I initially started out blocking gedan mawashi by the "lift the knee into the kick" technique. This is OK when teh person isn't kicking hard, but with a well-timed kick you can get a very bruised knee.
Over time, as I got sick of being hammered, I actually found that the best defence against gedan mawashi is to just get the leg out of the way. If you are light on your feet (and we must all strive to be), you can switchfoot or slip away almost as quickly. The knee block then becomes the second line of defence.
I would never recommend using a hand to block or parry gedan mawashi. 2 reasons:
- You are likely to hurt your hand
- You may well get baited into dropping your hand by a more skilled fighter, who then actually delivers a jodan and knocks you outl.
So my advice is keep mobile, and just don't be there. Nothing wears an opponent out more than having to keep throwing kicks that simply don't connect with anything.
