[cenRealliat]

Doh is too slow, he can come down from jodan to your men way faster than you can hit his doh, and you leave your men exposed to hit the doh. Gyaku-doh is used against jodan or nito, but you have to be pretty good at it.

Use seigan against jodan (kata #5). You can attack kote but it's better to get the jodan player to attack you, then counter. Basically it's a waiting game. The jodan player is trying to pressure you into a mistake, you're trying to get him to commit to an attack... Watch where your kensen is pointing. Safest place is to point at his left arm. If you move inside his arm, your kote is open. If you move outside, your men is open. He's going to try to get you moving one way or the other, and catch your kote or your men as you transition. So don't wave your shinai around a lot