Active Defense: Using Movement Defensively
A write-up by Raiden
PREFACE: Words on Defense
Purpose
To introduce the subtle nuances and concepts regarding a movement-based approach to defense. These are insights gleaned from watching high-level matches, listening to tutorials from high-level players (namely JDCR and Speedkicks) and my own experience implementing these things in my game. I make no claims of being a high-level Tekken player, though I do have a good degree of understanding of the game and a relatively consistent degree of competence in the application of its concepts. There are plenty of people who may even read this while being better than me. This is just me passing on what I've learned.
What Makes Tekken Unique
Tekken holds a very unique niche in fighting games. It is the ONLY fighting game that allows complete, frame-by-frame control of your character's movement (walking, dashing, etc.) and status (blocking/standing/crouching) options (excluding jumping) at all times. This is certainly not the case in 2D fighters as dashing relinquishes control of your character for some number of frames. Once you start dashing, you cannot do anything else until the dash animation is complete. This level of control is only marginally available in other 3D fighters. In Soul Calibur, for example, even though you have the ability to move in any direction at any time, it is impossible to move and guard or crouch immediately. The ability to move and cancel that movement option into another movement option, or into a blocking, crouching, or crouch-blocking state is absolutely unique to Tekken. This is what gives Tekken a somewhat "jerky" aesthetic when watching competent player matches.
It's this level of freedom that creates the sandbox wherein the rest of the game is played. This is the basis of Backdash Cancelling (BDC) or Korean Backdashing (KBD). Because Tekken allows you to cancel a backdash into a crouch and a crouch into a backdash, this is what allows you to BDC (backdash > crouch > backdash > crouch > backdash). More on BDC later. The same is also true of sidestepping into guarding, backdashing, crouching (conditional based on direction) and more. Bound together, this lays the foundation for Active Defense.
Blocking vs. Counters/Hard Reads
Before getting into active defense, I first want to highlight what I would consider the building blocks of defense in general terms. When defending in fighting games, there are generally two ways to defend - Block or Counter.
Blocking
Blocking is considered the more passive option. If you block correctly, you have the ability to defend against every attack in the game with the exception of attacks that are designed specifically to deal with a blocking opponent (throws, unblockables, etc). Blocking is usually instantaneous and has essentially no inherent risks. Instead, the risk comes from the fact that it requires you to deal with the limitations and drawbacks of attempting to block. You could be subject to:
- Mixups - Wherein you may fail to block correctly
- Frametraps - Locking you down into more pressure
- Chip damage - Mostly in 2D fighters
- Lost ring-positioning - Pushback towards the corner/wall of the stage
- And more.
Because it is passive, blocking requires you to hand "control" to your opponent as you are the one on the receiving end of their offense and you're choosing to accept whatever they send your way. However blocking is the safest option and requires little-to-no commitment as in most fighting games you can change your blocking position (standing vs crouching) nearly instantly. Also, as long as you aren't locked into a different animation (attacking, jumping, and moving in other fighters) you can block instantly as well. This means it is a low commitment option. But unless the opponent has done something unsafe it has no reward either. Making blocking the low-risk, no/low-reward option in most situations.
Countering/Hard Reads
Countering allows you to by-pass blocking and typically deal some type of damage to an opponent for attacking predictably. Countering generally requires a commitment on your part in anticipation of an opponent's attack. This is most commonly referred to as making a Hard Read (the term I will be using going forward). This is because you are making an irreversible decision in anticipation of what your opponent will do before they have actually done anything. In 2D, this often takes the form of Dragon Punches (DPs) on wake-up or pre-emptively jumping over a fireball. In Tekken, this is seen most often in crush moves (like hopkicks, duckjabs, powercrushes, or Rage Arts), in counter-grabs (like parries or attack reversals), quick counter-hit options (CH Magic 4, Steve b+1, Kuma G-Clef Cannon, etc) or backswing blows (Dragunov qcb+2, Feng b,f+1, Jin CDS options, etc). These can often be extremely rewarding, though they carry inherent risk. However, there is one major drawback that can be summed up in this simple question:
What if you're wrong?
What if they don't attack in the way you thought they would? What if they did, but their timing was different than you anticipated? What if they didn't attack at all? When going for hard reads you must not only select the correct counter, but you must also select that counter at the correct time in order for it to succeed. Because hard reads require you to make a prediction, from the moment you enter the command for the hard read, until the frame your character recovers, you are committed to that action.
Application at High-Level
This is the reason you don't see as many hard reads in the course of a high-level match (though they are always present and can be extremely rewarding). The better the opponent and the more complex their offense, the more difficult it is to determine not only the exact attack they will use, but also the exact time they will use it. While some Hard Reads may cover multiple defensive options, these moves also often come with inherently more risk. For example, Asuka's b+3 crushes highs, lows, and some mids but is also -18 on block. Because of this you see these options less and less at high-level play, making it even more hype when they do bring them out at an unexpected moment!
This is not to say that Hard Reads are "bad". However, they are more common at lower/mid-level play and, if abused, will often cause problems over the long-run against a player who is significantly stronger than you. They will bait you into making a hard read and punish you as heavily as possible for it. Again, do not take these to mean that Hard Reads are never appropriate, only that you want to build out your defensive arsenal to reflect a more balanced approach to the game. One that doesn't require you to always take risks or be completely passive, allowing your opponent to bulldoze you. That is where Active Defense comes in.
What is Active Defense?
This is just my term for what I call this overall philosophy behind defending. There may be another name for it that I'm unaware of. This just encapsulates it for me.
Active Defense: Weaving Low-commitment movement options into your defense to neutralize, mitigate or force alterations in your opponent's offense.
CHAPTER 1: Backdashing
Remember what we said about what makes Tekken unique regarding analog movement? Keeping all that in mind, adding the final ingredient to active defense ties the entire room together. We've established that backdashes can be cancelled into crouching, sidestepping, forward dashes, and that all these can be canceled into each other as well. Once you add in the fact that you can block while backdashing, you now have all the building blocks for active defense, assuming you are backdashing correctly.
Backdashing Correctly
You need two things to backdash correctly.
- You need to hold the second "back" input. This allows you to block standing while moving backwards at the same time. So think of it the input as b~B instead of b~b.
- You need to allow for your character to get the full backwards movement out of your backdash. Allow the backdash to complete fully, moving you backwards as far as possible. Again, this is done by doing "b~B" and holding the "B" until the character completes the backdash. This is just before the character begins the walking back animation. Practice the timing so you have a sense when the full backdash has been completed.
It is imperative to understand that everything we will talk about going forward is predicated on the idea that you are backdashing correctly. So from now on, when we talk about backdashing, know that this is what we're talking about. You should never be hit with a blockable high or mid attack out of your backdash ever again if you are backdashing correctly.
Much and more has been said at length about the proper technique and concepts behind BDC and I'll post one example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sSBmB6w6P8
What has been less explored is how to actually apply these things in a match. So without further ado we're just going to jump into it now.
How NOT to Use Backdash Cancelling
New players learning how to BDC often spend a great deal of time trying to BDC as fast as possible. Then, when they get in a match, they sit at full screen trying to create BDC porn and repeatedly BDC aimlessly. They often don't even do this correctly (blocking while backdashing, and allowing the full backdash to complete before cancelling it into the next one). Instead they focus on speed, which is the wrong way to practice and apply BDC. Using BDC this way doesn't really do anything and is not the primary way high-level players apply BD or BDC.
How To Use Backdash Cancelling Effectively
To answer that, you have to break it down to its smallest part. The point of a backdash cancel is to link several backdashes together. The next logical question is:
Why do you want to backdash to begin with?
It's to create space. But Tekken is a hand-to-hand, 3D fighter. Projectiles and range (putting guest characters aside) aren't really a factor. Most characters generally have the same effective range. This also means that it isn't really all that easy (or even beneficial) to "keep someone out" in the sense that you can in 2D fighters. This means that the space you're trying to create is being created from up-close, as this is where most of the match is actually being fought.
The next question is:
Why do you want to create space up-close?
Many will say to create whiffs for whiff punishing. This is 100% accurate, but it is not 100% of the reason. Another key factor (and the one we will be exploring the most in Active Defense) is to mitigate your opponent's offense. Note, I did NOT say "eliminate" but rather "mitigate".
Mitigate: make less severe, serious, or painful; to lessen the gravity of
To put it in the simplest terms, using backdash correctly allows you to mitigate some of your opponents offense by allowing you to defend while being mobile instead of remaining stationary. On a basic level, this means you aren't standing and blocking where your opponent wants you to be standing and blocking and oftentimes, in order to reach you, they need to adjust their timing or move selection to compensate for the distance you've created with your backdash. This is most effective up-close, where the match usually is centered around quick pokes, throws, etc, that often have less range. Here's the key to using backdash up close:
Don't Just Block. Backdash!
Because we've already established that you can block while backdashing, you can essentially look at them as being the same thing with one difference. Backdashing allows you to block AND create space very quickly at the same time. This is what I mean when I say that Tekken is extremely unique. It is the ONLY fighting game where backdashing and blocking are interchangeable! This means that whenever you are in a situation where you are going to block, you should train yourself to backdash, instead of merely blocking while stationary. This allows you to get all the benefits of blocking and all the benefits of backdashing at the same time.
Examples
This is easier to explain when you see some examples. So I will share links to some of my old matches. Disclaimer, I make no claims to be a high-level player. Many of you watching these may be able to beat me. But these clips do showcase these concepts. I'm going to describe the situation first, then link you to the video, then talk about the outcome and the reasoning behind it. Please don't skip to the video until you read the content before it. Note: All these examples are taken from offline matches and many are from Season 1 of Tekken 7: FR. However, the concepts are still the same.
Case 1
Notice here that after the juggle at the wall, I do an uf+3 leaving me at around -7. This means that attacking here will most likely get me counterhit. I've decided that I need to block, putting me on the defensive. My opponent knows this, and decides to take this opportunity to try and counter attack using his frame advantage. Pay special attention to how close I am to him after the blocked uf+3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=12&v=oPPa8eCg4g0&feature=youtu.be
Keep in mind. I did NOT know exactly HOW he was going to attack. I certainly didn't attempt to backdash a throw specifically. But as a result his throw whiffed. I ended up whiff punishing with b+1 (as a reaction to seeing the left arm throw animation). But the point still remains that his throw attempt whiffed completely. And because I was blocking and backdashing at the same time, I was able to mitigate his offense with zero risk to myself. Had he done a short range mid, I would've drawn the whiff. Had he done a long range mid, I still would've blocked it anyway. If he had done a short range low, again, I would've drawn the whiff. Had he done a long range low, he would have hit me. But he would've hit me regardless had I not been blocking low anyway. So by using a backdash to block, I have avoided a lot, and only left myself vulnerable to a smaller number of threats that would have poised the same level of threat as if I'd just stood there and blocked. A gained a lot, while losing nothing.
Now think about what could've happened had I not backdashed.
His throw would've connected. I most likely would've broken it (As evidenced by my b+1 input), but there is always the possibility that I could've been late or used the wrong break and been forced to eat 35+ dmg plus oki. Also, some throws allow you to change positions even when broken, which would have turned the tables and put me against the wall. Moreover, if I had gone for the hard read and tried to duck, or low/high crush the throw, he could've just as easily gone for a powerful mid option. All those possibilities (and more) were neutralized because of a simple command: "b~B" instead of "B". This required no additional thought or commitment on my part. There was no guesswork. No hard counters. In this instance I didn't even have to break a throw.
Case 2
In this next case it's a similar situation to Case 1. He lands string on me that leaves me at significant negative frames and in FC. This is a situation where I have almost NO choice but to block high or low as there aren't enough frames to make any other option because of being in such a completely unfavorable position. Again, note how close I am to my opponent and how bad of a position I'm left in after the 3rd hit of that string:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=56&v=oPPa8eCg4g0&feature=youtu.be
Again, here I was already committed to blocking. But instead of just holding "B", I did a full guarding Backdash by inputting "b~B". That was particularly helpful in this instance because I actually misread the throw! I thought he'd done a 1+2 throw and reacted by pressing 1+2 while holding back (giving me Drag's b+1+2). Had I not backdashed, I would've input the incorrect break and would've been thrown. However, because I backdashed, and he didn't compensate for it, his throw whiffed and instead of TAKING 35 dmg + oki I DEALT over 50 dmg to my opponent, purely on accident!
This is because my opponent is doing setups based on where he expects me to be based on the assumption that I am going to block in a stationary fashion, and he has failed to compensate for my backwards movement, which would've still allowed me to block even if he had!
Case 3 - Option Select
After blocking a d+1, I expected a fullcrouch mixup. There is a safe mid option that moves her forward, as well as a low that gives her plus frames.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=127&v=oPPa8eCg4g0&feature=youtu.be
Instead of guessing high or low, or going for a hard read like a low crush. I was able to option-select the entire mixup with a simple b~B. This would have allowed me to block the safe, advancing mid, and as you can see, forced the FC low to whiff.
Case 4 - Option Select
Another instance, this time after a blocked rage drive, where a backdash guard saved me from dealing with a mixup. The BT.d+4 woud've given her plus frames and left her in FC for a mixup. b~B allowed me to avoid it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=65&v=SatjsTZxHKk&feature=youtu.be
Active Defense
Case 5 - Active Defense
This is one of the key benefits to Active Defense that I will discuss later. Because I am actively moving as part of my defense, for me, it allows me to respond better to strings. In this instance because my hands were already in the act of moving, I was able to more quickly respond and SS this sequence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SatjsTZxHKk
Using this, you may find yourself ducking/sidestepping strings, breaking throws and punishing more effectively! This is because you are active in your defense instead of passively holding "back".
Overextending To Compensate
This is one of the major parts of the mind game. Once the opponent has to adjust to your ability to create space at any time, they will need to modify their offense to incorporate longer ranged moves or dashes to close the space if they want to keep their pressure going. When that happens...
Case 6 - Overreaching
I play my opponent fairly regularly, so he understands that I create space freely. So in order to get in, he felt confident dashing forward in this instance...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=5&v=oPPa8eCg4g0&feature=youtu.be
... and ran smack into a df+2. This was not a "yolo" launcher. It wasn't particularly reckless. We'd played several matches before this and I'd gathered a sense of when he felt he could advance based on the fact that I had consistently, safely created space using b~B to block. I unleashed that df+2 after establishing the meta that "you will need to chase me if you want to start your offense".
Not Only For Defensive Players
One notion I want to address, is the idea that this is primarily for turtles. That is not the case. Offensive players can (and do) apply active defense when they are (inevitably) placed on the defensive.
When To Backdash CANCEL
One other thing to note, is that up close, you don't want to cancel your backdash into another one until you can see that your opponent isn't attacking. Because cancelling a backdash requires you to go into a crouch, these means that there is a window of time where your character is technically considered crouching and is open to being hit with mids.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=22&v=oPPa8eCg4g0&feature=youtu.be
You'll notice that I attempted to cancel while my opponent was attacking with a mid and I paid the price. So be careful now to cancel your backdash until it is safe to do so. Allow your character to do the full backdash, and then determine if you want to cancel into another backdash, or if you should be punishing a whiff or pressing your advantage.
Mitigate, Not Eliminate
Circling back to this idea, one thing to clarify is that again, this does not eliminate your opponent's offense. This doesn't mean that you will never be hit by a mix-up again or that every button your opponent throws at you will whiff. Again, because backdashing is simply a retreating guard, it is still vulnerable to all the same things that a standing guard is vulnerable to. A long range low will still hit you. But that's ok! Think of it this way, If you knew you wanted to block that low, you would've ducked. But instead you chose to block standing, meaning you're choosing not to block the low. All this means, is that instead of standing still and blocking, you're moving backwards and blocking. You may have gotten the false impression from those clips that doing this should always lead to the opponent whiffing. That is not the case. If you actually watch the matches, you will see that there were plenty of times that I backdashed only to block my opponents longer range move. In that instance, I've lost nothing that I wouldn't have already lost by blocking mid. I've simply gained the benefits of backdashing. The same thing with longer ranged lows. If that low has enough range to hit a backdash, it's going to have enough range to hit your retreating guard anyway. But this goes into the next thing...
Increased Spacing
All hits are not created equal. Namely, there can often be a big difference between getting hit with a move at max range vs. up close. Using the example above, let's say Chloe hits you with a FC.df+1 up close. This means that even if you backdash after you've been hit, you are still in the mix-up range as she is still in FC with plus frames. But if she hits you at the tip of the range of FC.df+1, then one b~B and you are out of the mixup. This can make a big difference. So, if you are using b~B to block, and the opponent nicks you with a low poke, having that poke hit you at range 1 instead of range 0 can make a big difference. So even though your backdash didn't eliminate their offense, it did mitigate it by making it "less severe, serious, or painful".
(will try to find a clip of this later)
Jab Pressure
This also helps you manage jab pressure better. The jab is the fundamental building block of offense in Tekken. It's the fastest generic move in the game at i10, granting +1 on block, and massive frame advantage on hit. But they typically don't possess exceptionally long range. If the opponent is playing "small Tekken" and using a bunch of jabs, df+1's and other short-ranged pokes to pressure you, instead of simply holding "B" allowing them to set more easily setup their offense, try blocking with b~B to give yourself some extra breathing room. This doesn't mean you'll never be pressured with jabs again. But it does mean the opponent will have to adjust their offense.
Key Matchup Examples
There are a lot of examples of where using b~B to guard will weaken your opponent's offensive options. This list is by no means exhaustive. Furthermore, the point of this list is not to say that these are the only times you should be guarding with b~B. You should be guarding with b~B more often than not anyway. This is just meant to highlight some examples where it will prove particularly helpful.
vs. King
If King wants to do jab into Giant Swing (which is a really powerful sequence), a quickly applied b~B will often cause his throw attempt to whiff. This is especially good because Giant Swing, while being a 1-break, looks like a 1+2-break instead. There is no guarantee you would've broken that Giant Swing as it's truly a guess between that throw and a 1+2 command grab. Backdashing weakens that sequence, as a backdash turns the tables so that instead of you having to break a throw, you now get a whiff punish opportunity into wallcarry and oki! That is a big difference, just from using b~B to guard! Had he done a long-range mid instead, you simply would've blocked it, while causing any shorter ranged moves to whiff. Moving this way will force him to make other adjustments to his approach (for example, dashing into Giant Swing or iSW).
vs. Paul
Paul is known for being a high-risk/high-reward 50/50 character. The crux of this mixup at mid-level is Phoenix Smasher (Deathfist)/Demolition Man (Demo Man). You see this less often at higher levels (though it definitely still exists). Why? Because Demo Man is especially vulnerable to backdash. For the full move to sweep you, Paul has to be close enough to kiss you in mouth. If you are on the defense, one simple backdash puts you well out of the effective range for Demo Man to sweep you, eliminating the guesswork. This even works often when you're close to the wall, as long as there is even a little bit of space for you to back up. So if you are using b~B to block standing, this will force him to use qcf+3, SS+3 and other smaller pokes, which are good moves, but not as terrifying as Demo Man.
vs. Leo
Similar to Paul, her Falling Leaf (db+4,1) has more effective range than Demo Man, but its range has been reduced over time. However, it has very good tracking. This means that sidestepping will not save you from several of Leo's key lows (qcf+1 also tracks really well), meaning sidestepping won't save you from this mixup. So here we have a scary low that tracks both ways, but has short range. Again, this doesn't mean that Leo will never hit you with another Falling Leaf if you backdash. But it means that she will have to get REALLY close to you to be confident that it will hit, which could cause her to overextend (see above).
vs. Yoshimitsu
Yoshi's Sword Sweep is an unblockable low launcher that tracks both ways and is extremely fast for an unblockable. This move is monstrous. Its only real weaknesses are the fact that it can be low crushed, and that it doesn't have the best range. This move is empowered by Yoshi's FC mixup. When he goes into FC, your instinct is to prepare for a mid-low mixup. He uses that hesitation to catch you with an unblockable juggle starter. Of course, you could attempt to hopkick him. This would beat the low, the unblockable, and even potentially the mid depending on your timing. But good Yoshis anticipate this and often bait out responses so they can punish you for your hopkick attempt (remember our earlier discussion on hard reads). Some hopkicks like Julia's leave you close enough to eat a flash punish into a full combo!
But the sword sweep can be vulnerable to backdash if your timing is on point. Again, this doesn't mean you will never be hit with Sword Sweep again. But it does mean you can mitigate it by limiting when and where he can effectively use it (often times at the wall, where its damage is reduced, or in tech-traps)
How To Practice Backdashing?
Assuming you've learned to backdash correctly as we've mentioned previously, now you want to practice applying it in matches. It's honestly very easy and once you become accustomed to it, it will be like second nature to you. The biggest hurdle you have to overcome is the natural tendency to just hold block when you're under pressure. It feels counter-intuitive to "move around" when attacks are coming right at you. To get used to the sensation, you can honestly practice this in something as simple as treasure battle or practice mode with the dummy set to a high difficulty. Now, when the computer starts attacking, make yourself use b~B to block and only attack if you see a whiff or a punish opportunity. Don't let yourself get too far away from the computer opponent. Your goal is not to practice keep away. Your goal is to get used to the sensation of backdashing and guarding from point-blank range. If you find yourself getting more than 2 character distances away, dash back in, and start over. Eventually you will get used to using b~B to block incoming attacks. After that becomes second nature, you can try it against human opponents. You will probably find yourself doing it w/o thinking too hard about it. But if you notice you aren't, then go ahead and take trying to win the match off the table. Your goal is to get used to the sensation of blocking and backdashing.
CHAPTER 2: Sidestepping/walking
In an age where all fighting games are created using 3D polygonal models and robust game engines, the old definition of what makes a 2D/3D fighter no longer applies. Games like Street Fighter and King of Fighters now use 3D models and animation to bring their characters to life. With this new development, older 3D titles such as Tekken 1-2, and Virtua Fighter 1-2 would technically bear no substantial difference from SF and KOF. Now, gameplay rather than mere aesthetics differentiate 2D fighters from their 3D brethren. The ability to move along the Z-axis introduces complex new problems, and solutions to consider both offensively and defensively.
3D Fighting Game: A fighting game where in lateral movement along the Z-axis bears great significance on the gameplay and can be used for positional advantage or to evade enemy attacks.
3D Fighting Games
At this point, I will make a bit of a distinction. The way these games implement the Z axis varies from franchise to franchise. The primary 3D franchises are:
- Dead or Alive (DOA)
In DOA, free step is mostly used for positioning. By and large, horizontal movement isn't used for evading incoming attacks outside of very specific attacks/techniques designed specifically for that purpose. This is the fighter that arguably uses the Z-axis the least.
- Virtua Fighter (VF)
The first 3D fighter, VF uses the Z-axis in very clearly defined ways with attacks fitting into one of three categories (linear, half-circular, full-circular) based on how well it tracks an opponent who is moving along the z-axis. Players are able to sidestep to evade incoming attacks provided they step correctly against linear and half-circular attacks. This game uses the Z-axis significantly more than DOA, though not as much as SC or Tekken.
- Soul Calibur (SC)
This game more explicitly incorporates the Z axis, more than any other game. With its primary attacks divided into two categories: Vertical attacks that impact the X and Y-axis and Hoizontal attacks that impact the Z-axis. With a rock-paper-scissors (RPS) system revolving entirely around manipulating axis (vertical > horizontal > sidestep > vertical), and an 8-way-run (8wr) that allows players to freely traverse the X and Z axis, it is the fighter that most plainly embraces the 3D arena.
- Tekken
In Tekken 3 (T3), the developers introduced the first sidestep (SS) in the series. The SS implemented was expounded on in Tekken 4 (T4), allowing users to extend their sidestep into a sidewalk (SW). Despite various tweaks to the frame data, this is the system that is still with us today. For the purpose of this discussion, I will be using the two interchangeably, referring to them broadly as sidestep (SS) except for in the case where I need to note a particular distinction between them, wherein I will mention sidewalking (SW) by name.
SS in the Tekken Sandbox
As we have previously discussed, Tekken is unique primarily because it allows any form of movement/state to be canceled into another freely. This is no different for SS. One can stop SS to block, crouch, dash backwards or forwards, etc.
SS vs. Backdash
Up until this point we have spent a lot of time talking about the implications and applications of backdashing. Backdashing is the first cornerstone of active defense as it is the most easy to understand and apply safely. Remembering that the entire point of Active Defense is to find a safer way to defend than using hard counters, but more rewarding and advantageous than simply standing still. Backdashing, if done correctly is 100% as safe as stand-blocking is, with the advantage of allowing you to retreat and block simultaneously.
Sidestepping is different.
While your character is sidestepping, they are unable to block. However, we again come to something that makes Tekken unique. Just like backdashing, sidestepping can be cancelled instantly into attacking, blocking, crouching or any other movement option. This means that even though sidestepping isn't "safe", it can be done with minimal risk to yourself compared to hard reads, provided you are using it correctly and are cancelling as needed. This increased risk comes with an advantageous trade-off. Sidestepping is generally more evasive than backdashing. There are a lot of times where you may backdash, only for the opponents attack to still make contact. But if you were backdashing correctly, you will block. Sidestep allows you to evade more, but leaves you unable to block as long as your character is still stepping.
Backdash = Safer, but less-evasive
Sidestep = Riskier, but more evasive
Note: Tekken is an extremely complex game with a lot of variables. This is a general guideline, rather than a hard fast rule. Some moves are much easier to backdash than to sidestep and vice-versa. Here, we are speaking in generalities.