Against the fast guy

[KaratekaAndy]

Well I'm considered one of the "fast guys" at my club so I can give you advice based on my own sparring and fighting with other "fast guys".

When he comes at you, he will attack with a series of blows - most of these are not intended to hit you but distract/confuse you in order to allow him to hit you with his "main" strike. The best way to deal with this would be to back off, lashing out with kicks. This forces him to do either one of two things:

1. Back off and pause for a moment in order to collect himself.

2. Get hit by your kicks.

If he uses #1, as soon as he tries to back away - you go on the offensive. Throw in good mixes of kicks, back handers and punches to keep him off balance before delivering your point scoring "coup de grace".

After this he will be more wary and thus will not use fast techniques for prolonged periods of time which makes him much easier to deal with as he will not be using his usual fighting style.

P.S. I do full contact karate, so my advice might not apply to no-contact but try it and see.