Notation is shorthand for game input. It's used extensively throughout both this wiki and the wider Tekken community. Notation is distinct from jargon.
Stances give access to additional moves. They also often prevent the use of regular, standing moves. If a stance only has one move and one transition, it's usually preferable to just write the full input.
↑Not really a stance, but it can be helpful to notate it as if it were.
↑Snake, Dragon, Panther, Tiger and Crane stances (5 gate animals) have lots of ways to enter the stances, specifically some players prefer to explain them through the Razor Rush cycle.
↑Some players prefer Coiled Snake, or cSNA as an alternative title.
↑Rush Step is technically a stance, but no one abbreviates it, nevertheless, Razor Rush is commonly seen abbreviated as RR as in RR 3 for the low kick in the end, RR 4 for the mid kick in the end, RR <stance> for a specific transition after a certain amount of hits ~~~This needs improving~~~.
↑MNT 2+3 puts Zafina into BT MNT and out of it (the move is named Paradox in-game), it does not differ enough to be listed, no new moves, no specific abbreviation.
Spaces and commas
When writing out a combo, consistent use of spaces and commas helps with readability.
Commas are only used to separate inputs within a string, and should not have a space after them.
Spaces are used to separate almost everything else: strings, stances, damage, counter/clean hit, and combo annotations.
Spaces can be omitted in some cases if it improves readability. The most notable case is writing movement stances in lowercase and without a space, e.g. “ws2” instead of “WS 2”. This should be avoided if there's also a directional input, e.g. write “WS b+1” and not “wsb+1” or “WSb+1”.
Conditions
Some moves can only be done under certain conditions. In these cases, the notation for that move's “input” includes some non-input representing that condition.
Notation
Meaning
Example
p
Successful parry
b+1+2,p,4
Held motion inputs
Motion inputs must specify when the final directional input is a hold. This clarifies that the attack input can't be pressed on the same frame. It also often indicates that the input can't be fully buffered.
Character
Move
Explanation
Bryan
f,b+2
The b and 2 can be pressed on the same frame, will still work if b is pressed earlier
Heihachi
f,F+2
The second F must be pressed and held at least one frame before the 2
Heihachi
d,d/f,f+2
The f and 2 can be pressed on the same frame, will still work if f is pressed earlier
Lee
d,D/B+4
The D/B must be pressed and held at least one frame before the 4
Other notation styles
Two different notable notation styles are Iron Fist (also known as official or in-game notation) and numpad (also known as anime notation). Numpad style is so-named because the directional inputs are based on their position on a numpad.
Wavu Wiki
Iron Fist
Numpad
1
1
LP
2
2
RP
3
3
LK
4
4
RK
1+2
1+2
LP+RP
1+2+3
1+2+3
LP+RP+LK
1+2+3+4
1+2+3+4
LP+RP+LK+RK
Wavu Wiki
Iron Fist
Numpad
u
u
8
d
d
2
f
f
6
b
b
4
n
n
5
u/f
u/f
9
d/f
d/f
3
d/b
d/b
1
u/b
u/b
7
Wavu Wiki
Iron Fist
Numpad
U
U
D
D
F
F
B
B
U/F
U/F
D/F
D/F
D/B
D/B
U/B
U/B
Wavu Wiki
Iron Fist
Numpad
1~2
[12]
LP~RP
u/f+4 f,F+3
u/f4>fF3
9RK,66LK
d,D/B+4 3~3:4
dD/B4>[33]:4
21RK,LK~LK:RK
Numpad style is more common in South Korea and Japan. In Japan, LP+RP and LK+RK are often shortened to WP and WK respectively.