Focus Attack

A Focus Attack (フォーカスアタック, Fookasu Atakku), known in Japan as Saving Attack (セービングアタック, Seebingu Atakku) is a move introduced in Street Fighter IV, which is available to all fighters. It is done by holding Medium Punch and Medium Kick at the same time, and can be charged.

Charging
During a Focus Attack, the character gains Super Armor against one attack (which will instead inflict provisional damage); as such, it can be used, sparingly, as a pseudo-counter. The Super Armor is active during charging, but is not active during the actual attack, meaning that one is vulnerable in the brief window between letting go of the buttons and actually delivering the attack.

Levels
The attack has three levels, and gains additional effects determined by how long the buttons are held down before being released:

Level One
This is the default type and is obtained as soon as the move is initiated, requiring no charging. There is no additional effect normally; however, if a player lands a Focus Attack against an attacking opponent - whose attack must still be in the startup phase as the Focus Attack lands - the attack will crumple the opponent.

Level Two
If the attack is charged briefly, it will be inherently capable of crumpling the opponent (i.e. making them slowly fall to their knees, then fall altogether) upon a successful hit. Level Two will be achieved once the character performing it starts to flash white.

Level Three
If the charge is held down until the character flashes yellow (at which point it will be automatically executed), it will be unblockable as well as being capable of crumpling the opponent.

EX Focus
A Focus Attack, when timed correctly, can be used to cancel a special attack. For example, during the first hit of Ryu's Shoryuken, a player can quickly input a Focus Attack to cancel the rest of the move. This is useful if the player only needs the first hit of the move and does not want to, for example, risk being counter-attacked by an opponent who can recover from the attack quicker than the move can finish. It is also useful for continuing a combo through "dash cancelling", which is explained below.

Dash Cancelling
The attack itself can also be cancelled by dashing (quickly tapping forward or backward twice). This is known as FADC (Focus Attack Dash Cancel) and is a high-level tactic which is often used to string together large combos. In the earlier example, Ryu could cancel his Shoryuken with a Focus Attack, dash cancel the Focus Attack, and continue performing attacks while the opponent is still in the air from the Shoryuken. Cancelling a Focus Attack in this way uses up two sections of the Super Gauge instead of the usual one if it were an EX Special.

Dash Follow-up
If the dash is input while the character is already delivering the Focus attack, the Focus attack will not cancel but will instead proceed as normal - except the character will immediately dash after hitting the opponent, also allowing for combo potential while the opponent crumples. This is necessary, as usually a Focus attack will push the character using it back, putting them too far away to do much. A dash follow-up allows the player to perform a combo against a helplessly falling opponent.

Video
thumb|left|300px|All Focus attacks in Street Fighter IV.thumb|300px|right|A tutorial on Focus Attacks.

Trivia

 * Guile's Focus Attack is similar to Alex's Flash Chop move.
 * Seth and Abel's Focus Attacks are similar to Urien's Chariot Tackle.
 * Gouken 's Focus Attack is similar to Ryu 's High-Blade Leg Kick.
 * Crimson Viper's Focus Attack is similar to Guy's Hozanto.
 * The Focus Attack also appears in Marvel vs Capcom 3 as one of Crimson Viper's special attacks.