Approaches / Setups

[Musashi Xiii]

Ok i have been watching my replays of all the matches i lost lately, and i noticed i seem to be having a problem with my approaches as i play ,like i really dont know what's my problem lmao , I would be so hype at the start of the match then after the announcer say's ''Teh Veel of bate ish curning ...,Revbel one ! Action! '' I'll just freeze up and the next thing i know my Hakumen just lost 3k of health and i am mashing drive on wake up like a noob -__- i don't have much trouble learning combo's or anything it's just once i go live in a match i freeze up

[Delrian]

Uh, so is your problem what to do at the beginning of matches or just during matches in general?

[Musashi Xiii]

Well during matches in general >.<

[Delrian]

I think Hakumen plays a little differently than the rest of the cast, so to avoid giving you bad advice, I advise you ask for help in the Hakumen character threads.

Also watching some videos of what other Hakumen players do will help as well.

[YukiBlue]

Go watch Spark at EVO. I'd usually go and point you in some JP Hakumen direction, But in honesty he is the best Hakumen you're going to see.

Other than that, Hakumen plays much differently, So I wouldn't really suggest starting out with him right off the bat. And as Delirian said, We would only give you bad advice, The Hakumen boards wont.

Good luck bro!

[Fluck]

You need to tell us more. It seems like you just have no idea how to actually fight yet, so you don't know what you should be doing and end up freezing up. Why are you getting hit? For starters, keep in mind your own character's basic gameplan. Hakumen is a defensive character who will rarely approach the enemy at the start of the round. Assuming you are staying on the defensive, then you are getting hit cause your defense is not up to par. You aren't blocking and teching throws. Unfortunately, defense tends to come with experience, so there's not that much you can do besides playing more and noting what your opponent can do on offense. Another aspect of defense is to prevent yourself from having to block in the first place. For example, if your opponent likes to run at you, you can use your excellent 4C and 5C pokes to stop this. If he instead air dashes at you, you can do something like IAD backwards j.C, which should beat whatever he's doing if you're quick enough.

If you're instead going on the offensive, it is probably a better idea not to at the start of the match, as Hakumen is heavily reliant on usage of his magatama and you will want to turtle to get them. However, in the end when you do have meter, you'll still want to approach the opponent. If you're getting hit while going on the offensive, then you're probably being too predictable. Hakumen is slow on the ground and doesn't have a run, but he does have a very good air dash. Thus, you'll probably want to approach by doing something like IAD j.2C. Repeatedly doing this makes you predictable, though, and your opponent can do an anti-air if he has a good one to hit you since he knows what you're going to do. Consider using your command dash special (623A) to get closer. If that doesn't close the distance completely, you can still do things like IAD or a double jump at a much closer distance to make it harder to anti-air you. Or you can use the special more than once.

[mAc Chaos]

You just need to play more to shake off the nerves.

[LunaKage]

Hakumen doesn't approach...

He waits.

[Yggjrasil]

Hakumen doesn't approach...

He waits.

Pretty much this. Being defensive with Hakumen is the ultimate offense. He gains a crazy amount of meter from instant blocking and just waiting. If you like laming out your opponent, Hakumen is pretty much up your alley.

[Reikomaru]

Hakumen, right? I fight Hakumens every once in a while and my gameplan changes considerably thanks to his drive. Full-auto offense (my character is a rushdown type) won't work on Hakumen because of his Drive, so I have to rely on Yomi to win.

I'm still a newbie on PSN, so I meet newbie Hakus. One of their great mistakes is relying too much on the drive. Newbie Hakus tend to drive on wakeup, drive whenever I dash towards them, and drive more than once ("Hey! I'm spamming D!"). Number 1 counter I use are throws, and pretty soon the Haku is dying.

In my opinion though (I never play Haku), Yomi would be your best friend. Try to guess and counter (no, not drive, punish) your opponent's moves. I read somewhere that "Hakumen is a character that exploits bad fundamentals" (or was that about Tager), so it's best to learn what it means.

Anyway, go to the Hakumen section and read their stuff. Good luck!