Additional Topic: How to Get the "Maximum" Out of Your Fight Buttons (AKA Don't Fuck Up Your Gameplay and Fingers Like I Nearly Did)

When playing video games like Street Fighter, very few people pay much attention to something so mundane as the way they operate their fight stick (some people don't even use a stick in 2022, to which I will say upfront, this post may not be of much value to you from here on in). 

Although most folks will eventually just decide on a method and style that best fits their own personality and comfort level, there is absolutely a specific stick style which is more beneficial for Dee Jay players to adopt . . . and, optimally, to learn early before another style is adopted (in which case relearning the new style also means breaking the comfortable habit of the old one). At this suggestion, however, you might ask: really, what's the point of relearning how to properly operate a fight stick for a character most people don't use, in a game which most people no longer play? What difference could it possibly make for a game that is over a decade old now?

Well, I will give you two excellent reasons:

1) Dee Jay has a number of tighter links and cancels into specials that are key to him running his most successful game. In many combos, you have to be able to do both quickly and without having to think excessively about it. If you don't learn the best way to position your fingers and operate the buttons, though, you will have far too many occasions where you don't get the move you want when you want it, you have moves blocked where they should have hit, and your combos are never reliable to the point where you can consistently execute them without fucking them up (or at least worrying about potentially fucking them up). Trust me. Making a few simple modifications to my finger layout on the fight stick's buttons did wonders for my combo reliability and success.

2) Poor finger movement and layout can even lead to physical problems with your fingers over time. Myself, I spent so much time ramming the buttons in Street Fighter with my right index finger, that it now occasionally aches after playing and is noticeably weaker when doing other tasks such as typing or playing piano. I have since christened that damn thing "Dee Jay finger" and, in all honesty, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble with that curse by simply coming up with a better default finger layout from the start.

Now whether these are of concern to you personally is another story. For those who want to increase their Street Fighter dexterity (and possibly save their hand!), let's explore some elements around how to use the buttons on the stick with "maximum" Dee Jay efficiency.

It's All In The Fingers, Mon

For starters, your default finger posture and layout should mirror the picture to the right. That is, your right index finger should be on light punch, your middle finger should be on medium punch, and your ring finger should be on heavy punch. The thumb is then placed on light kick below the first finger. All fingers should be curled ever so slightly, but relaxed and not tense (in order to cut down on the amounts of aches and pains as well as shorten your overall reaction time). Memorize this finger layout and posture because you will want to be able to return to it reflexively throughout every round of every match.

Why this particular layout, you ask? Mainly because it covers the key buttons you will be using the most as Dee Jay and also minimizes the amount of finger movement needed to get from one button to the next during a sequence of button presses. This is vital because lifting a finger from a button and moving it to another location adds time to your reactions and button presses, making tight links and quick cancels harder to land in a pinch. This is also why I ended up wrecking myself with "Dee Jay finger." In an effort to get from one button to another as quickly as possible, I would often rush my finger to it and end up hitting it much harder than was necessary. Not only is this bad for your hand, it's also not great for your buttons (I once struck mine so hard the wire connector underneath actually became loose!).

In contrast, with the above finger layout, you have nearly all the buttons covered already, each with a finger that doesn't usually have to move significantly during the course of a Round. There are a few exceptions to this, of course. To reach the medium kick button and the heavy kick button, you have to curl your fingers on the buttons above them to tap those below (in other words, the finger on medium punch curls down to press medium kick and the finger on heavy punch curls down to tap heavy kick). 

This is not an optimal movement and will seem rather unnatural until you practice it for about a week. But it is the best finger layout possible in my opinion to give easy access to the most buttons all at once (it also helps that the medium kick and heavy kick buttons are not used as much during Dee Jay play so there is less chance of you wearing those fingers out this way). And if you find using the ring finger difficult for pressing hard kick (given that it is one of the weakest fingers on the hand), you can probably employ the pinky instead since it is generally not used anywhere else on the stick. Just be certain to return to default finger position immediately afterward.

The picture to the right gives you an example of the finger shift from medium punch to medium kick. You may also notice that your pinky and ring finger tend to come along for the ride as your middle finger does the button press for medium kick. In the grand scheme of things, though, this doesn't really matter. Your ring finger is still close to (if not on) the heavy punch button, so it retains relatively quick access to the heavy punch button as it should be (which is the whole purpose of the layout in the first place). I will admit, getting your fingers to work both independently and together this way will be a bit of a challenge at first (much like it would, for example, when playing an instrument like piano). That said, this new method of pressing buttons is entirely learnable, and you will be surprised how quickly you can adjust to it after a few days of playing arcade edition using it.

There are two other exceptions I can think of where you will need to deviate from the default finger layout during a match. Firstly, when doing a Focus attack, you should implement this by pressing the medium punch with the middle finger (which is default fingering) but also the medium kick button at the same time with your thumb (which is not default finger position). The reason for this should be fairly obvious; your middle finger can't press both medium buttons simultaneously, so we keep that finger on its home button (i.e., medium punch) and instead press medium kick with the thumb (given that it is the closest and less awkward way to do this form of Attack). After the focus, you can immediately return your fingers to their default finger position, as is standard.

Secondly, when canceling a medium or heavy punch into a medium Dread Kick, it makes sense to use the thumb in this situation for the medium Dread Kick. This is an easier and less awkward finger movement than moving the middle finger down to this button would be (if you don't believe me, try it and see which one is more comfortable). Note that there will also be occasions where you will want to cancel that medium sobat kick into a heavy Super which will require a follow-up heavy kick button press. You can accomplish that last movement with either the ring finger or pinky since no other tight inputs are generally required after this point in a combo.

The only other button trick I should mention before finishing up is for your Ultras. When doing Ultras, it's useful to flatten your fingers before hitting the three different buttons (see the pic to the right for how to do this for a punch Ultra from default position). The reason for this is that it gives a better chance of hitting all three buttons at the same time. In contrast, because our fingers have different degrees of dexterity, length, and strength in each one, there's a greater chance of pressing one button before the others when the fingers are curled; meaning, you may not get the move you want (or worse yet, end up doing an accidental Super when you are trying for the Ultra 1). 

Also, when performing certain combos into Ultra (such as EX Hyperfist into Ultra 2), it is beneficial to raise your hand off the buttons slightly before flattening the fingers and hand. It seems to break the rule of keeping fingers on your buttons, but it does help in this case by giving you a moment to relax the fingers before flattening them for the 3-button input (both of which are helpful for ensuring you get that needed input when you want it).

Oh, and if you're doing this for a 3-kick button Ultra, use the same technique but slide your whole hand down before doing the button presses. The aim again is to have all the fingers working as a unit, with minimum movement of each individual one and with no unnecessary curling of the digits to get to your next position. A pic of what that looks like is to the right above. Not surprisingly, it's nearly identical to the previous pic, just with the hand dropped down to hit all three kick instead of all three punch.

And . . . that's all there is to it. Really, the idea here is to maintain a relaxing and effective default posture which requires little movement of the fingers and, where finger movement is necessary, performing it in a way that transitions smoothly from the default finger position and allows you to quickly return to it upon finishing your inputted technique. Now that you know what is involved (and why), the rest is just muscle memory. Good luck with it!

NOTE 1: Let me reiterate that you want to keep your hand and fingers properly positioned but also relaxed at all times in the default posture. This is part of why the layout above works so well - because it keeps your hand and fingers from having to do a lot of excess movement which only adds tension to your button control over time. Unfortunately, it'll also be the hardest element of this task to get down reflexively, at least until such a time as your hand and fingers get accustomed to the new method of inputting. Stick with it, though, and you'll achieve MAXIMUM output through MAXIMUM input. Which is what the Dee Jay beat is all about.

NOTE 2: To perform a taunt, I suppose you could use a similar finger position as for Focus. That is, ring finger is used for the hard punch button, thumb for the hard kick button, after which all fingers return to their default positioning. Really, taunting isn't something which you should need to be doing with a lot of precision, so it's up to you how you want to input the buttons in this particular case.

NOTE 3: I should point out this default finger layout is what seems to work best for Dee Jay in my gaming experience. It is entirely possible that other finger positioning would be better for other characters in the game. Up to you to decide this for yourselves.

FINAL NOTE: Now that our Dee Jay button strategies are taken care of, I'll take one last researcher's look at the final element of the fight stick's anatomy in the next post; specifically, how to manipulate the stick to get the most out of your fighting technique.

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