Defence against a low roundhouse kick

[Hitman]

Dear all,
I had a light sparring session with a karate guy several weeks ago and kept on got nailed by his low roundhouse kicks or sweep kicks at punching range. He threw punches at my face. While I was busy dealing his punches, he then kicked my leg. He got me 90% of time.
I had tried to stop his low roundhouse kicks by kicking his attacking knee or shin. He then changed his low roundhouse kick into a low front kick. He kicked my shin several time instead. Most of the time I was unbalanced trying to kick his knee or shin.
I could not move my feet out of the way.
I should have attacked his supporting knee instead!
I tried attacking his kick with my knee from the opposite leg, but got choke afterward.
I tried blocking his kick with my shin or knee, but I was losing my balanced and got punched instead.
I decided to kick his shin or stamp on his in-step every time he got too close and they worked. He then move back every time when I was about to throw a kick at his shin.
In the end I had to do stop hit at his shin with my kick, when he was about to punching or kick me.
I got hit on the head by his elbows and knees.
He was bigger and more experience than me. We did not wear any protective clothing.


My question is how do you stop a low roundhouse kick or sweep kick when you are busy dealing his punches aiming at your face?
His hands' movements masked his kicks, so that I could not see them coming until it was too late for me to do anything. I had punched his face, before he kick my leg.

Thank you
Hitman

[Chief Fox]

I'm betting your opponent had A LOT more experience than you.

I remember when I had just started training in kung fu. There was this one time when I was sparring a much more experienced student. He blocked everything I had effortlessly and hit me at will. He was telling me that I was "telegraphing". I was so green, I had no idea what he ment.

Some years later, I remember sparring a relatively new student. He couldn't get anything in on me and I could hit him at wil.

After the match, he said "man, I couldn't even touch you". I told him that he was telegraphing. That I could see when he was setting up a technique and I knew what I needed to do before he could execute the technique. I told him to give it some time. That eventually he would become better at hiding his techniques and being more deceptive.

To answer your question: If you are just going to worry about your opponents hands then there is no way to avoid his feet and vice versa.

Give it time. You will get better. The best way to avoid an opponent's attack (in my opinion) is to get them to avoid your attack. The best defense is a good offense.

I hope this helps. Keep sparring that guy.

Good luck.

[Keng Geng]

There is a counter and a prevention for everything, but if the opponent is a better fighter than you, all you can do is get by and get the heck out of there.

In time, your chi sau experience will come through for you. It'll prepare you for what's coming so you can prevent the technique from completing.