Notation

Notation is shorthand for game input. It's used extensively throughout both this wiki and the wider Tekken community. Notation is distinct from jargon.

Basic Input

Notation	Meaning
1	Left Punch
2	Right Punch
3	Left Kick
4	Right Kick

Notation	Meaning
u	Up
d	Down
f	Forward
b	Backward
n	Neutral (no direction)
U	Up (Hold)
D	Down (Hold)
F	Forward (Hold)
B	Backward (Hold)

Notation	Meaning	Example
/	Diagonal directional input	u/f
+	Pressed together	1+2
:	Pressed together on the same frame	d/f:2
,	Followed by^{[b 1]}	1,2
~	Followed by, immediately	1~2
:	Followed by, tight input window	1:2
<	Followed by, with delayed input	1<2
*	Held input	1*

Notation	Meaning	Example
CH	Counter-hit	CH 1,1	1,1, where the first hit is a counter hit
CL	Clean hit	CL 1,1	1,1, where the first hit is a clean hit
()	Whiffed or blocked moves^{[b 2]}	(1,2),1	1,2,1, where the first two hits whiff or get blocked
(x?)	Repeat string ? times	1,2,f~n(x3)	1,2,f~n repeated 3 times
[]	Damage	[16] 1,2	1,2, doing 16 damage in total

↑ See also § Spaces and commas
↑ This is mostly important for counter hits: CH 1,2,1 means that the first hit is a counter hit, whereas CH (1,2),1 means that the last hit is.

Combo annotations

Notation	Meaning
R!	Requires Rage
Mn!	Requires n bars of Meter
S!	Screw (or Tailspin)
W!	Wall splat or wall bounce
WB!	Wall break
F!	Floor break
BB!	Balcony break

Notation	Meaning	Input
cc	Crouch cancel	u~n f,F b,B
dash^{[c 1]}	Forward dash	f,F
qcf	Quarter-circle forward	d,d/f,f
qcb	Quarter-circle back	d,d/b,b
hcf	Half-circle forward	b,d/b,d,d/f,f
hcb	Half-circle back	f,d/f,d,d/b,b

↑ Not written when obvious, e.g. after S!

Stances

Generic stances
WR	While running^{[s 1]}
WS	While standing
FC	Full crouch
BT	Back turned
SS	Sidestep
SSL	Sidestep left
SSR	Sidestep right
FUFT	Face up, feet towards
FUFA	Face up, feet away
FDFT	Face down, feet towards
FDFA	Face down, feet away

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.

Character-specific stances
Character	Abbreviation	Stance	Input
Lee	HMS	Hitman Stance	3+4
Lee	INF	Infinite Kicks	(pseudo)^{[s 2]}
Lee	MS	Mist Step	f~n
Lee	Sway	Sway	MS b~n
Lei	SNA	Snake	3+4^{[s 3]}
Lei	DGN	Dragon	3+4,1
Lei	PAN	Panther	3+4,2
Lei	TGR	Tiger	3+4,3
Lei	CRA	Crane	3+4,4
Lei	PHX	Phoenix Illusion	b+1+4
Lei	DRU	Drunken Master	f+3+4
Lei	sSNA^{[s 4]}	Sitting Snake	d/b+1
Lei	f,n ^{[s 5]}	Rush Step	f,n
Lei	KND	Knockdown (Play Dead in-game Disambiguation)	d+3+4
Lei	PLD	Play Dead (Play Dead in-game)	d+2+3
Lei	FCD	Face Down (Sidewind in-game)	d+1+2
Lei	SLD	Slide (Sidewind in-game)	d+1+4
Zafina	SCR	Scarecrow	3+4
Zafina	MNT	Mantis ^{[s 6]}	d+3+4
Zafina	TRT	Tarantula	d+1+2

↑ Entered by f,f,F
↑ 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.