With her nimble speed and damaging combos, Sakura is the perfect character for those looking for someone more advanced to learn than Ryu or Ken.
Her combos require deft execution, often relying on tricky links and strict timing.
The rewards are worth it though, as she can quickly rack up the damage off a small opening. Use her standing HP to swat players out the air and frustrate opponents from distance with her fireball.
Hadoken (quarter-circle towards + P)
Her fireball. Fairly slow and not very damaging, the trick is how Sakura can hold onto it to delay for a bigger, short range fireball. This makes it tricky for players to jump over the fireball, as they could just be jumping into the delayed fireball instead. Mix up your distance and timings to ensure opponents never get comfortable. EX Hadoken hits twice, so it's safe from Focus attacks.
Shouoken (towards, down, down/towards + P)
Sakura's dragon punch doesn't work like the others. She runs along the ground first before lifting herself into the air. In previous versions, Sakura's LP Shouoken wasn't a great wake-up move. In SFIV, however, it's fine. Just be careful of Focus Attacks, when you want to use the multiple hitting MP or HP versions instead.
Shunpukyaku (quarter-circle back + K)
Sakura's hurricane kick arches up then down, so it's more useful in combos than anything else (avoid the air version). Stick to either the LK version or EX version. The LK version links into other moves, so it's a good way of starting combos. Likewise, the EX version ends with a launcher kick, that allows Sakura to follow up with whatever she wants.
Sakura Otoshi (towards, down, down/towards + K)
A relatively useless move, it's good to tag on the end of EX Shunpukyaku, as you can get extra damage easily without having to burn through more meter.
Haru Ichiban (quarter-circle back, quarter-circle back + K)
Sakura's Super hits low, which catches out a lot of new players. You can cancel it from her Shouoken move, so it's fairly easy to work into long combos if you have quick hands.
Haru Ranman (quarter-circle back, quarter-circle back + KKK)
Sakura's Ultra is an extended and fancier looking version of her Super. You can connect it after a successful EX Shunpukyaku, which is the easiest way to land the Ultra. It's a little slower starting up than her Super, so you can't use it as a quick 'surprise' attack in the same situations.
Basic Combo: Jump in HP > HP xx Shouoken
Advanced Combo: Jump in HP > cr.LP > HP xx EX Shunpukyaku > Sakura Otoshi > HP > HP > HP