I proceeded to read through the guide, and this is what I learned. There is a thing called a command buffer, which stores commands that you've input into the controller, but that are waiting to be executed. Apparently, there are some subtle differences that spring up depending on how the players are aligned. Andrew refers to pro VF players like high class textbooks refer to the PhDs who've conducted research into particular areas of study. During hit time, if the opponent is vulnerable to your attack, he will be hit.
Execution time is the time just prior to hit time, and recovery time is just after the hit time.
And so on and so forth for ten full pages. I read through the walk through, in utter awe at the science of it all. I just had to try these things out for myself, so I entered the game's training mode and went through the guide a second time, trying everything. The point of this long winded argument is that there's definitely a good deal of play time and fun to be had for the casual fighter in Virtua Fighter III , but you have to be willing to put in the effort. And, of course, the lack of the two player version of the training mode can make experimentation somewhat of a drag after a while.