A.B.I.torial: The Art Of Low Kicks

[@SugarPunch]

Try not to mind the encoding issue at 5:31 ; even now this game kontinues to find ways to anger me.

[@shangchi828]

Mortal Kombat is an insult to Kung Fu.

[@Ramsey276one]

O M Elder Gods XD

[@yikes6758]

i swear the first time i saw it it was green but when clicking this timestamp it's now red MK is cursed

[@hmaster24]

Im just glad I didn't Imagine it.

[@CUTIE_POXX]

@@yikes6758 not the same frames, but yeah I saw the same thing too.

[@Shnibbledacat]

Leo Whitefang's low kick 2K is the most hilarious

[@novriltataki]

It makes sense when you look at hit hurtbox. The devs wanted you to be able to hit his hand.

[@leithaziz2716]

I prefer his 2D for how Leo is so adamant on reaching the opponent that he throws his entire body on the floor to spread his legs forward, all the while T-posing on you. It manages to look funny and painful both at the same time.

[@grandpanoogie2665]

Ah yes, the James Brown.

[@SolManDude]

50% low kick. 50% praising christ.

[@zegreenemachine8160]

I thought he was getting in his morning stretches. Gotta work those Hamies. His 2D though, that shit is actually hysterical.

[@Sean_Bird]

5:14 This picture is so fitting for Iori it's hilarious.

[@antedeguemon1194]

Which just shows how well made it is. In the words of Sakurai, whoever designed this must be a genius

[@ikagura]

Probably my favourite down kick ever

[@Ramsey276one]

@@ikagura So of course GGStrive Leo made his own “FALL NOW, them me!” XD

[@MrTheil]

My favorite low kick of all time if I’m being honest

[@ikagura]

@@MrTheil If you're being honest? I mean I think you are.

[@nayannmartinelli300]

Funny how Jack-O's low kick looks completely absurd, but the animation still sells it, and Kitana's low kick, even if someone could pull it off in real life, would still look crappy as hell.

[@Noperare]

Even going frame by frame, I still don´t know Jack-O low kick works and which one is her right foot, yet, it looks so natural during game.

[@GabrielaArakawa]

the worst part in kitana's low kick is that just seeing it repeatedly in this video made my knees hurt, i'm not kidding

[@lukejones7164]

🤣

[@karue7581]

Never thought I'd see the atrocity that is Kitana's low kick again in this channel, but here we are

[@mandalorianhunter1]

It will always haunt our dreams

[@vakapont]

I was shocked to hear that that is a low kick. I thought it was like a mid, or a special mid

[@zegreenemachine8160]

Honestly, it would probably look way better if Kitana planted her right arm and leaned back for her little leg flick.

[@mandalorianhunter1]

@@zegreenemachine8160 agreed

[@bcs7665]

Please:kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGXQp4uGaJx2qJo

[@Raxyz_0]

And as usual, we only notice the effort and need of something when it stops working. Props to fighting game animators that made their job right to convey the necessary information even with crazy poses and unique constraint and Krops to NRS for bringing attention to this discussion that would never have happened outside developer circles, lol.

[@lucianocruz3383]

Yeah for real

[@felipecouto1102]

The funny thing is that its only brought to attention when it HEAVILY fails. It cant just be bad, it has to be so comically bad that it becomes a meme

[@leithaziz2716]

As a Guilty Gear fan, it's so funny looking at some of the poses the characters do with some of these lows. Leo's 2D that looks like he's T-posing while eating dirt on the ground, Anji's 2D has him laying on the floor "paint me like one of your french girls" style, Sol breakdancing, Ramlethal covering herself like a blanket, Jack-O's 2K, Potemkin's 2K looks like he's dabbing, Dizzy tripping because her guardian grabs her tail and slams the floor. You can tell Arcsys are being pretty creative and clearly having a lot of fun with these animations. Also, I recognise that Xrd Mission mode theme during the bonus clip section.

[@tootsie_]

Don't forget Baiken tripping on her chest in Xrd either.

[@android19willpwn]

man for as dumb as the Jack-O crouch is, this makes me kind of appreciate it. Because it puts her in position to quickly shift all of her weight onto her chest and hands so she can send her legs spinning out like that.

[@AlexRFightgames]

I *love* Chloe's sweep where she spins on the floor. It's super in-character -- really all of her moveset is on brand. I think it's a strong design, even if not everybody loves her.

[@D0cSwiss]

Yeah, love her or hate her, you gotta admit that they commit to the theme hard

[@TakaComics]

Whether or not she fits in the Tekken universe is debatable, but Lucky Chloe's design and movement are both top tier. (Also, imo if you're going to have fighting bears, a kangaroo, a raptor, and Negan, I think we can give a cute, annoying idol a pass.)

[@scorpioigor]

@@TakaComics She does fit in Tekken, more so than other Tekken 7 newcomers that are just bland with basically no backstory to them at all. Josie, Katarina and Shaheen are honestly so generic that sometimes I even forget they are in the roster. At least Lucky brings some originality and new flavor to the game.

[@ballisticboo7808]

@@TakaComics her whole personality is being annoying, it's great

[@Manganization]

The entire mortol Kombat series could probably fill an entire video series for animations that doesn't fit the type of move. It's the reason why it's so difficult to figure out what's a low or what's an overhead if you're new to the series. Even MK11 suffers from this.

[@leithaziz2716]

I think the worst example I remember from the small time I played MK11 was Shao Khan's stomp. (forward 3 > forward 4 I think) It looks SO much like an overhead because of the way he raises his leg, but no it's a low. People at low level get tripped up by him often because of how that animation looks.

[@nayannmartinelli300]

I freaking hate the MK series for various reasons, but I'm playing it because a friend wants to unlock the Kombat League skins, and let me tell you, those tricky animations make my blood boil. Even when I block correctly it pisses me off, because it doesn't look right.

[@the4thblacksnake]

the main reason i can't even touch MK is due to the animations

[@CUTIE_POXX]

@@leithaziz2716 I believe MK11 also has Kotal give a full-on sweep with his leg that isn't a sweep gameplay-wise, because the ACTUAL sweep is... a weapon attack.

[@RunehearthCL]

@@the4thblacksnake I tried because of a friend and can't do shit against some attacks because they don't look like overheads at all, meanwhile strive and fighterz have some god tier animation and I can see what I'm against even if I know jack shit about the characters

[@SaiKisaragi]

Can’t wait for “The Art of Jumping Attacks”, because when’s the last time someone did a jump-in heavy in real life? Jokes aside, this really made me think more about the moves I don’t even think about. A dive kick that launches? Sticking a limb out makes it always hurt? How does Chun-li have lightning legs, but then her normals are slow (I know for gameplay reasons but still :p)? And those examples are just from street fighter; I probably could get some more weirder ones with other series if I play them more :)

[@AirLancer]

Anthony Pettis' Ninja Kick I suppose you could explain it as Chun-Li is actively using her ki to increase the speed and power of her kicks when she does lightning legs, while with her normals she's just punching and kicking...normally. As for the fact that just running into active frames hurts, I mean, have you ever played any of those physics based "fighters" out there? They're pretty awful...

[@patricksartola]

only thing i can come up with is the superman punch from kickboxing, but i have no clue otherwise lol

[@sonicboomers122]

Gazelle punch is kinda that

[@thalison151]

Tbh the only viable ones are flying elbows and knees, we thai in this shit

[@ttd0000]

I've always been weirded out by Sakura's flying double hammer fist, an aerial move that combos into itself a couple times. It's like, she raises her fist over her head, then throws them down towards her opponent. Sure. The force of this attack launches her upwards. I don't think you can generate much force with an attack like that but okay. Her opponent also flies into the air after her. What. She does this twice more as they go higher and higher until the last one spikes her opponent to the ground. But... physics? Sakura says, "Fuck your physics."

[@DJmouchi777]

Ok, using Blitztank as an example of weird lows is cheating. Everything about it is weird.

[@OccuredJakub12]

Same with Voldo

[@PakuTheMagnificent]

Ok but the best part is that blitztank isn't even the funniest thing in his own game

[@GurrenPrime]

@@PakuTheMagnificent not too familiar with his home game, so please tell me: what out weirds the giant skull-faced tank?

[@jorgeperez2872]

Kansen Drift Astral Finish

[@Zenn_Chan]

what the fuck IS that thing, anyway?

[@Bhaggy_]

Funny thing is, Kitana’s low kick is an actualy good anti air😂

[@Ramsey276one]

FOR REAL?!

[@rboygamer6668]

Don't forget about Terminator kick which is also a anti air lol.

[@manzanito3652]

MK hitboxes are weird as shit.

[@selassieaspen9940]

Wtf she's crouching? How does it have anti air.

[@adud5475]

To be fair ryu sweep and sol 2d can be used as anti-air

[@RestlessDipstick]

I've tried animating low kick animations multiple times for many different things, and I honestly appreciate this video existing. Low kicks are so weird, but are basically never brought up.

[@altf4games]

Woah, you're on a roll now, aren't you?

[@Tony-jz8it]

Sie, hier Herr Busfahrer ?!

[@AelfricBlack]

I’ve been thinking how silly crouching stances and attacks are for YEARS I thought I was the only one

[@RanmaruRei]

I believe that why heights logic is reworked in 3D fighting games and it's more logical. In 2D fighting games you have 4 heights of attack: Low blocking protects against low and mid atacks. But does not protect against overheads. High blocking protects againts high and mid attacks. But does not protect against lows. Also, high attacks miss crouchers. So, low blocking is more effective, especially considering the fact that overheads on the ground are rare and slow. So, crouching stance is extremely effective in 2D fighting games. In 3D fighting games it was reworked. Maybe because to make fighting more realistic. Maybe with no reason. Here we have 3 heights: Low blocking protects against low attacks only. But does not protect against mid attacks. High blocking protects against high and mid attacks. But does not protect against low attacks. Yes, high attacks miss crouchers, but mids are faster than overheads from 2D fighting games, lows are slow. That made high blocking preferable and fighting more natural.

[@JZBai]

What's also kind of weird when you think about it is that in most fighting games, low blocks usually also include the character crouching to block low kicks. In real life fighting, you usually use your leg to block any kicks to the low area or if using a melee weapon you simply drop the point of your weapon downward to block a strike to the leg; neither defense would involve squatting down into a crouch. It's actually pretty unsafe to crouch and try to block a low kick with your hands since doing so will put your head dangerously close to the kick and it might blow through your guard. Probably the reason why it's like that in fighting games is to role compress a crouch to duck high attacks and block low into one move, but you gotta wonder what a fighting game would be like if it was more realistic and low blocks didn't involve forcing your character into a crouch and the crouch move was instead a stance or special movement that didn't block lows.

[@SaviorGabriel]

I love how these videos can focus on such a minor detail, and make you realize how there's so much more going into these games than you thought before.

[@KazanmaTheSilverWind]

Another thing, Cirno in Hisoutensoku has the funniest & most genius way to get around this issue She's short and can fly, so her Crouching animation is just her standing on the ground, and her 2A is actually a standing low kick aimed at your ankles

[@dracmeister]

Cirno's "Low" Kick has the shortest range BUT it's also the fastest move in the game.

[@wazzledog1007]

When I was working on an animated from scratch mugen character, I got so fed up with crouching low kick that I just made it the input for a special movement option instead. Didn't help that I made a starting line runner's pose the crouch. This video is incredibly on point. Low kick animation is no joke.

[@MaoriGamerDood]

How Low Can You Go? Jack-0: Yes🤣 I was wondering when that Down 3 would return to this channel. This was a very interesting watch. Something like a low Kick I never gave enough credit to, which is odd considering GEESE and POTEMKIN have arguably the best Low Kicks.

[@leithaziz2716]

Potemkin's kicks are legendary. Both his 2K and 5K make him look like he's dabbing. I tend to see Pot players disrespecting the opponent at the end of the match by kicking them when they're down.

[@garretwoeller7669]

Geese Crouching 4/heavy kick is amazing like I could see someone doing it to drop an enemy on their ass so you can grapple them like Geese does.

[@ikagura]

Doom 3?

[@countcrocodile1115]

''Here are some weird low kicks" * shows a tank*

[@Taktaagic]

I love all of these A.B.I.torials about random little things. I’m hoping to see some more someday.

[@alinagray4132]

I spent the whole vid waiting for Jack-O. Did not disappoint

[@The-toast]

Irl fighting has 3 different mixups, the classic strike throw with the strike mixup being either left side, right side or center (with center being fast and right and left being slow) and throwing is almost impossible to tech like in Guilty Gear, so it's a lot of spacing. This is also why guns are OP. They're fullscreen basically unblockable centers that you can combo into themselves which, depending on randomized damage scaling based on sweet and sour spots can instant kill.

[@windhelmguard5295]

nah there are way more mix-ups than any fighting game. like even just a punch can go three basic ways, it can be a hook, a cross or a straight. hook has shortest range, but a wider hit box and power, also puts your arm in front of you so you keep your guard up. goes through attempts to block a cross. cross is a bit faster than a hook and also maintains your guard by placing the arm between you and your opponent. goes through attempts to block a hook or a straight. straight is fast and powerful, longer range but leaves you wide open, beats cross block. then you have to add that each of these can come from the left or the right so we're at six already, add that each of these can be aimed at the head or the mid section and we've reached twelve. add in back fist, hammer fist and upper cuts, which can also come left or right we've hit eighteen. kicks also have multiple mix-ups. kicks also have three basic ways to go. there is the front kick, the push kick, hook kick and the side kick. front kick is the fastest and the weakest generally only aimed low. push kick can be aimed low or mid (rarely aimed high), high power but really bad if you miss side kicks can be aimed low, mid or high and have the added bonus that you can easily faint a side kick, tuck the leg back in and do a push it instead. also side kicks can go left or right hook kicks are generally aimed low or mid and can also go left or right. that's over twenty kick mix-ups if my maths are correct, which they might not be, but you get the idea, then add in elbow strikes, knee strikes, headbutts and shoulder blocks and it just gets out of hand.

[@omgcandy16Kimicari0]

excellent charts showing the balance distribution for various attacks, these can explain so much about fightan animation

[@sleepofgc]

One of my favorites is Baiken's 2D in Xrd. There's a subtle visual gag where her huge honkers break her fall when she loses balance.

[@malbo-]

Dude I've actually thought about this before, there was a Kengan Ashura x Street Fighter crossover where Ryu does his crouching medium kick in a fight, and yeah it's pretty crazy when you think about it, the man drops his body to the floor extremely fast while also somehow getting on a practical stance to throw out a nice kick at someone's ankles. Even before that I found it curious how low/overhead moves work, like for example Ryu's standing lk totally hits you on your feet and can be blocked high, crouching mp hits below the waist and it's not a low attack, his crouching hp is an uppercut so you wouldn't be able to guard it high etc... I mentioned this to someone before and they told me I was overthinking it, so I was excited when I saw this video, good stuff as always

[@bloodwingdragon6486]

Damn, hearing this makes me wish we got Ohma as a SFV guest character.

[@edersouzamendes8695]

@@bloodwingdragon6486 Iria ser muito melhor do que o Luke , sem sombra de dúvidas ( Sorry , my english is bad )

[@bloodwingdragon6486]

@@edersouzamendes8695 No worries man :), thanks for agreeing with me. At the very least, Luke does look fun to play. Here's hoping we get a final random Ohma character release by the end of the year.

[@nickkiller-0710]

One thing that makes certain moves in Street Fighter really funny (usually light kicks, standing or crouching) is that since they're so fast, they kind of rely on the hit stop from hit or block to really emphasize the key frames Good examples of this are Ken's St.lK and Seth's Cr.lK BTW, one thing that is really interesting is how they animate certain moves with a single frame that overextends the pose super quick and then goes back to normal, Juri's Cr.lK and Cr.mK both make her leading foot go a bit further for just a frame and then it comes back in a really satisfying way, also when Rog does his dash straight the outward side of his hand is pointed towards the camera and then turns sideways into a regular punch pose, in such a way that it gives the impression that his hand looks bigger right at the start of the move, Makoto had a lot of stuff like that as well in SF3, altho most of her stuff were more like smears than anything Just some interesting animation stuff you guys might like to look into

[@bilakos1987]

5:18 All that weight has to go somewhere. Finally some justice for that Scottish guy stuck on the roof.

[@karue7581]

This channel seriously has some of the best FGC content out there. Great work as always!

[@MrASK15122]

"The fact that we've been going on for decades now without even questioning these low kicks means that they've been working." That hit a home run. It's amazing how the low kicks that shouldn't be possible to do still look good both in motion and on still frames. Well, save for Mortal Kombat's lows.

[@TonyTheTGR]

MK has NEVER been about low attacks mattering except the infamous uppercuts. I've *always* found every crouching kick to be unanimously worthless and only ever used the b~LK footsweeps - and they're the only universal that requires a low block anyhow! The MK low kicks have NEVER fit in the game meta whatsoever.

[@deltad3592]

One of my favourite low attacks is Super Broly's 2M from Dragonball FighterZ. It's got so much power behind it that you really feel when playing the game, and it's especially funny when you do the 12 Step Program combo.

[@Ramsey276one]

That combo name XD

[@danielobrien2998]

The M Bison slide will always be my favourite low. He just looks so happy doing it you know?

[@HandleName_CB]

Nothing compares to the weirdness of Guile's upside-down kick...

[@thesesimple]

As an animator and fighting games fan, this channel is a godsent present. I think about this kind of stuff all the time. One trick that usually works really well for low kicks is to exagerate the squash and strecth. SFV Ryu's C.Medium Kick is a great example. Squash as he's full crouched. Stretch the whole siluette when he extends his leg. And this is why SFV Akuma's C.Medium is a little lackluster, 'cause he keeps his crouching body siluette while he extends his leg. There's no contrast, and so, less impact. Anyway, this is what keeps me awake at night. That, and also awkward full crouching poses. SFV is full of 'em.

[@Super121830]

I used to reference myself to draw crouching kicks, it was painful, man, I wondered why would a fighter do such moves in a fight if you are going to be so constrained in your movement. And here we are, thank you for this informative video, now I know crouching kicks are impractial in real scenarios, but almost mandatory in fighting games.

[@jimbo5266]

Yeah, it's funny because in 2D fighters most crouches are practically sitting down on the ground, which already makes them completely impractical. But just crouching very slightly (and realistically) wouldn't look different enough. Fighting game characters can make a lot of stuff look right just because they can ignore physics and body limitations and do certain motions way faster and with way more power, even if it'd be impractical in real life.

[@WraxTV]

Best looking low kicks in my opinion are Iori's crHK, 3S Chun's crHK, Elena's crHK and any other attacks like it. Literally thrusting your entire body into the enemy, like a super low to the ground drop kick. Has so much impact behind it, you can always tell that sumbitch hurts.

[@MrTheil]

Opening with the Kitana Low Kick? Nice lmao

[@yoshinpixels9924]

Byotiful Actually in the middle of animating a Crouching Light kick for a thing i'm working on, and was just thinking about how wacky these things really are, good stuff!

[@Ramsey276one]

Link when finished?

[@yoshinpixels9924]

@@Ramsey276one Why not lol

[@samfivedot]

Everyone memes about Jack-O's crouch but honestly her entire moveset looks like that

[@circuitbreaker_644]

The one Captain Falcon clip makes me hope that he'll talk about Smash one day just cuz. I dunno what, but I want him to talk about it. Maybe about hoe they translate the character into a fighting game, their personality, how some characters are almost made up for the game like Fox, it'd be so cool!

[@OccuredJakub12]

A lot of other people do that already. You can check out Extra Frames videos on Smash, and RelaxAlax was doing a whole gigantic video breakdown series for each fighter.

[@ikagura]

I really like C.Falcon

[@kz270392]

The Lowain one was on point.

[@ThePhoenixWylde]

2:21 This rule can be broken from time to time as Morrigan is a prime example of having a "Standing Low Kick" when she appears in games.

[@arcfieri5965]

It's almost a tradition in arc sys/french bread anime fighters to have a standing low kick which looks exactly like ky 5k. where he just does a quick sideways kick to the shins

[@thalison151]

I was actually thinking about this the other day because I was thinking of animations to give a character of mine, props to fighting game animators for being able to invent moves that still convey everything they need to right

[@Xelae93]

I think this is becoming my favorite channel. I use to not appreciate animation that much, but after following this channel for a coupe years, my perspective is completely different. Thank you so much for the awesome content!

[@BobyCasasola87]

Kitana's MKX low kick needs to be inducted into the Hall of Shame

[@WaldoFindsYo]

interesting thing about smash is that shielding is basically a universal block, but because as you shield more, the area that you cover actually decreases so you end up exposing yourself to get hit more. This can be mitigated by angling the shield in response to what move you think theyre going to pressure you with. However there are some moves that can clip a char's feet even if they have a full shield (in melee fox's down tilt can poke a full samus shield if spaced perfectly). So even in a fighting game where the idea of low kicks an low blocking is kind of thrown out the window, there is still some nuance to it.

[@Xeroxthebeautiful]

I switched mains to Jack O when she came out so this whole time I was thinking about how much I love her 2K animation for how strange/fun it is glad I wasn't the only one who thinks that way. Honestly I love all of Jack O's animations so much, they're all so unusual but expressive in just the right way for my tastes.

[@Kanti852]

Her back walk is among the absolute best in all of fighting games

[@nayannmartinelli300]

Still haven't had the chance to play Strive, only the beta, but I've put a few hours in GG:XRD, and Jack-O's animation is wack-o ;p It's so much fun watching the way she moves. But that's true for the whole cast, if I'm being honest.

[@arcfieri5965]

@@Kanti852 it's way up there along with slayer and kula diamond in kof xv.

[@thekoifishcoyote8762]

Sweeps are a lot more practical than you'd think. Just imagine for a moment what happens when you're standing and a heel swings *through* your ankles at high speed

[@Coldaardvark2]

You are criminally underrated as a channel. Seriously, I got into your stuff because of the Dante design video, and I've loved so much of your content that I'm excited to see it every time it pops up. You're straight to the facts, no bogus, funny and entertaining with fun edits and a comparative style. You're like the one teacher that every student loves the class of, because you don't talk at us from a text book, you Show and Tell the whole lesson. Visual, audio, and stimulate with a joke or reference. Love it all SugarPunch, keep up the fantastic work!

[@GiftedOperator]

Can't believe you didn't include Faust's 2K in the "really weird low kicks" section. Pretty sure the first hit is the tallest low in fighting game history.

[@emeraldmann1329]

Nah, BlazBlue had a character with an *aerial* low

[@GiftedOperator]

@@emeraldmann1329 I mean, sure if you consider it from where the character using it is on the screen, but j.D's actual hitbox didn't reach that far off the ground.

[@K2niarDneK]

I think it'd be interesting to see a video dissecting how to differentiate 'clone' characters. Like, The Star Fox gang in smash have ultimately the same moveset with variables for stats; Ken, Ryu, Akuma, Kage and even Dan and Sakura to an extent all share a general fighting style; Gill and Urien are another SF example. It's be interesting to see your thoughts on that.

[@OrinNekomata]

I was convinced, that when you started talking about crouching, Jack-O pose will come up at some point. And I was not disappointed.

[@michagruzewski5592]

Spycrab out of nowhere instantly dropkicked me into the void.

[@吳神宣]

Everyone: Struggling at find the balance while doing low kicks Iori: *Fxxk it I'll YEET myself*

[@MusicoftheDamned]

Yeah, the weirdness of crouching & low attacks was an issue I realized years ago when I realized it was something that subtly had to fall under the conventional suspension of disbelief for fighting games as a whole. Even the floatiest fighting games like _Arcana Heart_ can't really avoid this if they want to be visually clear to the players about what's hitting them and how to block it. That said, _MKX_ Kitana's "low" kick is an abomination onto God Rugal and is something I had mercifully forgotten about until today. Why must you be so cruel even if it *is* the perfect example of a poorly conceived low attack?

[@Pianet]

In real life blocking is more of right/left (or more specifically inside outside thing) thing but the third person camera makes that impossible in most fighting games

[@slayer0304]

Did he seriously show spy crab in the year 2021? Respect

[@jacowboy]

Yeah I was just gonna say... it's not just low kicks, it's the whole idea of crouching that's completely stupid... glad you mentioned it.

[@isaiahtorok7079]

Kof does have some cool lows, that iori one is sick

[@rzzz5946]

Goldlewis's Behemoth Typhoon animation struck me recently at how well they made that fat man really strike a pose. Usually animators don't seem to do much with fat guys, giving them just basic postures.

[@leithaziz2716]

Goldlewis is easily the coolest "fat" character in any fighting game.

[@deletedTestimony]

A M E R I C A 🏈 🇺🇲 🍺

[@Rekkenze]

6:56 since you brought it up, think you could ever make a video on the fact that there’s a Tank in a fighting game and it works fine.

[@myboy_]

3:13 I am absolutely obsessed with this clip

[@gcavrubio]

This reminds me of Ragna in BlazBlue. He has an attack that looks clearly like an overhead but hits low.

[@CoralCopperHead]

7:06 The best part is her crouch already being a jack-o.

[@PsychadelicoDuck]

I learned so much about fighting games from this video.

[@GigaHands]

...And then you have the monstrosity that is Falke's crouching light punch in Street Fighter V. She crouches normally and believably, resting her stick beside her. The animation has her quickly sliding the staff along the ground to bop the opponent's feet, then returns to her crouching idle pose. The kicker? IT'S NOT A LOW

[@noxiansummoner1730]

Finally someone noticed that too. I had concerns about crouching and low kicks my entire fighting game life. May be they just should do "crouching" as a stance but a little bit lower. You know grouping hands so you protect you stomach with a little bit leaning your spine forward.

[@michielkroder4031]

I love your videos. There's not really anything else like them on KZbin. One additional thing you might have missed in this one is that the leg sweep in fighting games is likely more of a happy accident (word to Bob Ross), rather than a theoretically sound functional design element. Street Fighter director/planner Takashi Nishiyama worked on the formative scrolling beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master/Spartan X for Irem before he went over to Capcom. In it, the player character can duck to evade thrown knives, high aimed attacks from bosses and other hazards that target the head/upper body. But Nishiyama was thoughtful enough to still give the player the possibility to attack while crouching. Being that in the game you have a punch and kick button, it made organical sense to translate these to a crouching, below the belt punch and a Cobra Kai-style leg sweep. Nishiyama is quoted as saying that for the first Street Fighter, he wanted to reuse Kung-Fu Master's control scheme for it, in this setup of the player fighting single opponents. And with especially the Japanese school of game design being very iterative, the low leg attack or leg sweep has been a staple ever since.

[@Braillionaire]

This was such a cool concept for a video! I truly never thought about crouching and low attacks in fighting games and I LOVE fighting games lol ..i truly never questioned this lol

[@Goldenleyend]

DAMN you messed up my mission not seeing a single second of Jak o gameplay ever

[@MC-ee3by]

That CvS2 training room bmg... so good

[@RDG99]

"Tekken lows are so slow" Meanwhile I still fail to block them with my old man reflexes

[@AirLancer]

They're only relatively slow in comparison with the 2D games (lows that come out in single digit frames vs Tekken, where unreactable lows are pretty much anything at or faster than 20~ish frames of start up). That's because in 2D games they tend to be primary moves that make up a lot of your core pokes and confirms, characters are built around them, whereas in Tekken they're supplementary moves, which is why powerful lows also tend to be reactable, telegraphed, extremely unsafe on block, or even all of the above.

[@t4d0W]

You fail to block them not due to your old man reactions but the way the game makes you take into account everything else coming at you. In Tekken 7 If you are being peppered by highs and mids you aren't really thinking about defending your ankles. Some chars also have deceptive lows be it how it comes out via animation (may look like a mid attack) or through a string that you are used to seeing through highs and mids. So those low pokes add up over time and unless you get a hard read and a low parry ready, you aren't making that counter play.

[@welcometovalhalla2884]

Don't worry. They're about as slow as overheads in other games and we don't block those either.

[@naquan59]

Notice how he stand firm in his hate of Juri default outfit and street fighter 5 by making sure using the Nostalgia one.

[@Ragnorok64]

Great vid as always. Now I wanna see a video all about forward walk cycles.

[@MrERLoner]

Aaaaand then theres Gen's crane style ducking short.. a one legged toe poke...that launches... Take that physics!

[@delberssj700]

This is something I’ve been thinking about for years, low kicks are pretty unrealistic in 2D games. Glad someone talked about it

[@neytracg308]

Thank you for this. I myself practice low kicks in real life as part of my workouts.

[@nkopanelesedilebona9227]

Damn your channel feels like it was made for me. What a blessing these videos are

[@zgct3648]

Iori's low strong kick is the pinnacle of characterization in a low kick.

[@Y20XTongvaLand]

5:14 He's supporting himself with the back of his hand.

[@bananabike279]

I'm so tired of the Jack-O challenge, yet the New Jack-O challange had me in tears xD

[@AnnihilateTheHeaven]

The only IRL reference i can think of for crouching low kicks, is probably Inoki's kicks on Muhammad Ali during their mixed style match

[@blueblade6174]

I don't play 2d fighting games but this channel makes videos that trick me into being a temporary fan cause they make these topics so interesting!

[@KazanmaTheSilverWind]

my favorite Crouching Low Kick is probably Grant's 2D in Garou MotW It looks like he's leaning away from the camera just to generate enough power to annihilate your shins. It probably makes more sense when starting from a Standing position though

[@kurokoguy9489]

In Skullgirls, Filia's crouching MK has Samson (Her Hair) lift and support Filia's body as she extends her leg forward, thought how they used Samson in the move cool

[@SuperLuigiKart64]

Similarly, I think it's adorable how much character and silliness they put in Squigly's cr. MK: use her dragon Leviathan's tail as a planting point, then have her assume rigor mortis in the traditional "crossed-arm funeral" pose and thrust herself out into a toe kick. Works with the stiffness of her outfit, uses her unique dragon, and brings to mind her death-related zombie imagery all within 35 frames.

[@kurokoguy9489]

@@SuperLuigiKart64 All of Squigly's animations are adorable, my favorite is her taunt where Leviathan gives her a surprise hug :3

[@Demonstormlord]

Skullgirls as an example of animation is almost cheating. That game has had so much effort and detail put into every frame that nearly every game pales in comparison.

[@chickrepelant]

pretty much ANY of VOLDO's lows, really. another fckin amazing video, thanks!!! Also, what about low-throws!? like AXLs Winter Mantis?

[@NeoBoneGirl]

That’s not a low though, it’s just a ranged throw

[@sjcodan]

Half of a video about low-throws would just be Astaroth from SC.

[@arcfieri5965]

To my knowledge gear doesn't have any low-throws. It has proximity unblockables and hit-grabs, but those are almost always mids

[@zerotolerancd8743]

Abi talking about MK after the MK11 video: _Impossible_ Jokes aside this was pretty interesting to learn about

[@ltrigga219]

I love the entire CVS2 soundtrack on this gem ❤️

[@ItsACaptainDan]

0:42 I remember seeing this as a kid and laughing until I cried, but I can't find it anymore Does anyone have a link to the original vid lol

[@TehNoobiness]

A note about the whole "planting your whole body on the ground" bit: there are some martial arts that focus entirely on a "floor guard"--I believe it's brazilian jiu jitsu that does this, where the fighter lays on their back in such a position that they can pin, grab, and throw any attacker from any angle. This works really well in MMA, where the rules dictate that you *must* land hits on your opponent to win. It works less well in real combat, because an opponent who isn't attacking *you* presents no threat. The joke is that if you see a BJJ practicioner drop into their ground guard, you just walk away; he has no strength unless you come to him, so you make *him* come to *you.* So there is technically precedent for a full crouch--it's just rare and only good in fights that happen in a ring.

[@Suika_Ibuki_The_Drunk_Oni]

Did...did you really just make an entire video about Lowkicks, And managed to make it interesting? Kudos there.

[@zunikanu1087]

Next question: Jack-O jump kick

[@nhall129]

Ok this is so perfect because you nailed my thoughts perfectly Low kicks in real life are just standing lows, which are reeeeally strong in FGs so i just ignored it until i was just appreciating SFV animations on the new characters Literally too perfect

[@Nooctae]

Her 2K is proof Jack'O doesn't have a spine.

[@th3d10t6]

This man has a library of knowledge in his head about animation, video game animation, design, plot, etc. And he put so much work in his videos. How does he only have about 80k subs. He deserves more than million in my opinion.👍🏿😁❤️🔥

[@John_President]

Lol when you showed ryu's crouching punch I thought you'd bring up akatsuki and his exact same move but actually is a low

[@nicholashall3117]

I will say that for 3rd Strike Ryu's Cr. Heavy kick, it looks Capoeira inspired, which has a lot of moves that require your hands to be the point of balance and your feet as the striking point. I.E. Elena from 3rd Strike or Eddie from Tekken.

[@PDog69]

Lmao Iori's low dropkick 😂 is that meant to be the heavy one? That'd be absurd for a light kick. He's straight up just throwing caution to the wind - it matches his personality well. Those are some talented animators I must say - I can't even choose a favourite between Iori's kick and Chun-Li's crouch 🥊🎮

[@jimbo5266]

Yeah, it's his sweep, and it's sadly pretty terrible due to the massive recovery (although it does make sense). Just look at the top of this strategy page on him: srk.shib.live/w/The_King_of_Fighters_%2798/Iori It's fast, though, but incredibly punishable making it not really worth it.