Throw

Throws are moves that "grab" an opponent, playing through a choreographed sequence when they connect. Most throws are high-hitting moves intended to break an opponent's guard, but can be broken on reaction with the correct break input.

Unlike most other fighting games (notably 2D ones), throws in Tekken are breakable on reaction. This makes their purpose fundamentally different at higher levels of play, being more of a "reaction check" or predictive tool to hard read an opponent. Since breaking throws consistently takes practice, however, they still serve as reliable mix against opponents incapable of breaking them, making them a potent form of cheese.

Despite their reactability, throws still have quite a few situations where they are useful besides simply breaking a guard.

If the opponent presses a button during your throw animation that isn't the proper break input, they are locked out of breaking your throw. This can be used to greatly reduce the chance of your throw being broken if you predict that the opponent is going to press a specific button in a situation, such as during a string.
A throw done on a back turned opponent is unbreakable, and can be a good damage punish option after a sidestep
In Tekken 8:
- As of Patch 1.05, most throws are no longer fully homing. This means that they can no longer be used to shut down sidestepping opponents.
- A throw landing as a counter hit significantly reduces its break window, making it effectively unreactable.
- A throw landing on an armored move, such as against Rage Art or power crush, becomes unbreakable. There is an extra large pink flash and screen freeze to indicate this. This even works when punishing armored moves, making them an easily bufferable punish after blocking a Rage Art or -12 power crush.

The okizeme situation after a throw is usually consistent, with both players recovering at the same distance and with ample time to prepare. The same is generally true if the throw is broken, sometimes also resulting in a sideswitch and a small amount of advantage frames. The consistency of these two possibilities makes throws more reliable than they might at first seem, especially considering their relatively short whiff recovery frames, making them difficult to duck and launch.

Types of throws

Regular throw

A fast high that goes through the opponent's guard with a startup animation of the attacker's hands literally grabbing the opponent and which doesn't get counter hit if interrupted (except during its active frames).

If a regular throw hits the opponent in the side or back, the throw will turn into a different throw based on where it hit, ignoring the input. Side throws can be broken with 1 if it hit the left side and 2 if it hit the right side. Back throws can't be broken.

Some of Armor King, Gigas, King, Marduk's regular throws can hit airborne opponents. If they do, they'll turn into a different throw that can't be broken.

Generic throw

Two regular throws every character has bound to 1+3 and 2+4. Both are i12~14, deal 35 damage, and are broken by either 1 or 2. The 2+4 throw will switch sides, sometimes even when broken. Some generic throws will cause a stage break.

These throws can also be done with f+1+3 and f+2+4, making them homing and giving them extra range, at the cost of being 3 frames slower and having longer recovery.

Command throw

A regular throw with an input specific to the character. For these throws, the input to break the throw is indicated by which hand is in front during the startup animation: left hand is a 1 break, right hand is a 2 break, and both hands is a 1+2 break. The input for these throws is often a bufferable motion input, which can make them easier to use after an attack (such as a jab) rather than on their own.

Chain throw

A throw which connects into another throw. Usually each link in the chain can be broken, but what input to break with is a pure knowledge check and often a mixup. If the attacking player does the chain throw by mashing 1+2+3+4, it's usually a 1 break. Only Anna, Armor King, King, and Nina have chain throws, Dragunov has breakable qcf+4 extensions.

Ground throw

A throw that only hits grounded opponents. Often breakable with a specific button.

Mid/crouch throw

A throw that only hits crouching opponents. Completely unbreakable, requiring a standing or airborne state to beat it. Usually only owned by heavily throw-oriented characters, such as King.

Mid-air throw: A throw that can hit airborne opponents. When a character has a mid-air throw, some of their on-land throws can be mid-air throws.
Tackle: A type of chain throw that is not a regular throw. Every character has a tackle in form of ultimate tackle, and Marduk has his own unique tackle.
Attack throw: A throw from a blockable attack. These are either bonus damage for an attack on counter hit, or a way to make a move look cool on hit, and as such are usually unbreakable. Attack throws typically don't transition to the throw when they're blocked or when they hit the opponent's back or side.
Parry: A throw occurring after parrying an attack.
Special: Any other throw.

Breaking throws

To break a throw in Tekken, you must correctly press one of the three combinations of punch buttons: 1, 2, or 1+2. This has to be done during the break window after the throw connects, and any incorrect button press will lock you out of breaking it.

Hands rule

Against the majority of throws, the button you use to break correlates with which hand(s) they extend to perform the throw animation. This is called the "hands rule".

Left hand extended is a 1 break.
Right hand extended is a 2 break.
Both hands together is a 1+2 break.

Though this may seem somewhat simple at first glance, there are countless factors in a real match that can make identifying the proper break challenging. Some characters have thicker torsos and shoulders that may obscure their arm placements slightly. Getting side switched can make the break disorienting, swapping which arm is in front of the camera. As such, it is important to try and identify solid "tells" that can be seen from any angle, such as the specific elevation of each arm in each break, or even something as subtle as the fingers being splayed or retracted.

1 and 2 breaks typically look as if they are reaching over you to grab the back of your shoulder.
1+2 breaks may be mistaken for the break of the foreground arm at first, but you can easily identify them by noticing that the arms are grabbing toward your character's chest rather than their shoulders. The opponent's hands will also appear like clenched fists.
If you are on a side you aren't used to playing on, try your best to simply reverse the logic of your throw break reflexes.

Throws that the hands rule doesn't apply to:

Generic throws can be broken with either 1 or 2 (but not 1+2)
If the throw connects on the side of an opponent, there is a shorter break window that depends solely on which side the throw connected on
(1 for left, 2 for right)
If the throw connects on the back of an opponent, it is completely unbreakable
Alisa's uf+1+2 (unique 1+2 break that uses her detachable head)
Lars' uf+3+4* (unique 1+2 break where Lars jumps high and grabs your shoulders)
Law's f+2+3 (unique 1 break animation that uses Law's left leg)
Armor King and King's Giant Swing (f,n,hcf+1) uses a unique, somewhat altered 1+2 throw animation that has them lunge farther than normal (their Shining Wizard also uses this animation) but is actually a 1 break
Armor King and King's chain throws have both hands together but are either a 1 or 2 break depending on how they were input

Break window

The throw break window of most throws is 20 frames by default, starting from the frame after the throw connects. Assuming the throw is i12, this effectively gives 32 frames to react to the throw in total. If the throw connects as a counter hit, the break window is reduced to 14 frames, making reaction much more difficult.

The throw break window of most chain throw links is 9 frames. In Tekken 8, chain throw links can be broken by simply holding the break button instead of having to time the button press.

Practicing

Practicing throw breaks is a pretty simple matter of building muscle memory. The goal is for your brain to immediately recognize and act on – without thinking – the animation of left hand, right hand, or both hands grabbing.

Go in to practice mode and choose Dragunov for the opponent. Set «CPU Opponent Action 1» to «Repeat Action», and choose the throws to practice against from the movelist: Reverse Victor Clutch for 1 break, Victor Clutch for 2 break, and Blizzard Rush for 1+2 break.

For beginners, start with only a 2-way mixup. Once this is comfortable, move up to the full 3-way mixup. Some people recommend making the bot also do things other than throws, but it's unclear if this is actually useful and is arguably just wasting time.

Make sure you practice on both sides.

This practice is more efficiently done in small amounts over a long period, rather than in large amounts very quickly. For example, 5 minutes a day for 90 days is better than 90 minutes for 5 days. There is also a browser equivalent to this in the External Links section.

Unbreakable throws

The following throws go through guard and can't be broken:

Armor King and King's df+3+4 – smid, but doesn't throw against crouch
Akuma's Hyakkishu 3+4
Asuka's db+1+2 - +8 but deals no damage
Asuka's 1+2+3+4,df+3+4,3+4,1+2 - special ultimate tackle
Dragunov's Rage Drive into tackle R.f,f,F+1+2,db+1+2, but the extensions are breakable
Dragunov's f,F+2,1+2 with ki charge. Otherwise a 1+2 break
Eddy's Handstand 3+4 – i26
Geese's Rage Art
Kazumi's Fearless Warrior 1+3 – i46 mid
Lee's 3~3:4 – i30
Negan's Intimidation 1+3 – i25
Nina's qcb+1+4 – chain throw with breakable links
Yoshimitsu's DGF.3+4 - parriable
Yoshimitsu's Soul Siphon - against qcf+2 by pressing 1+2 can make Yoshimitsu's health go down. qcb,f+2 version does that by default.
All throws that connect on back turned opponents
All throws that connect during an opponent's armored move