This is a new series I'm starting chronicling my time as a truly try to get into fighting games. I've loved them my whole life, but I've recently realized I know next to nothing about really playing them, aside from a combo or two. So, this journey begins. I'll mostly focus on Street Fighter 5, but some other games may make it in as well.
I should learn to be kinder to myself.
So, I’ve got this new arcade stick (Mayflash F300; a stick for people just getting into using them) and I’m trying to use it to up my game with Street Fighter 5…and I’m having difficulties. Even though the very first night I used it I managed to get a win on someone ranked higher than me, the second night it was as though I had no idea what to do. My mind would think things like, "Oh, I should anti-air this jump," or "Yeah, should use a punish on that wiff of theirs," but my hands didn't cooperate. That left me spinning. How could I forget these combos that I've spent hours practicing? How are they all dropping? Is it me? Is it lag? Is it the controller? A combination? I was so frustrated, and honestly felt pretty defeated, heartbroken, and disappointed in myself. Soon, I grew tired and went to bed upset and dejected.
Flash forward to the next morning. I wake up to do my brief combo drills and sparring before work, and find myself in the same rut. Combos dropped, movement stiff, and frustration built. Dipping back into Training Mode revealed something to me.
I simply do no have the muscle memory for the fight stick built in yet. The gamepad (Playstation) has been my controller of choice for most of my life, so there's nearly no thinking needed in my finding the buttons there. I don't even have to think about it. On the other hand, the fighting stick is an entirely different beast altogether.
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A Review of the Mayflash F300
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I have no muscle memory for this thing. My hands have no real built-in ease maneuvering across the face to each button. This created the scenario I faced, one where my hands had no coordination with my mind. One where I could "see" each action I should have taken, but not being able to execute them at all. I had put so much negative energy into myself over these perceived faults on my end, when there was no reason to expect I would perform above mediocre at my level. That's ok. One has to take the time to acknowledge the need for practice with something as skill intensive as fighting games. So, I came up with a plan to both build muscle memory and build skill. To note, this is with my current main, Luke. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Stick to Training mode to prep responses to jump ins by anti-airing, punishing unsafe moves with MP- MP-MP-MP, OR LP-MP-HP
2. Perform drills on all special moves, running each 15-20 times without stopping. If a move is dropped, start the process over.
3. Run the combo trials until able to do at least 50% of them
4. Fight CPU in Versus mode, starting on difficulty 4 and moving up to 6, aiming to get three wins out of 5 on difficulty 6.
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With this, I think I'll gain a higher degree of mobility on the fight stick. It might take a few weeks to really build it up, though. So with that comes the need for giving myself a little more grace. Considering the fact I've only been seriously digging into a fighting games for a little under two weeks, I can't expect myself to perform at a high level. I need to set realistic expectations for myself.
I need to be kinder to myself.
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