash Kick before getting thrown. The timing was extremely strict, however, and so this was called the "Most Dangerous Throw."
Nevertheless, according to Hamah if you approached Guile as he was doing repeated crouching jabs (Psycho Punch?) and thew him, "this one is the Most Dangerous. Let's call that one (close strong -> throw) the More Dangerous Throw."
And thus he decreed that throwing Guile out of his rapid crouching jabs was the Yoga Most Dangerous Throw.

Still, the Most Dangerous Combo in Kinnikuman was weak.

The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga - 21-30

Unfortunately, the names for all of the techniques in this section were missing.

21. Yoga Cheering Squad

Fighting is always a solitary activity and SF2CE is no exception.
In a lonely fight, Dhalsim has the ability to cheer himself on.
To accomplish this, simply do a Yoga Flame immediately after you've burned your opponent.
When you do this, Dhalsim will say, "Yoga Fure! Fure! imu"
Even if you do this in the middle of a fight, nobody will notice if the sound is turned down. Use this technique in an arcade that has the volume set high.

[Fure (Hooray?) - a sports cheer.
Fureimu - Japanese pronunciation of "Flame"]

22. ?Yoga Winning Throw

After dodging a Sonic Boom with a short slide kick, do a drill kick that lands directly in front of Guile. When you do this, Guile will get frightened and crouch block so you can throw him without missing a beat. That's the Yoga Winning Throw.
Most Guiles, however, will react to the short slide with a crouching forward kick. When this happens, your drill kick will hit and you won't be able to go for the throw. That's fine, too.
Depending on the player, this technique can be difficult to counter, so use it frequently when you're playing against Guile.

23. ?

When playing a Dhalsim mirror match and you've got them near the corner do:
noogie -> drill kick -> mummy -> another drill kick -> Nospey x2
The final drill kick works like a Spiral Break starter.
When a drill kick (or mummy) gets stuck and falls in the corner, that's a Yoga Okayu*. Or you could call it Okayu state since the rice isn't ready yet.

I don't get it.

[*Okayu - rice porridge]

24. ?Yoga Fire Till Death

When you've chased Guile into the corner, stand just outside his Flash Kick range and do repeated Yoga Fire attacks until your opponent dies (or Guile jumps in, does a three hit combo, and Dhalsim dies.)
As per the name, Dhalsim stakes his life on the repeated Yoga Fire.
Usually, Yoga is the first to die.
Substitute Flame for Fire and we have the Yoga Flame Till Death.

25. ?Thank You, Danna
["Master" cf. Foosuke entry here]

"Boy, that was really amazing."
Mr. H recalled the fight between F__ suke (Dhalsim player) and 20-Gou (Guile player, charges Sonic Booms quickly, not to be confused with Machine Guile, pretty strong but stopped using Guile since the Gamest Cup and got weaker) like it was yesterday.
"Naturally, that guy backed into the corner and turned into a Sonic Boom manufacturing machine. Foosuke went to his corner and fought back with repeat Yoga Fire attacks and dodges. And then, curiously, 20-Gou followed in behind a jab Sonic Boom. Foosuke avoided the Sonic by jumping backwards.
At that point, 20-Gou was thinking, 'Nice, he's eating Sonic. I can go back to being a Sonic Boom manufacturing machine. How many Sonic Booms can I throw this time?' However... swish.
That's right. Foosuke Dhalsim landed from the back jump without getting hit by the jab Sonic.
At that point I couldn't see any more because of the tears in my eyes."
The end.
When you dodge a jab Sonic Boom by jumping backwards and then landing safely that's called "Thank You, Danna" (<- affectionate name for Foosuke.)
If it looks like you're going to get hit by the Sonic Boom and you use a drill kick to avoid it, it becomes "Sorry, Danna."

26. ?

This technique can be used when you've knocked your opponent down and you're right next to them.
As they stand up, there's a moment when your opponent floats. Do a short slide kick the instant there's a gap between them and the ground, and then headbutt them from behind. [TL?]
The difficulty for this technique is Ultra-C, super hard.
Your opponent will receive a terrific shock from this one.

27. ?Yoga Whatchamacallit Train

This technique is just awesome. How is it awesome, you ask? Just keep reading.
After canceling a Hadoken or Sonic Boom with a Yoga Fire, do forward slide -> roundhouse slide and if your opponent tries to throw another fireball they'll eat the roundhouse slide kick.
This is tricky against the Sonic Boom, however.
Whenever a Shimoigusa area Ryu/Ken player gets caught by this technique they howl, "damn, I ate the Yoga Whatchamacallit Train!"

28. ?

This is one of the few Yoga three-hit combination attacks.
When you've dizzied Zangief, leap and hit him with a jump roundhouse kick and then follow up with a headbutt after you land.
The timing and spacing are extremely difficult, but if you do it well you can definitely get the three-hit combo.
I've landed this only once in an actual match and it didn't surprise anyone, so that was a bummer.
Once you learn this technique, you'll often get into trouble when you attempt it on a dizzied Zangief, but I think you can win over the spectators.

29. ?Yoga Headbutt Throw

As the name suggests, this shameless technique consists of a headbutt hit followed by a walk-in throw.
When Idagoro thought up this technique, everybody had already discussed it so people were too wary to fall for it. And yet, at last, it worked on someone:
Yoga Headbutt Throw victim number one was none other than Yoga Strike Backers' own Yokomura.

Back then, Yokomura was using Guile on SF2. In this case, the first headbutt hit caught him on the ground and the second hit him in the air (this happens sometimes.) Since he didn't get pushed away, he was easily thrown afterwards.
Matsumoto (a friend who owned a cabinet) was passing around home videos and when he suggested that they add player names to the bottom of the screen to create an archival copy it made Idagoro so happy he still remembers it like it was yesterday.

P.S. Sorry, Yokomura

30. ?Yoga Delight Sight Kiss

This is a frighteningly sleazy technique.
You make it seem like you're going to tick with a Yoga Fire but attack with a headbutt instead. Of course, there's no way to avoid having this look like a mistimed tick.
Still, if you pull this off and go for a Headbutt Throw afterwards, that technique is called the Yoga Delight Sight Kiss Throw.

The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga - 11-20

A couple quick notes:
"Mummy" refers to the head-first drill (down + fierce in the air.)

Maruge, the official Gamest magazine store, carried arcade-game-related publications, action figures, comics, etc.


11. Yoga Wonderful Low

When Dhalsim does a far crouching punch, his hit box gets lower.
With this in mind, meet a Ryu or Ken jump-in with a whiffed far crouching strong and then throw. That's the Wonderful Low.
If your opponent does their jump attack late, however, you'll eat it, so be careful.
Also, if you do this against someone other than Ryu or Ken it's going to cost you.
In the print version at Gamest's Maruge store, this had the incorrect name, "Beautiful Low."

12. Yajima Special

First, when you're fighting against Dhalsim, grab him with medium punch (the noogie.)
Then, immediately after it ends, jump towards and juggle[*] with a mummy.
After this, since you will be able to act first, hit him as he lands with a properly timed Nospey x2 combo.
On top of being very likely to dizzy, this trick can be used a second time for the re-dizzy.
This is extremely difficult to do in the corner, however, so you're better off not using it there.

By the way, if you do the mummy a little late, move behind them after the mummy and hit them with Nospey x2, this becomes the Yajima Special mkII.
The mkII can be easily countered with a throw, though, so hit them with:
Yajima Special -> mkII -> Yajima Special
and your opponent won't know what the hell is going on!

In a Dhalsim mirror match, the noogie is much more important than the throw.

[* - SF2CE!]

13. Yoga Flame Strike

From mid-screen, burn your opponent down with a Yoga Fire, then shoot a jab Yoga Fire and head towards them with a mummy.
At this point, if they miss their wake-up attack they'll eat the mummy and then the jab Yoga Fire will catch them in the back.
This trick takes advantage of the fact that Dhalsim's opponent gets pushed back a good distance when they eat the mummy attack (far fierce, etc. = no good.)
The timing to set up a Yoga Fire right behind your opponent's back is tricky, but if you get it to work this is a beautiful ultimate art of Yoga.
If you're wondering why it isn't called Yoga Fire Strike,
"that's because flame is cooler." (says Foosuke)
That's it.

14. Yoga Sunshine Reds Overdrive

"Boy, I was really happy."
Mr. H (Dhalsim player) said this when describing his fight the day before against 20-Gou (Guile player, age 19, single, unfamiliar with Comic Market. Ghastly sister. Cozy house. Crappy bicycle. Real name [...]. Made it to the final eight at the SF2CE Gamest Cup.)
"Naturally, that guy backed into the corner and turned into a Sonic Boom manufacturing machine. I went to my corner and fought back with repeat Yoga Fire attacks and dodges. Eventually he missed a Sonic Boom and wound up blocking a Yoga Fire; I blocked one FB, too, and then time ran out.
At that point, 20-Gou was thinking, 'Draw game, huh? Oh well, how many Sonic Booms am I going to throw next round?' However...
'DHALSIM WIN!'
... That's right. Even though I hadn't lost more than one pixel of life, it turns out that Guile had lost 2-3 pixels. So I yelled:
Yoga Sunshine Reds Overdrive!
...plus, thank you Idagoro (inventor of this killing art.)"
The end.
A painful (<- NB) Yoga Fire that takes off two or more pixels when blocked is called the Yoga Sunshine Reds Overdrive.

15. Yoga Chuu Chuu Train
[Chuu means medium, as in "medium kick"]

The repeated Dhalsim forward slide kick technique is called the Yoga Chuu Chuu Train.
This comes from a TV commercial featuring the Choo Choo Train from ZOO that was a fad at the time.
This technique was made just for fun.
We haven't seen you on TV lately, ZOO. What happened, ZOO?
Did you get tired of Skiing, ZOO? Farewell, ZOO.
... (Apologies to ZOO fans.)
In addition, repeated short sliding is called Shou Shou Train.

P.S. Later, I heard from my sister that ZOO was quite popular.
And they were still running commercials. Sorry ZOO.

16. Okeyan Kick

When you're facing a Guile player who is trying to creep in behind a Sonic Boom, kick right into it with far standing roundhouse to score a trade.
In the old days of SF2 classic, when we were struggling to deal with Guile players walking in behind Sonic Booms, the Okeyan* Dhalsim player Beta explained to us, "go ahead and trade with all of those guys with a standing roundhouse."
From that point on, using standing roundhouse to trade with Sonic Booms became known as the Okeyan Kick. Thank you, Beta.

[* - Okeyan: a team of gamers, a la YSB]

17. Yoga ShouChikuBai
[lit. Pine, Bamboo, Plum]

When you have your opponent dizzied at a distance do:
far standing short (whiff) -> far standing medium kick (whiff) -> far standing roundhouse (brain burn)
to use this humiliation technique.
The short becomes Shou, the forward Chiku and the roundhouse Bai.
Even when your opponent isn't dizzy, call out "Shou - Chiku - Bai" as you do short - forward - roundhouse as a goof.
And if they get hit along the way you'll have a good laugh.
Incidentally, if you do forward kick twice that's Yoga ChikuChiku, and roundhouse times two is Yoga BaiBai.

18. Yoga Bloody Nail

This technique involves knocking down E.Honda's flying headbutt or Blanka's horizontal ball attack with a properly timed far standing jab.
Based on its appearance, that attack used to be called "Got any change?"
When this killing art was developed, Idagoro, eager to hit Blanka's ball with the far jab said,
"Oh, fantastic! Let's call this the Yoga Bloody Nail,"
and he flew off to make a memo in the Yoga Note.
Where is he now?

19. Yoga Tiger Crush

It's said that this flying knee attack is based on the teachings of well known Thai martial artist Sagat.
It goes like this: do a drill kick such that it lands in front of your opponent without hitting them and then, without missing a beat, hit them with a close roundhouse kick (the knee.)
Do this while crying out, "Tiger!"

When you've dizzied Sagat, deliberately back away and do:
vertical jump -> quick drill kick repeatedly (while saying, "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!")
Then finish with a Yoga Tiger Crush.
Pull this off, and you, too, become a member of
Magic Sworded Heaven and Earth of Dragon's Master*

[* - This is a mash-up of the names of various Capcom games.]

20. ?Melancholic Five

In terms of both psychological damage and health damage, this is the strongest of all of Dhalsim's techniques.
When your opponent jumps at you, hit them with:
cross-up short slide -> close crouching jab x2 -> Nospey -> short slide OR walk-in fierce throw
Let's point out, when you land this technique it usually dizzies, it takes off nearly half their life and moreover, you inflict a crippling amount of psychological damage on your opponent.
There are some pitfalls: if they anticipate the technique, you'll get only four hits. It doesn't work if they don't jump in from the appropriate distance. Close crouching jab x2 is very difficult to land, etc.
The name reflects the fact that an opponent hit with this will be overcome with melancholic feelings.

The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga - 1-10

Here is the first installment of my translation of the 48 Killing Arts of Yoga, a collection of Dhalsim tricks by Foosuke and the Yoga Strike Backers. All of the YSB members were champions of various old school (SF2 and Vampire) fighting games, and these "Yoga 48" techniques provide an amusing look at the early days of Dhalsim strategy.

Credit for the original text goes to:
1-26: Hamah*
27-44: Idagoro
45-48: Miira

* - "Hammer" in the ST Player Report. I'm going to write his nickname this way henceforth.

There is a companion video for the 48 Arts. It's out there on the net somewhere... (if anyone has it, please contact me - nohoho at gmail dot com)

Some of the silly bits have been paraphrased. When there's a passage that I struggled to translate and it concerns actual gameplay I'll mark it with: [TL?] -- don't pull your hair out trying to get these to work.

Some of the technique names were missing. Guesses and omissions are marked with question marks.

I'm going to continue to use the character naming scheme (for the bosses) popularized by NKI on shoryuken.com.


The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga

Notes on Proper Usage
- When you land one of these techniques, you must suavely say its name.
- When you land one of these techniques, you must thank the YSB members.
- Even if you use one by accident, you must be nonchalant about it.
- If you try a technique and lose, you must have no regrets.
- Work diligently on using each technique, day after day.

1. Yoga Strike Back

This one goes without saying: Strike Back.
That's right, the origin for the name of the "Yoga Strike Backers."
When your opponent is crouching, attack from the air with
jump fierce -> far standing fierce for a beautiful combination.
It's quite splendid. Initially, Foosuke, who developed this killing art said,
"They have to stand to block Dhalsim's jumping fierce. Still, depending on where it connects, they'll eat it if they don't crouch block.[TL?]"
But it took Hamah about two months to believe this.

2. Yoga Sniper Custom

AKA Sniper. The moment your opponent is about to throw an FB, jump forward (or up or back) and hit them with jumping fierce.
Unless you hit them on the ground (air-to-air = no good) you can't claim a true Sniper hit.
Landing this when they're at "eat a Sniper and die" health is extremely thrilling.
If you're at a health deficit on top of that, land this for big EXP UP.
We'll leave with the aphorism, "The Sniper loses with with no regret."
(<- We're just left with regret!)

3. Yoga Bonjour

This fabulous technique is where you hit your opponent on the top of the head with a jump roundhouse as you're falling from a jump. When you land it, you're obliged to look at your watch and say, "Yoga Bonjour. The time is exactly 9 PM, it's morning in France. I'll have a cup of coffee... (etc.)"
By the way, Hamah once ate a Guile low forward while he was looking at his watch and saying all this.
If you land this technique, you may want to have someone nearby say the line.
If they won't, just say it yourself.
But, why is called "Bonjour?"
You see, the Killing Arts of Yoga were originally going to be written in french (or so Idagoro had hoped,) and so we have the Bonjour.
Idagoro, however, didn't know any other french words and thus this was the only french killing art.

4. Yoga Grand Strike

As your opponent is landing from a jump, hit them with a deep forward (or short) cross-up slide kick and combo into a close fierce (head butt.)
In SF2CE it became more difficult to use the forward slide kick and this technique fell out of fashion.
Note that the forward slide cross-up -> close standing strong -> throw sequence is called the "Grand Strike Variant."
This Grand Strike (Variant) is particularly useful against Chun-Li's jumping short.
By the way, there was a time when the variant was called the "Yoga Sexy Throw," but we like both names.

5. ?Nospey

This is Dhalsim's close crouching forward (the thrust kick.)
Why is it called, "Nospey," you ask...?
In the days of SF2 classic, when Guile player Nosuke was playing with Dhalsim against Chun-Li, he discovered that a deep thrust kick could beat wake-up throws. So he said "hey, Hama, this thrust kick is like Chun-Li's crouching forward in that it can't be countered with a throw. Ok, this is the Nosuke Special; call it Nospey!!" and thus it became known as the Nospey.
During SF2 classic days, it was said that there weren't any [Yoga] Killing Arts, so we're grateful for the finding of this one. Since Nosuke said, "Hama, since SF2CE came out people often use the Nospey, but nobody actually says, 'Nospey.' I'm so sad!" let's all call the thrust kick Nospey!
Of course, all Yoga Strike Backers members call it Nospey.

Thank you, Nosuke

6. Yogaku

This term describes Dhalsim's close standing roundhouse kick (the knee.)
It's not Yogaku- (inhalation) because he's straining his yoga to do the kick.

Frank Crowther: "By the way... I was wondering... what's the deal with that finishing blow?"
Tsukumo: "The 'Yogaku?' Gaku refers to the mountain..." (etc.)
(C) Gate of Shura [info]

When Blanka uses this it's Bugaku. When Guile uses it, it's Gagaku.
When Ryu and Ken use it, it's Fugaku, seemingly.

7. Nagata Shougatsu Happy New Year Special

As your opponent is getting up, hit them with a deep Yogaku and then jump away and combo into a Sniper.
A great technique to use if you expect your opponent to miss a reversal, land this to inflict unimaginable damage to their spirit.
By the way, Nagata Shougatsu is the nickname of the developer of this technique.
It's broken down like this: the initial Yogagu is "Happy" and then the Sniper is "New Year."

Thank you, Nagata

8. Yoga Blast

The decals that came with SF2 classic didn't have Yoga Blast on them, so we appropriated the name for this Killing Art.
When SF2CE came out and the Yoga Spiral Break (see below) was created, Yoga Blast became the term for a drill kick attack that goes past Dhalsim's opponent without hitting them.
When you think you've pulled off a Yoga Blast and you start to say "Yoga B-,"
but you actually failed to do it, just fudge and say "Yoga Brassiere."

9. Yoga Spiral Break

As your opponent is getting up, hit them with a cross-up drill kick,
then combo into Nospey x2. That's the Yoga Spiral Break.
This works well against Ryu, Ken, Blanka and Zangief but if you mess it up against Zangief you're in deep trouble.
Studies show that this is easy to set up after you've burned your opponent
with a Yoga Fire (or Flame.)
Research the timing on your own.

10. Yoga Rolling Crystal Flash

This beautiful technique was developed by taking a cue from Claw's Rolling Crystal Flash (partly true.)
It consists of this four-hit combo: cross-up drill kick -> close crouching jab x2 -> Nospey.
Getting two close crouching jabs to combo is extremely difficult.
When you use this technique it goes like this: "goro-goro" (drill kick,) "doka!" (low jab,) "baki!" (low jab,) "gusa!" (Nospey.)