Works in Progress 2.1

Here are the specific techniques that I'm trying to work on in order to begin integrating in my matches. Each "technique" has unsuppressed depth to it and will take a long time to master and perfect.

- Kara throw's
- Kara-Karakusa
- Feint block strings

From first glance it wouldn't be too difficult to start adding these techniques to in game matches right away. However I'm personally trying to go a bit further and truly trying to go an untapped depth of the above techniques. I'm trying to master the mentality that comes with these techniques, not just trying to execute them because they're "good." Here's a bit of insight as to what I mean...

- Kara throw's: The fear of karakusa overshadows getting thrown so much that in many cases it gets forgotten. It becomes one oft he last things on the opponent's minds. My goal is to play off of this "surprise factor" in order to (aside from getting a bit of free damage) condition my opponent to tech or jab out of the throw attempt. After conditioning is set in, I can begin utilizing instant axe kicks to become even more scary. All that aside, the TRUE beauty of kara throwing is when it all comes full circle...once they're scared of axe kicks or wanting to tech...they've forgotten about karakusa. Simply put, kara throwing is just another technique that I'm trying to implement in order to give my Makoto another "I need to worry about that too" factor.

- Kara-Karakusa: Unlike kara throws, the kara-karakusa doesn't need such a detailed explanation as to why it should be implemented into any Makoto players game. The increased range is amazing and once setups are implemented the kara-karakusa plays a vital role in Makoto's game. Mastering this technique entails knowing how to set the kara-karakusa both physically (in game setup) and mentally (knowing when to do it and why it will work).

- Feint block strings: Out of all the techniques, this one will take the longest to learn everything I need to be truly successful with it. Aside from the purpose of keeping the pressure on, I'm trying to go as far as learning my options as far as how to set up counter hits, knowing when to kara-karakusa or kara throw (let alone the ability of knowing which one to do at any given situation) or knowing when to continue with the string and knowing when to let off...it goes far past the ability of just "keeping the pressure on." The goal with these block strings is to figure out what my best options are while in matches AFTER I've made the reads on my opponent. For instance, if I have an opponent who likes to stand block because he's afraid of karakusa's...it would be best to have a setup with a c.hp...thus resetting the situation (because of knockdown). Or maybe I have an opponent who loves to poke back...I'm going to need a block string setup that will be full of counter hit frame traps in order to condition him to stop poking back during my momentum...and what happens when he's conditioned to block? Well I think we all know that's when the real fun comes in with kara-karakusa's.
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All in all, with the side dish of building strong fundamentals and execution, these are the techniques that I'm currently working on. Like I said, they may look pretty "basic" from first glance, but I'm definitely trying to take these techniques into something far more advanced than they would appear.