Introduction
One of the first barriers new players experience when picking up a fighting game for the first time is learning the special command inputs required to perform character specific tricks. A command input refers to a specific sequence of buttons that, when executed in sequence and with the correct timing, trigger a special move to be executed by your character. Each character has a set of predetermined special moves and while the distribution of specific inputs varies, this section will introduce you to the most common inputs. Nearly any character you pick up in a fighting game will have at least one of these command inputs, so chances are after reading this section, you will be able to perform at least one special move with any character in any fighting game!
Quarter Circle Motion
This motion is typically associated with shooting a projectile and is thus, sometimes referred to as the fireball motion. Technically there are two variants, quarter circle forwards (towards your opponent) and quarter circle backwards (away from your opponent).
Dragon Punch
This motion is typically associated with an upwards punch, hence the name "dragon punch". This motion tends to be particularly challenging for new playres
Half Circle Motion
This motion is a simple sweep across the lower inputs of your controll pad/joystick. Much like the quarter circle, there's a forwards and backwards variant
Circle Motion
This motion involves using every direction available, usually reserved for command grabs or other powerful techniques. Without good timing and precise inputs, you will likely have to start this with a jump to fulfill the upwards directional input.
Charging
This one's a bit interesting, rather than hitting a bunch of directions in quick succession, you hold one direction for a while, before quickly hitting the opposite direction. For example, holding away from the opponent for a while, then quickly shifting to forwards. This is very typical, as are downward charges.