I have a couple questions. What do you all normally lead in with (i.e. attacks to start pressure, start your approach, etc.) and what are some good ways to open up someone's defenses? Besides baiting holds for throws, it looks like getting the hard knockdown for the force tech is very important for Tina. I often get those knockdowns off whiffs or careless approaches, but when it comes to opening up a pretty defensive opponent, I sometimes find myself stuck. Free-canceling strings doesn't seem too effective, especially when compared to its use on faster characters like Christie.
Ah, crap, double post:
Anyway, to some extent you're a little stuck in this regard. Tina sometimes has to defend till she sees a mistake. Free canceling is not as good just because it's harder to get strings going in the first place, but she's also very safe from a number of strings if finished (notably pp, ppk, 3k, kk, pkk). So go ahead and finish strings with her. If they have to respect the finish they're more likely to hold or block.
If you know you need the force tech that is the place to start. 6f+k, 6f+k, 6f+k. Tina's very good at high crushing; 44p will slip most highs and get you into BT. You can cover a lot of distance with crouch dashes and you can very quickly hit f to cancel and prevent 33p/33k from coming out. This can give you the option to go into 3k (safe) or hold 3p. While hold 3p is unsafe, they really need to respect the followup as it will give you the hard knockdown to force tech, so be liberal about finishing or using a throw from here. It's a risk but it's a good one. Also, 46f+p crushes high very early in the animation, so if you get into a position where you expect high attacks then 46f+p you should duck the high for hopefully a hi counter hold. Used sparingly, 1k both gives you some frame advantage on hit and sets you up for a WR 64f+p. 2f+k is actually +1 on block so if you're spaced to use it it's not a bad option.
If they're really turtling up, you're actually in a strong position. 46p will guard break them, as will 7k. 66f+p should punch through a lot of their moves properly spaced. Crouch dashing in is very strong as if they freeze up you have WR 64f+p on tap, and you can always safely poke with 3k. Also, since 33k is almost always used as a launcher people may forget it has a followup p. Both are unsafe, but if they try to punish 33k once, you might be able to keep that from happening again.
Re: BT. Word. BT is good stuff. I wish she had a safe way to get into it, but 44p just has to do sometimes. BT 7k is too good to pass up. And it's dumb and scrubby but sometimes p+k and 8f+p can work wonders if you don't abuse them.