This is a prime example of what I mean when I teach angling footwork.
Facing a powerful, quick opponent who can close in on you in a split second, the worst mistake you can make is to 'hold your sanchin stance' and try to block and counter from the 'face off' position.
You might have a chance at 'short stopping' what you can sense is coming by moving in before he gets going and hit him first_ IF_ you really believe you have 'stopping power' in any of your techniques, or you'll end up in the clutches of a bear.
If you back up to your 6 or even to your 4 or 8 positions_ you have had it_ because his action will beat your 'blocking' reaction, if you could even block that 'bicycle attack' _and because with his momentum, he will keep on tracking your moves to your 6/4/8 angles_ as he only will have a slight angle adjustment to make.
Your only chance is to move as he begins to move...and 'drop step' off to your 2 o'clock_ 10 o'clock_ or to your nine o'clock_ or three o'clock angles_ while using a protective and very fast 'sanchin' hands slap and shear moves.
This will get you out of his direct line of entry force and momentum.
As you complete the step off you then need to pivot/tenshin finding yourself to his rear or side, where it will be safer and more propitious to counterstrike...or in many situations...to keep right on going.
I know that many Uechi people have great difficulty understanding this footwork concept as I have experienced in teaching classes.
I wish these people would have been able to be in our dojo when my good friend Wes Tasker honored us with a visit and taught a class on the footwork of Filipino Kuntao Silat martial art.
This is Wes Tasker
Wes has a very extensive and impressive background in martial arts. He has studied American Kempo, Kosho Shorei-ryu Kempo, and various styles of traditional Okinawan and Japanese Karate. Wes also holds a teaching license in a traditional Japanese Bugei system. He is an instructor in various styles of Filipino martial arts and six different Pentjak Silat styles. Wes is an instructor in Quan Chu Xing Yi Kuntao, Bai Yun Ba Gua and Qi Lin Pai Quan Fa. As a representative of New York Internal Arts, Wes is an instructor in Shanxi Xing Yi Quan of Li Gui Chang and Liang Zheng Pu Ba Gua Zhang. He has also studied Western Boxing and Catch Wrestling.
He has an incredible martial arts studies background, as you can see.
I did mention that not only he hits with the power of a cannon ball, but is so fast that he can get behind you in the blink of an eye using the Filipino 'triangle footwork' as just one footwork method.
Your real skill in karate is learning to visualize oncoming attacks along with a subliminal assessment of what you are up against and act accordingly.
COMBINING different types of footwork is essential to survival.
This is from a web discussion on Filipino arts
To improve counterstriking, I focus heavily on stepping at 45 degrees and striking then immediately go on the offensive with Retirada. I practice this to cover both sides so I can counterattack the weaker side when playing righty vs. righty. Obviously it works well vice versa. We refer to the triangular footwork as Tatlong Bao (3 Coconuts).