                                The New Ken Guide for Sf3 3rd Impact.
                                By Eric Chou
                                Email:  scuddman@earthlink.net
                                mistmoore_train@hotmail.com

Once again, J. Christopher can do whatever he wants to this
faq.  I just never bothered to publish this faq before 
until now.  If you're a beginner, you probably could learn 
a lot more from my Ryu faq.  Why a faq anyways?  Why not?  
You'd be surprised what you can do with him that people
don't know about.
I recommend using Courier New 10 point font to view this faq, or
use a word processor with word wrap (it'll look funny, but you can read 
it).

Oh yeah, I need stun combos if anyone has any, as well as any 
practical juggles.
I wonder if people even read this.  Oh well, it's a good reference 
source for my own use.

Last Updated 12/12/2000

Table of Contents:
Part 1:                             Ken's Story
Part 2:                             Quick Glance Move List
Part 3:                             Universal Commands and the Basics
Part 4:                             Ken's Standard Attacks
Part 5:                             Special Moves
Part 6:                             Supers
Part 7:                             Basic Tactics
Part 8:                             Combos
-------------------------------------------------------------
Part 1:  Ken's Story

Um, I don't think he has one.  I guess he's just entering  to fight
like he does every year.  As Ryu would say, "You never get
tired of this, do you?"  His ending is really lame.  His 
story is really lame.  Goodness, you would think Capcom 
would spend more time, but I guess they think nobody cares, 
and Capcom isn't far wrong.

Now why would you use Ken over Ryu?  Ryu's better right?  Personally,
when I pick Ryu I lose a lot more.  Ken's supers are more versatile,
he's better at crossing up, his dragon punches have more range, he's got
a good, cancellable ground chain, his air hurricane kick is much better...
At first glance Ryu might be better, but in the long run I like being
able to block a sweep or a fireball then bust out the shippu jinrai 
kyaku super.  Or use shin ryu ken against someone trying to cross me up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Part 2:  Quick Glance Movelist

Throws:
Grab and Knee                               Jab + Short
Grab and Dump                               Toward + Jab + Short
Grab and Flip Backwards                     Back + Jab + Short

Specials:
Fireball  (Ha Dou Ken)(EX)                  Quarter Circle Toward + P
Dragon Punch (Sho Ryu Ken)(EX)              Toward, Down, DownToward + P
Hurricane Kick (Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku)(EX) Quarter Circle Back + K
Double Hit Kick Overhead                    Back + Forward Kick, or hold 
                                               Forward kick.
Step and Kick                               Toward + Forward Kick
Single Hit Kick Overhead                    Toward + Roundhouse
                                               Hold Roundhouse to cancel

Supers:
Sho Ryu Reppa X 2                         Double Fireball Motion + P
Shin Ryu Ken X 1, Mash for more hits      Double Fireball Motion + K
Shippu Jinrai Kyaku X 3                   Double Fireball Motion + K

Chains:
Close S. Strong -> Close S. Fierce (Boths hits are cancellable)
Jab -> into any jab or short
Short -> into any jab or short

Ken's Cancellable moves:
Standing jab
crouching jab
crouching short
standing strong (close)
crouching strong 
crouching forward kick
standing fierce (close)
crouching fierce
-------------------------------------------------------
Part 3:  The Basics		

Ken's basic tactics tend to be like Forest Law's in
Tekken.  Get in their face, and go for stuffs.  Try
to abuse the fact that he can combo his quicker moves 
into his more damaging specials and supers.

This is assuming Ken is facing right.
When he's facing left, reverse the command motions.

jab(1)      strong(2)   fierce(3)
short(4)    forward(5)  roundhouse(6)

Forward Dash:  Tap Toward Twice
The good thing about Ken's dash (or any shoto's) is that
it's fast.  Doesn't go very far, but lets you cover distance.  
That is its use, so use it that way.  Remember you can't cancel 
the dash, so no blocking if you dash!

Back Dash:  Tap Back Twice
Ken dashes back.  Doesn't go very far, but lets him back up
about a quarter screen distance.  Use it to avoid attacks,
mess up jump-ins, and to get some space.  Remember you can't 
cancel the dash, so no blocking if you dash!

High Jump:  Tap down, then tap straight up.
It's only use is in combos, and only in the corner for
such combos.  It's not useful at all.

Forward Long Jump: Tap down, then tap up-toward.
Covers space faster!  Ken will jump farther, faster, 
possibly giving you a chance to jump over that fireball 
and get a nice jump-in.

Tech Roll: Tap down as you are knocked down.  
Ken will get up quicker and roll backwards out of the way
of most meaty attacks (attacks done as you get up.)
Doing so charges your super meter, so there is now no 
reason not to do it.  
You can never tech roll after getting knocked down by 
the end of a super.  
Sweeps are more difficult to tech roll.

Overhead:  Press strong and forward kick at the same time.
Ahh, the universal overhead.  Ken will hop and punch downwards,
attempting an attack that must be blocked high.  
It will go over some low attacks, so use it to punish low pokes.
I fake with this move a lot, because it has quick recovery
and moves Ken closer to the opponent.  It NEVER combos in 
3rd impact.  That's okay, he's got other overheads that do combo.

Throws:  
1:  Jab + short  
Grab and kick in the nuts.  Mash buttons to get up to 6 hits.
2:  Jab + short holding toward
The grab and dump at your feet throw.  Good Damage
3:  Jab + short holding back
Ken's trademark roll backwards then toss throw.  Covers quite a bit of
distance if your back is near the corner.

Oh yeah, no more combos off throws in corners.  Doesn't work anymore.
I think anyways, someone might surprise me.

Parrys:  
1:  Tap Toward
High parry.  If you parry a move, you can cancel the parry into any
action you want, which means what a parry really does is give you
a time advantage.  Sometimes enough of an advantage to do whatever
you want, sometimes not.  It's important to remember a parry this way
because a parry doesn't gurantee anything.  As an example, if you
parry Akuma's dive kick and try to attack he can block!  Or even stuff
you with a dragon punch.
If you parry a standard jump in and try to do crouching fierce -> fireball,
the opponent has enough time to land and dragon punch you, though he 
may not have enough time to block.  Why this is exactly?  I'm not sure.
You can usually only parry moves from your waist up high.  Certain moves
can be parried high even if they hit your feet, such as Ibuki's Kunai.
2:  Tap Down
Low Parry.  Some moves can only be parried low.
3:  Tap Toward in air
Parry in air.  Only way to air parry now.  Note that if you parry a
move in the air and attack with a slow move such as fierce your
opponent can parry back!
4:  Tap Toward or down immediately after blocking a move
Red Parry.  Causes you to parry the next hit in pre-canned 
combos or chains.  Necessary if you're blocking some supers!

Throw Break:  Press Jab + short as you are thrown.  
Usually when you try to throw someone attempting a throw on you this 
happens. 
Unlike in Tekken Tag, you cannot break a throw if you are still 
lagging from the recovery of a move.  
If you do a sweep and it is parried, then your opponent throws you, 
you can't break that throw because you're still recovering from the
 sweep.  

-------------------------------------------------------
Part 4:  The Basics.

Come on! Ken's a shoto! You've gotta know his stuff!
So instead, I'll try to talk about when to use what moves
and about the hit ranges.
High moves can be crouched under.  
Overhead/mids must be blocked/parried high.
Special mids can be blocked/parried high or low
Lows must be blocked/parried low

The Jabs:  
a.  Don't use his standing jab.  It sucks unless you want to 
stuff overheads.  It's a high!  (People can crouch under)
It is cancellable.
b.  Crouching jab is a special mid.  Special?  How is it special?
You can parry it high or low.  You can block it high or low.  
Only use to stuff moves.  Will Stuff lots of low moves.
It is cancellable.
c.  Jumping jab is one of Ken's few JUGGLE starters.  
Too bad his juggles are tough!  I recommend not using it.
It will only juggle if it hits an opponent in the air.

The Strongs:
a.  Standing strong is the fastest way to charge your meter.  
It's also a good poke.  It's a high.
The close version is a special mid that links into Ken's fierce uppercut.
Keep this in mind when doing combos, especially after blocking moves
that leave you right next to your opponent. 
b.  Crouching strong is a special mid.  You have no time 
disadvantage if it is blocked!  Keep that in mind when poking.
It has very high priority vs. a lot of other moves, including 
most low pokes.  Just make sure you have good timing.
Stuff low dash moves such as Sean's tackle and cancel into super.
c.  Jumping strong stinks.  Never use it.

The Fierces:
a.  Standing fierce isn't very good.  It's slow, 
is a high, but is very damaging.  
Close up, Ken will do his classic uppercut.
The uppercut is special mid, cancellable, and pushes back 
when it connects.  Use as a combo filler.
b.  Crouching fierce works a lot like his other uppercut.  
Use it the same way.  You can use it as a crappy anti-air.
c.  jumping fierce is the jump attack to use.  If it connects, you have
a million years to do as you like.

The Shorts: 
a.  Standing short is a linkable poke (it'll link into itself).
It's no longer cancellable.  It is a low, so use it as a low poke.
(Want an example?  Watch Eddie Lee's Ibuki in the B4 tape.  
He uses that Toward + short of Ibuki's to good effect.)
b.  Crouching short is linkable into itself and cancellable.
It's a great low poke.  Take advantage of the cancel!.
c.  Jumping short is a juggle starter.  Too bad Ken's juggles are Tough!

The Forwards: 
a.  Standing forward is a high.  Yuck.  Think of it as a crappy
version of Ryu's roundhouse.  It's best use as a poke is when you think
your opponent is going to jump, especially as they get up. 
If you hold the button down he does as double hit overhead. 
b.  Crouching forward kick.  Everyone knows about this move.  
Just one caveat!  You have time disadvantage if it is blocked, so
don't try to attack again immediately after.  
If it is blocked and you try another attack immediately, all the 
opponent has to do is any quick poke and you will be stuffed.
Fortunately, you can still parry.  
If you do this move from sufficiently far away enough, you don't
have to worry too much about the end lag of the move, so keep that
in mind as well.
In other words, don't do this move if you are too close to your opponent.
Another thing...if your opponent is right next to you and blocks this move,
said opponent has enough time to bust a really fast super on you! 
c.  Jumping forward kick.
This is Ken's crossup kick.  That's really its only use.
 
The Roundhouses:
a.  Standing roundhouse is slow!  Damaging, good range, special mid,
but slow!  
SLOW!  So slow a wary opponent can simply jump over it and do as they like.
Safe when blocked though, surprise people with dragon punches.
b.  Crouching roundhouse.  Low, knocks down, fast, but bad lag at end.  
If you are a beginning player:
DO NOT USE.
If you are an expert player:
ONLY USE IF THEY HAVE NO WAY TO PUNISH THIS MOVE.
As soon as Chun-Li has that super charged up, stop using it.
Now if only I'd take my own advice...<sigh>
Oh yeah, I've played in 5 tournaments and I always get ousted by this move.
That's not to say don't use this move, just be careful.  
Heck, I've even seen John Choi use this move and get smacked for it.
He won anyways, but it was funny, even though it looked like to me he did 
it on purpose.

Toward + forward kick:  
This is one of those weird funky kicks.  Ken will step forward
and do a really crappy, slow, special mid.  Mostly safe if blocked. 
They have ten years to punish you as it starts up.

Back + forward kick, or hold down forward kick after doing forward kick:
Double hit overhead/mid.  When it connects it pushes back.  
You can combo shippu jinrai kyaku after it.

Toward + roundhouse:  
Super slow wind up overhead.  One hit only.
So slow, that it's impossible to land on
some people.  If it connects you have an eon to do whatever you like.
Land that Shin Ryu Ken!
If you hold down roundhouse, Ken will cancel the move, but the lag
is still horrendous.

------------------------------------------------------------
Part 5:  The Specials

HADOU-KEN:  Fireball motion plus punch.
Plus Two punches to Ex.
I don't know anybody that doesn't know what this is.  
It is a special mid, but can only be parried high. 
Only use to stuff people trying to come in.
Examples:  Urien's chariot rush, Ryu's Hurricane kick.  
The ex version hits twice and always knocks down.  
Always use the fierce version, because it comes out the fastest.  
Some cancels into fireball will only combo if the fierce or
ex version was used, rare as it is, they do exist.
Of course that only happens because Ken's hadou-ken is slow!
If you like doing crouching forward kick -> hadoken, then switch to 
Ryu.

SHO RYU KEN:  Dragon punch motion plus punch.
Plus Two punches to Ex.
a.  Jab version.  Knocks up, great range, fastest dragon punch of
all the shotos.  Also has the least priority of all the shotos. 
<sigh>  It is a juggle starter in certain instances.
b.  Strong version.  Double hit.  Only the last hit knocks down.
Has the least range of all his dragon punches.  
Also unreliable, occasionally the 2nd hit doesn't hit.  
Only use in super-cancels.
c.  Fierce version.  3 hits, great range, great damage, great priority.
Really, really, really BAD recovery.
The ex version is a 4 hit version almost exactly like the Fierce 
version.

TATSUMAKI-SENPUU-KYAKU: Backwards fireball motion plus kick.
Plus two kicks to ex.
The versions are all the same, just the button used determine the 
number of hits.  The first hit is a special mid, but will no longer 
force the opponent to stand up.  Sorry, it sucks in combos now, 
because all the other hits are highs.  To this day I'm not sure 
exactly what this move is for, I personally use it as a confusion tactic 
and to move closer to my opponent.
The air version is a decent anti-air and crossup tactic.  The air 
version is also a potential juggle starter.
The move works decently in some juggles, and can work as a 
once-in-a-while anti-air against a bad jump-in.
Oh yeah, a caveat.  You have severe time disadvantage if the move 
actually connects!
You're better off if they block it.  Your opponent has enough time to do
a super if it connects.  Yuck. 
A Hugo in the know can get hit by the move on purpose and gigas break you!
A Ryu can do the same and do ShinShoRyuKen.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 6:  Supers.   

Just one note about damage:  When your bar changes to orange, you take 
significantly less damage, so it's hard to calculate damage since moves 
look to do more damage at the start of a match.

I:  ShoRyuReppa.  12 hits, about 25-30% damage on Ryu.  
Charge Max two.  
All hits are special mid except for the last two, which are highs.
The super is basically 2 fierce dragon punches followed by a 6 hit 
dragon punch. The super nobody uses.  
If you like comboing into super for damage, use this super.  Of all 
the supers, this one is the most versatile.  It's also the slowest.  
The trick to using this super is watching the range.  If opponents are 
too far, or too high, the super will miss.  It has more horizontal range
than Shinryuken and more vertical range than shippujinraikyaku, but it 
doesn't do anything well.  
If you combo into it, the horizontal range increases.
The super is invincible on start up.  You can go through fireballs, but 
it travels too slow to punish people with this trick.
The only supers that have more priority than this super are:
Ryu's ShinShoRyuKen
Akuma's MessatsuGoShoRyu
It will STUFF all other supers on startup.    
Recommended ways of landing it:  
Super cancelled off fierce dragon punch on the ground 
(learn those short -> dragon punch combos!)
As a deep anti-air.(You'll get 7 to 9 hits, but the damage is still good)
After a jump-in
After a quick poke, such as crouching short or crouching forward kick.
After Ken's toward + roundhouse overhead (OWWW)
Use to go through Akuma's air-fireball and give him an unpleasant 
surprise.  Go through an Aegis Reflector and give Urien an unpleasant 
surprise.  

II:  ShinRyuKen.   15 hits, about 30-35% damage on Ryu.
Charge Max one.  
Everyone uses this super as an anti-air.  That's what it's good for.  
Don't forget that it's also very comboable.
The first 3 hits are special mid, the rest of the hits make Ken soar 
into the air.
Recommended ways of landing it:
Super cancelled or comboed off any dragon punch on an
air opponent.
After a jump-in
After Ken's toward + roundhouse overhead (Risky).

III: ShippuJinraiKyaku.  9 hits  About the same damage as fierce-> 
dragon punch. Charge Max 3.  
This is the rush super of Ken's.  Very comboable.  The best thing about 
it, since it does very little damage for a super, super cancelling it 
doesn't affect it as much. The first 5 moves are all special mid, but 
the hits must be parried high. If the super is blocked, Ken stops on 
the fifth hit. The bad thing about this super is that the priority sucks.  
It'll stuff moves normals and specials, but don't count on it.  Don't try
to stuff command throws with this super.  Use the ShoRyuReppa if you want 
to do that.
Recommended ways of landing it:
Off any super cancel on the ground.  
(Do not use jab dragon punch, it'll launch)
After a jump-in
After a quick poke.
After either of Ken's overheads.  
(Back + forward kick or Toward + roundhouse)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 7:  Basic Tactics.

My basic tactic is to take advantage of the fact that ken's moves are 
so comboable and try to link his damaging moves into his quicker and 
higher priority pokes.  This is my plan from the beginning, and involves 
a lot of close and mid range games that allow Ken to take advantage of all
of his specials and supers.  It's a simple battle plan, and effective. 
The key things to remember are quick safe pokes comboed into damaging 
moves when they connect (and only when), and a tight defense.
That's it, really inelegant.  I also know it's very irritating on the 
receiving end. There are very few openings (to a perfectly played Ken), 
and as soon as a mistake is made, wham! quick damaging combo.

  a.  Ken's flaws.
I'd have to say Ken's biggest flaws are his bad recovery on many moves 
and his lack of a long range game.  All of his specials favor close range 
except for his hadoken, and all of his damaging moves have horrendous end
lag.  Try to stay away from those slow moves and doing random supers, and 
go for those pokes.  Eventually you will get an opening.  
Moves to be careful of because of lag:
hadouken
all fierce and roundhouse moves.
tatsumakiSenpuuKyaku
his command overheads
his sweep
Did I mention his sweep?
Let me mention his sweep one more time.  
All jump-ins.

  b.  Some Other stuff.  
Ken has amazing anti-air, but a crappy air game, so try to stay out 
of the air.  Make sure to use more than just dragon punches as an 
anti-air. Keep in mind that you can punish stupidly whiffed moves with 
an ex-hadoken fairly often. Do not do crouching forward kick -> fireball 
if either you or your opponent is in the corner.
This is important!  Even if the fireball hits, your opponent has enough
time to retaliate. Do not do a fireball if either you or your opponent 
is in the corner.  
Do not do full screen fireballs unless you are SURE they cannot
retaliate. If you block a sweep, resist the urge to sweep in return.  
Try to land crouching forward kick instead.  If they are out of range, 
don't attempt anything.

  c.  Poking and Initiative.  
When poking, try to keep poking, and give them a hard time attacking 
back.  This is difficult on expert players, true, but it is very 
frustrating when you get into your rhythm.  If you can help it, try not
to back up.  I notice people have a lot of trouble again Yun/Yang/Akuma
players, and it is important that you are the one dictating the match in 
these kinds of fights.  If you are doing nothing except blocking, in 
general you will not win unless your opponent does something stupid.  
Avoid this at all cost.  

  d.  Keep Away.
Ken's keep away sucks, it consists of the classic hadoken, hadoken, 
shoryuken when they jump trick.  He can't back up his fireball, so he has
no real range game.  It's still useful to take note of against 
characters such as Q and Hugo.  The tough part is when your opponent does 
keep away back.  That's tough to deal with.  Obviously you want to get 
close and pressure, but in the event you can't crack the keep away, try 
to watch for patterns and openings.  If you cannot parry, you will lose 
to a keep away character such as Remy every single time, so learn to parry
moves used to push you back.  
Classic ones are Akuma's air fireball and Remy's Light of Virtue, 
Cold Blue Kick tactics. Oh, and ShoRyuReppa is invincible on start up, 
but don't rely on that tactic.

e.  Turtling.
With a dragon punch and very good supers (all 3 supers work well in this
regard), Ken is good at active turtling, as long as the attacks are 
close range attacks. Block a sweep, block a fireball, ShippuJinraiKyaku
right away. Parry a poke, dragon punch -> ShoRyuReppa or ShinRyuKen
Stuff throw attempts with any of his supers, and command throws with 
ShoRyuReppa or ShinRyuKen.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part 8:  Combos.
Ken's a very basic combo character.  Nothing special.  
The order to remember is:
Jump-in -> Normal -> Special -> Super
Any jump in, any special (yes, even tatsumaki senpuu kyaku), and any 
super. You can use any normal that gives you enough stun to link another
move together or is cancellable into a special or super.
Those are the rules, with that, you can imagine how many combos he has.
It doesn't matter what jump-in you do.  
I recommend using crouching forward kick for most of your combos.  
Don't get fancy, even if you know you can do some wacky combo.  
In general, a few damaging hits comboed together do more than Ken's
flashier combos.  So keep it simple.
Ken's Cancellable moves:
Standing jab
crouching jab
crouching short
standing strong (close)
crouching strong 
crouching forward kick
standing fierce (close)
crouching fierce

For Damage, Damaging combos without supers.
close strong -> close fierce -> jab dragon punch  
  (Do after a cross up jumping forward kick)
crouching fierce -> fierce dragon punch (or ex dragon punch)
crouching forward -> fierce dragon punch (or ex dragon punch)
Learn to do that Dragon punch successfully whenever a cancellable poke 
connects and your game will improve vastly!  Suddenly that low short 
isn't such a weak poke anymore.

For combos with a bit more safety.  
(Watch for fast supers though!!!)
crouching forward -> fireball or ex fireball.  
crouching forward -> short hurricance kick
close strong -> close fierce -> fierce hadoken
crouching fierce -> hadoken
Note that none of them are really completely safe.  

Must know super combos.
crouching short -> crouching short -> ShippuJinraiKyaku
Probably the easiest way to land this super in tournament play
Name of Cancellable Normal -> Any Super
Toward + roundhouse -> Any Super  
(Overhead into super.  Surprise people)
fierce dragon punch (2 hits) -> shoryureppa or shinryuken
(This super cancel is a great way to land anti-airs or to deal with
    people who try to air parry your dragon punch)

Damaging Super Combos.
jump-in roundhouse -> crouching fierce -> any super
close strong -> close fierce -> shippu jinrai kyaku
jump-in roundhouse -> crouching forward -> fierce dragon punch (2 hits) 
    -> shippu jinrai kyaku

Juggles:  
I'm not too good on this section.  For one thing, juggles aren't too 
universal with Ken.  They vary depending on your opponent's size and 
weight, as well as certain conditions. In general, to do a juggle you 
want to launch them so another hit will hit afterwards.  This was MUCH 
easier to do in older versions of SF3, but it can still be done.  
I first took note of juggles when I saw Ryu's jumping short -> standing 
roundhouse juggle, and since then I've found that some characters have 
some nasty guaranteed juggles.  
Ken's launchers only launch people already in the air. (sigh)
Ken's launchers are:
Jab dragon punch
Crouching fierce  (Difficult to get anything now though!)
air hurricane kick
ex air hurricane kick
jumping jab or short.

The easiest followup is a normal such as standing forward kick or a 
dragon punch. The supers also make pretty good followups, and some of his 
flashier combos involve incredibly wacky juggles with supers in them.
I've actually seen on Hugo in the air in the corner:
jumping short -> standing jab -> standing forward kick 
   -> air hurricane kick -> crouching strong cancelled -> shoryureppa 
   -> shoryureppa -> air hurricane kick -> standing jab 
   -> standing forward kick
It was 16 hits, since most of the super missed, but impressive none the 
less.  The stun was incredible, the actual damage pathetic, considering 
two supers were burned. Then again, jump in roundhouse -> 
    crouching fierce -> shoryureppa would have done more damage anyways.
Also, for the life of me, I've never ever been able to reproduce such a 
flashy combo. For the most part, just keep your eye on when your opponent 
is falling in front of you.  With experience, you'll know what you can 
and can't land.

Here are some common, easier juggles, naturally the opponent has to be 
in the air first:
jab dragon punch -> jab dragon punch.  You have to land the first one so
they fall upward then
down at your feet.  It doesn't matter whether the first hit is the hit 
on the ground or if the hit is the hit after Ken has already swung into 
the air in the classic dragon punch stance.
air hurricane kick -> dragon punch.  Corner only.
Jumping short -> dragon punch.  Easier in corner.  It's difficult to get 
this to work right, I don't really know how to do this consistently.
Since all these juggles only occur on an opponent in the air, I don't
really see how one can land these in any sort of higher level game.

That's it!

