Nehan

I really like this stance and i figured i would write down some basic info about it since it seems to be the most unorthodox stance next to Sui Rakan. Both as a way to collect my own thoughts and perhaps help some other people out.

The most important thing to remember at first is that it's a deceptively made stance because it has very good defense but you're unable to guard and you're stuck backturned.

Let's go over the options of the stance in order.



This is the first of two defensive options you have from the stance.
It will deflect a lot of things including elbows, knees, punches and kicks as long as they are high or mid. The first hit is a mid so it is capable of hitting lows but it will not sabaki them.

The interesting part of this move is the second hit.
The kick extension of the move is an EX High that is +5 on block that leaves you in Dokuritsu.
As it is an EX high your opponents best option here is guarding low as to make it whiff.
On counterhit the move gives an astonishing +15 making a followup from Dokuritsu combo for 81 damage.

The nature of the move means that once the initial is connected or blocked your opponent is put into hard mixup between your next either incoming mid such as Hai which will lead to 71 damage up to heavy mid or the extension which will lead to more mixups in a +5 situation from Dokiritsu at best.

The next move is:



A fairly slow move that gives a stagger making followups possibly if your opponent isn't expecting it but is both negative on block and sidesteppable both directions. It is a safe mid so it does provide a mixup option but it does not seem like one of the strongest points of the stance.



Essentially this is a beefed up version of the normal that gives a knockdown on hit making it a nice low but it is very unsafe at -18 on block. If you find your opponent not guarding against your lows it becomes a very strong option.



The other defensive move from this stance.
Very similar sabaki to the to the point where i am unsure if there is any difference but it seems overall to be a worse option than
This is despite the fact that almost all the hits are mid. Do note that the followups are very slow after the intial hit and will lose to your opponent doing something as simple as even after you have sabakied something with the initial hit. You will get +5 on hit and +3 on block from the first hit but you are stuck either timing the recovery exactly to utilize them or relying on kick move as anything else will trigger the followups if you try to buffer.

It without doubt has uses but i much prefer the Sabaki from this stance as they at least seem to fill very similar roles.



This a fully circular EX High meaning it cannot be sidestepped nor low attacked. It is important in keeping your opponent from immediately doing a low as soon as they see this stance.
It is +8 on hit which leaves you in a very strong position from Koko stance where you have both mid and low options that your opponent will have to block his way trough.

On block it will be +2 which is still a strong position so your main fear should be it getting ducked or beaten out in startup.

On Counterhit it will give you an amazing +20 which means you have both a follow and guaranteed. If you manage a side counterhit remember that the string will now combo all the way trough.


These are all of the options you have from Nehan excluding movement and stance changes. I learned a lot writing this and it might help you aswell in some small regard which is why i'm posting it. I'm still learning this character so if you find something you absolutely do not agree with or is blatantly wrong let me know and i'll fix it.

 

Can PK out of Nehan be sidestepped? I think it can but I don't know for sure. I didn't realize the K was EX high, that's very nice.

I've been using P+K - P+G out of Dokuritsu a lot and finding success after this transition. Nobody's sidestepped the PK yet, but it looks very sidesteppable to me.

 

Nehan sabaki can be evaded in both direction
As for nehan sabaki evade back, and for the 2nd part of nehan evade to his front.
Nehan give lei advantage on guard +5 and +15 on counterhit.
Also doku is evadable in both directions