Soft Inward Block

The soft inward block is a simple parry with the hand.  A strike comes in and you bat it away with your hand.  It’s best to accompany the block with some movement of the head (or body, if that’s where the shot is coming in) and some footwork.  By using a combination of these three things, the hope is to avoid the strike and set yourself up in a better position for a counter strike.

Another thing to think about is keeping the block small.  The tendency is to block much wider than needed.  The smaller the block, the less time it takes.  The less time it takes, the more opportunity you have to counter strike before your partner recovers and throws another strike.

The soft inward block – keep it small, keep it mobile and practice it often.