I’ve always struggled with the forward hp, chp, srk combo since vanilla days.

I put in a disproportionate amount of time practising that combo, and yet I am still unable to hit it consistently enough to use it comfortably in tournaments. Which is really disheartening.

I’ve even developed a bit of a complex; choosing to learn character specific solar plexus strike combos such as fhp cmp cmp cmk tatsu for Chun and Blanka and fhp cmp chp for Sim and Sagat all of which you can find in Mr Caesar’s delightful solar plexus centric post.

These combos are all very useful to learn because they do more damage and stun than the universal fhp chp srk combo which works on everyone. But honestly, the real reason I’ve been putting a lot more effort recently to practice these character specific solar plexus combos is because I simply do not have faith in my fhp chp srk.

And every Ryu player knows that if you screw up the fhp chp srk combo, you’re gonna eat big damage. Doing fhp cmp cmp cmk tatsu and fhp cmp chp tatsu simply feel a bit more hit confirmable and safe to me.

So I was tinkering in training room today as per usual and getting frustrated because I can now hit fhp cmp cmp cmk tatsu and fhp cmp chp tatsu way more consistently than I can fhp chp srk! Urgh. This doesn’t make sense.

But I figured out what I was doing wrong. It wasn’t that my consistency with the link timing, it’s actually my consistency with the plink itself. I simply switched my plink from hp~mplp (double plink) back to hp~mp, and my consistency shot through the roof.

Now I have been practising the hp~mplp plink a TON the last few months specifically for fhp chp srk. But even after hours of practice, I still can’t do it consistently.

And I figured out why.

I use hp~mp for every hp plink in my BnB combos. Clk clp chp tatsu. Cmp chp tatsu. Even cmk fb fadc chp lk tatsu dp. I simply get to use that plink way more in my matches whereas I only ever whip out my hp~mplp when I want to go for fhp chp srk.

Therein lies my mistake. If I wanted to use hp~mplp, I should have worked it into every other combo I use. Over the months I have been gaining a lot of match confidence in my hp~mp but my hp~mplp still remains very much a training room plink.

I think I’ve just wasted a few months of training room time. While I know the hp~mplp double plink is what all the best Ryus use for fhp chp srk, I think I’ll go back to hp~mp for now. The huge jump in consistency is something I can’t ignore.

Maybe one day if I decide to implement hp~mplp into all my other combos, and then spend a couple months reworking my muscle memory, then I might go back to it.

So my advice for any other player struggling with your execution: if you decide to learn a specific plink for a combo, don’t just use it for that one combo; use it for everything else you do!

Don’t end up wasting your time like I did.