Off balance
I was practising this only the other night in class. The guy punching me was one huge son of a b*tch. Much heavier than me, longer reach, pretty fast punches and... much to my discomfort, very heavy punches.
Against a tight hook I found a strong pivoting action with my weight sunk deep in the knees and the willingness to apply a solid tan sau (which needs to relax immediately afterwards)... works well. The risk is being knocked off balance because the strike is heavy, comes in with a swing, and follows an awkward line.
Against a really exaggerated hook, I found it is easier to simply nullify the attack by stepping forward with a fut sau to the throat. The hook sails away behind you and half of his pain is caused by his own forward motion as he runs onto the hand strike.
The thing I came away with... hooks are bast*rds to deal with. There is no one who simply throws a hook. It's always followed up with a jab, another hook, or an uppercut to the chin. IMHO, closing down the distance to restrict the follow up is the key.
I simply love man geng sau in these situations. No one likes having their neck slapped/pulled, pulling them onto a strike.
*There is no Rene. Understand that, then bend yourself.* Rene Ritchie
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