Parry

Parry is a defensive technique first introduced in Street Fighter III.

Executed by performing or  just as an attack is about to hit, the player will swiftly parry the incoming high or low attack, respectively. A successful parry will not only prevent the player from receiving damage from the attack, but will also leave the attacker vulnerable to a counterattack. Against attacks that perform multiple hits, each individual hit must be parried independently in order to parry the entire attack. Parries work against all normal, special, and super moves, but not against grabs or throws.

A variation known as Red Parry was introduced in Street Fighter III: Third Strike. This version of the parry is similar to a regular parry, except that it can only be done while blocking an attack, and the timing is much more strict than a regular parry.