SF3 Bread and Butter Combo Guide and General Notes - Ken

I'm not a Ken main. All of my knowledge of Ken is from observing people playing him. Because of that, there are minor details I might have gotten wrong. If you're a competent SF3 Ken player, feel free to offer corrections or lend some advice of your own in a comment below the video.
Also, for the first 6~ clips I recorded I realized I accidentally recorded with a purple Ken instead of red, so instead of deleting them I just used purple ken the whole video.
shoryuken.com | / srklive

[@SimonM_1]

I think Ken's pose right at the end wraps up the video perfectly. ✌️

[@yves____]

SimonMarge smh

[@joeschmoe4376]

The trick for dash DP is to not hit directly forward for the first dash input. 236, 6 and 36, 6 are also valid dash inputs. Using these for your dash allow you to negative edge the forward motion in your DP, which you can't do with a regular 6, 6 dash.

[@dkblade27]

Don't understand the number reference. But I need to know how to do dash dp. I heard there are many shortcuts.

[@Fly_Ry]

The numbers are just a quicker version of directional notation; looking at a standard keyboard numpad, each number matches a specific directional input: 6 = towards, 4 = back, 1 = downback, etc. Therefore, 236 + punch is the same as a quartercircle forward + punch, or a hadouken input, for example. I find it a bit difficult to read personally, because I don't make a habit of referencing my keyboard when thinking about directional inputs, but it's certainly quicker to type.

[@ajeyasengar5498]

@@dkblade27 he means that you can either do a quater circle into forward for dash or plink it to down-forward and then forward to daah. So you are already doing the input for a DP. You just need to enter a punch after that and you get your dash DP I am sorry I am an year late for this 😞😞😞😞

[@ajeyasengar87]

@@ajeyasengar5498 i mean do down - forward together nit plink... Sorry☹️☹️

[@xyz39808]

I never knew the lever could NE. neat

[@ShadyHitchhiker]

Baf's 3S tutorials are as dense as Christmas fruitcake, but even tastier!

[@Thrasher1984]

I'd-like-sum-fa'ruitcake!

[@platty9237]

Yes, but can pee wee Herman create an extension to his playhouse with it?

[@curtissnellings1421]

Amen

[@user-fe6sk9nf1t]

@Conor Gordon wtf

[@geminixp5258]

2024 and one of the best tutorials i've seen! im a rookie player preparing for a local legacy games tournament, thank you

[@karajanisolde]

Merci beaucoup, cette émission nous enseigne très efficacement les co nduits fondamentaux de Ken!

[@Toomnyusernae]

Dang this has everything. Like, everything I can conceivably know and more. I almost think I'll watch it again to make a map for ease of reference. The kara dp juggle list is good as well. Maybe, in the future you can consider who things won't work on as well. Regardless, it will always be legwork for the player. I have never been able to perform the double dp but maybe I had the wrong test subject. Can't believe you added the combo video material stuff at the end. A shame you didn't mention the throws? Also bonus points for demonstrating air ex tatsu. I look forward to the next character you break down in this manner.

[@osvgp6214]

Thanks for putting in all this much work in, hope to see more in due time😃👍amazing stuff here you guys

[@micahemerson388]

Man. I have a LOT to learn about this game.

[@nickfanzo]

It’s a very deep game

[@mrbaaman]

thanks baf, really enjoing 3S

[@SpitefulAZ]

damn, I wish I had a video like this back in 2005 to 2009.

[@OmnipotentPeaceMan]

wow this improved my Street fighter game like x3 thanks man, I am liking getting back into fighting games again.

[@Matt-ww9wv]

You absolutely can raw hit confirm off ken's low forward. It's more strict but the key is two things. 1) always do two quarter circle forwards immediately after hitting low forward 2) listen for the hit confirm and then hit any kick button

[@ildaphonse]

how do i "listen" to the hit confirm? i guess the instant i hear the hit sound i press low foward?

[@ajeyasengar87]

@@ildaphonse it is not a hit confirm...... It is a situational way to get damage. If you want to absolutely confirm it, it is 13f cancel, which is 216 ms.

[@SMSELWA]

Yeah I'm able to hit it consistently, but you basically have to buffer the fuck out of it right when you hit the low forward lmao

[@harryvpn1462]

Theres no fuckign way you can raw hitconfirm out of 2mk, all you said here is how you raw hitconfirm into a special general, actual shit that works is like 2mk L fireball hitconfirm into super input, its p easy but has the annoying range problem

[@returningwhisper]

Amazing work. Thank you!

[@TheSupascoot]

first (Really though this is crazy in depth and must have taken a ton of time to make, good job baf)

[@Stiryboys1331]

Great video bro ! Thanks for the great tips !

[@davisbreci5332]

Incredible video

[@hyliandoctor]

Missing something. Jumping HK, crouching MK + MP Shoryuken. Universal combo into super on first hit of Shoryu, if I remember correctly, and it's EVO Moment 37.

[@cat-qw9ji]

It is I know it’s been 3 years so you probably already know that

[@joeschmoe4376]

Also, a cool OS in 3s is to tap a direction right as an ambiguous crossup hits. You'll parry the attack if it hits on one side and block if it hits on the other. I'm unsure of how long this crossup protection lasts, there're definitely still mixups involved in getting out of his post SA3 setup

[@Bafael]

Yeah, the problem is if you parry away from the incoming ken, and tap it early before Ken crosses up, it won't turn into a parry after he crosses up. Which means the parry window is unusually small in this setup if ken does cross up, maybe only 1-2 frames. You can OS parry the other direction (towards ken) which will block a crossup and easily parry a non crossup, but most kens will go for the crossup, so you're still forced to block an air normal, then they'll mix you up with either air normal or empty jump throw/low. It's certainly not a get-out-of-jail-free card anyway, although you can use good defense to usually escape.

[@joeschmoe4376]

Bafael Oh wow, I didn't realize it crossed up that late. That explains why I don't see it talked about often compared to doing it vs Alex's stomps I guess

[@alberto1690]

thank you, I learned a lot

[@youngmidoriya4013]

Thank you! Really great Tutorial!

[@professorpick]

are there anytime stamps? i want to see kens combos from aerials

[@invincibleloonie]

Man shippu is almost the epitome of privilege. They probably justified it being the option for everything by saying ‘oh, it doesn’t do that much damage’

[@DSkehan2004]

How do you do Standing strong move

[@GhibliNova]

Yes. More. Please.

[@gingeral253]

Btw, light dp into medium dp works on Ryu in the corner I think. I’ve been hitting them but they aren’t mentioned anywhere.

[@gabriellogan8710]

Bro, how u do the hadoken + special? E try so much, bit never work, have way to do this?

[@IAmWhiskey]

if you're talking about doing a hadoken into a special like shippujinraikyaku, you shoot an hadoken and do the hadoken motion right afterwards. It counts as the two hadoken motions and you'll do a special right after doing the hadoken

[@mangosteen7690]

New player and I'm on like day 4 of watching this video and I'm around like 6 min. Just trying to practice all the content in here so I can consistently do everything

[@keylimecookies]

Stand heavy kick is probably kens best Kara for throws not great range but its better than standard throw and can be pretty useful after blocks

[@felipo_galaxy1853]

Mp Hp is all i need (I really suck)

[@Ferrari_Sanchez.]

We never had tutorials back in the 90s it was all school of hard knocks .

[@CallieSqueakz]

Eh yeah, but this works just as well without the skin loss.

[@lewissteward65]

Bruh they literally had VHS that does exactly what this video is doing

[@CallieSqueakz]

+@@lewissteward65 Also a valid point.

[@genericbonk]

what's the name of the tool that you are using in the video to add more informations about the moves like frames and such?

[@Reshi9984]

Its the training mode tools in 30 year anniversary

[@yarksnaw]

excellent

[@truelifedood300]

How in the heck do you get the jab shoryuken so fast to come out after strong + fierce?

[@Oscargoo]

I don't think there's any particular trick to that one besides just being fast with your inputs

[@truelifedood300]

@@Oscargoo i figured it out. Just had to get the timing down

[@kentang1528]

Very good tutorials on Ken , Ryu and Alex. Kudos from Singapore here.... can you also do a Yun and Yang tutorial? Ibuki and Makoto if possible...i am subscribing to your channel bro as there is not much information on setups and strategies and mindgame mixups videos of 3rd strike.

[@ajeyasengar87]

Search Bafael on KZbin and subscribe to him. (He is the same guy and has more tutorials there.)

[@romacalor]

Seeing evo moment 37 was enough to get me into third strike and enough to make me a ken main

[@theindianyouwatch]

Me too

[@PinkalPeaches]

20:00 The smart stuff. Option selecting with meter gain.

[@Armadyl900]

DED os

[@fuckin_uuuh9944]

isnt double light dp into shippu his max damage? for the super knockdown and corner carry it seems pretty worth to me at least sometimes.

[@realchezboi]

i’m pretty sure they drop out of the super, might still have some corner carry but i don’t think it’s max damage

[@fuckin_uuuh9944]

@@realchezboi they do drop out, but it still does more than mp dp into super. And you still get decent oki after too.

[@Jay-ct6wu]

Quick tip to confirm SA3, you may not be able to link the full combo off light DP, but you CAN link it from medium DP. You can also confirm it off the first grounded hit of a hurricane kick, but this is almost pointless and difficult to do anyway. Not worth the risk unless you like showing off.

[@limmynade]

if you have problems linking it from medium dp, you could do it with heavy dp as well

[@svovy5358]

i couldnt help but notice you didnt mention standing jab?

[@Bafael]

Many standing jabs are duckable in sf3. There's not much it does that other light normals don't. The only scenarios I see Ken players use it is the cr. LK st. LP xx Light DP confirm, where it's used for its marginally lower pushback and ease of buffering. And Ken players only use that combo on particular wide, tall characters who can't duck it.

[@pootnannies]

nice tutorial

[@ziggyberts]

Glad i found this video, been playing third strike on fightcade2 and i'm horribly lost in this game, i don't remember anything lmaoo

[@hollywoodee9117]

You didn't mention Ken being able to cancel back throw into super. It's not very useful, but I feel like it's worth bringing up

[@ShoryukenTube]

I don't even know what you're talking about. There's no juggle there or anything, is there?

[@hollywoodee9117]

You can juggle any of his supers when back throwing an opponent into a corner. For whatever reason, while Ken is getting up after tossing the opponent you can input a super and have come out. It will only juggle in the corner, and SA3 (the only super most will use) doesn't add much damage, so it's mostly a style tool. I don't know enough about the game to know it's cancel window, but if you try back throwing the training dummy into the corner and mashing super each time, you'll probably get it to come out.

[@dkblade27]

That's only to style and serves no purpose otherwise.

[@Majkels]

holy fuck it works lol

[@Warrengg400]

Its hard to confirm target combo into super and fierce into super for me at least

[@punchabunchabuttons]

what does "Minus 4 on block and minus 4 on hit" mean?

[@jitsekuilman2492]

It means the opponent can act 4 frames before you can do anything. By contrast, Ken's crouching MP is +3 on block, so he can perform an action 3 frames before the opponent gets out of blockstun. This is called frame advantage and it's usually different on block versus on hit (and in this game, you can be more advantageous if you hit a crouching opponent).

[@classicmail8239]

I hit confirm c.mk x super. People say you can do it because you can.

[@dkblade27]

9:16 didn't know that worked on Ibuki DOH

[@theedwardian]

Ryu's EX hadouken knocks down opponents to the maximum distance, Ken's doesn't knock down as far - nor does it travel as fast. But I suppose that it's lack of plus frames are its most important difference.

[@adriangoodman8901]

What is stand forward? Low far?

[@apebrainalexmain8731]

Mad late but Jab = LP Strong = MP Fierce = HP Short = LK Foward = MK Roundhouse = HK

[@Gu5A2]

Can I have one on Sean pleaaaaase

[@NRVNQSRR]

Sa1 can be linked from Hp, medium dp

[@harryvpn1462]

No

[@NRVNQSRR]

@@harryvpn1462 ye u can :thumbs up:

[@ajeyasengar87]

So you can't Double DP on 1)Twins 2)Remy 3)Oro 4)Dudley* (can't be double DPed at all) 5)Ibuki 6)Hugo While you are in mid screen

[@dekudakhan]

I forgot Alex

[@atma6049]

how minus on block is Ken after TC?

[@ShoryukenTube]

-2 I believe. But you CAN red parry the second hit to make him unsafe, or just parry both hits.

[@atma6049]

thanks for the info!!

[@yorkie4295]

towards forward is a funny combination of words

[@DarkSolodus]

Could you do a video on Remy?

[@DarkSolodus]

ClackMan Pretty much. If it's not Chun Li, Yun, Ken, Urien, or Makoto, then good luck looking for good tutorials.

[@Bafael]

the most famous and prolific SF3 tutorials have been for Q, twelve, oro, and ibuki. There wasn't any kind of dedicated tutorial for a twin or a shoto for years and years.

[@BlackDragon-tf6rv]

What is a dp cara ?

[@SUPERTURBOTV]

you increase range by pianoing mk+lp shoryu you can also use hk. Typically whatever move lunges you forward a little. Just check his input when hes going over it.

[@ajeyasengar5498]

What is a cara?

[@jitsekuilman2492]

A kara cancel (meaning "empty cancel" in Japanese) is when you cancel the first animation frame of a move into a different move. If your character has a normal attack that moves them forward a lot in the first frame, this is very useful because you can use that forward movement to increase the range of a different attack. A good example is Chun-Li's throw. If you stand some distance from your opponent and press LP+LK, she just does the grab animation in place. But if you hit MK and one frame later you hit LP+LK (it really has to be immediately after the MK), she takes a noticeable step forward.

[@1MCElias]

👍🏻

[@dismyshitv9059]

Thank u based baf

[@evilagram]

Your framedata is slightly wrong. SA1 is 1f startup, SA2 and SA3 are 2f startup.

[@Bafael]

In SF3, 1f startup means "hits on 2nd frame" while 2f startup means "hits on 3rd frame". From SF4 frame data onwards, 2f startup means "hits on 2nd frame." This is a quality-of-life nomenclature change so you can easily see an attack is +4, and know you can link a 4f move from it, while in old-style frame data you could only link 3f normals from +4 moves. I'm using the modern way since it's more intuitive, convenient, and generally understood. However, you are right in that SA2 is actually 3f startup (hits on 3rd frame), same as his SA3. Oops.

[@wildwest1832]

tatsu is minus on hit? lol why even have it

[@MrKennyWilliams]

Long story short. USE SA3!

[@dakotaquick6668]

Towards roundhouse is -3 on fucking hit

[@DiscoCokkroach]

Ken "I Have The Best Super In The Game" Masters. I knew SAIII was good, but not THAT good.

[@BigGameOrenthalJames]

Can anyone consistently Kara shoryuken on a pad?

[@Bafael]

I did it to make this video.

[@BigGameOrenthalJames]

Bafael do you use c.medium or c.heavy?

[@Bafael]

BigGameOrenthalJames I'm more consistent w/ crouch roundhouse because it's on a shoulder for me, but it takes a little longer to whiff so cr. MK would be more ideal

[@BigGameOrenthalJames]

Bafael thanks for the info

[@taylorbee4010]

Cmk shippu YOU'RE WELCOME *closes video*

[@NastyKugogo]

Is it a emulator??

[@davisbreci5332]

no its 30th anniversary collection

[@solomon_express]

Makoto next!!!!

[@fabioutrilla7109]

Could you do Ibuki?

[@israelventura3938]

Urien Next!!!

[@jrfproductions7226]

How do you piano stuff on pad?

[@drezzylol]

I slide my thumb from LP to MP and i hit RB either inbetween them, or after them. I guess it's the same with legs but trigger might be in the way.

[@classicmail8239]

When did we start calling footsies, shimmy?

[@nofx7058]

wtf is low forward? down forward??

[@pastorofmuppets9346]

Cr.mk

[@realchezboi]

Light Punch - Jab Medium Punch - Strong Hard Punch - Fierce Light Kick - Short Medium Kick - Forward Heavy Kick - Roundhouse So low forward is crouching medium kick

[@niggaassproductions9073]

22:09 lmao

[@freebando]

Uses pad but can't dash and dp smh

[@LiangHuBBB]

my main

[@ajeyasengar5498]

Same!!!

[@robotnick1234]

14:55

[@PoeCompany]

Is this channel dead?

[@katandmart]

This..

[@danobra]

Wait... So you're negative ON HIT? And people say this game is perfect.

[@zumi5261]

Git Gud

[@fluorescentschine6437]

Sperg.

[@pikadedinossauro4102]

titer

[@worshipdemons]

broken

[@blvk3]

Love what you doing. But I personally wouldn't pick ken to start with. When you try to teach people, it is generally to teach them one of the best character to start with, because they will have less incentive to try out other characters, which is essentially the rest of the game, and you are basically ruining the game for them. I know it's after the ryu video, but I would leave him till much later.

[@Bafael]

I started with Ken, and I main oro and have played this game for 12 years. People will start with who they're interested in. And Ken is interesting for a lot of new players.

[@blvk3]

Bafael I have played the game since 99, I have taught so many players and 80% of the players asked me who the best characters are when they started. Most of the time I taught them, and they stick with that character afterwards, namely a character called KEN. Some did try others but back to ken, because of the ease to use. I asked them the reasons of not trying other characters, they told me because of effort putting into others are not giving them wins like ken did for the same amount of time put in. After awhile, I stop teaching and telling ppl about the top 3. Instead teach Alex and Ryu, which make people appreciate the game more, and discover their character at their own pace. These are just my experience and how new ppl resist to changes that impact the win/lose rate. Not saying it will apply to everyone, but to most of the people, according to my own experience. and if u said u are the 20%, good for you, but not everyone is the same. Bear in mind, the 80% is a lot of a lot of people, and they will kill the FGC when you don't teach them properly. Just saying.

[@goricexi7118]

If the game was more balanced, people would be willing to branch out.

[@davisbreci5332]

@@Bafael i have played the game for 3 whole days

[@llllShifTllll]

The video would be much better and short if you tell me what i can do instead of what i can and can't do.

[@MatF1]

That´s the point of the video