You can evade in such a way to place yourself in an optimum distance for one of these actions. There are advantages and disadvantages. Every evasive movement that can be accomplished in a single movement will fall into one of these four ranges. It is important to know which range you are in because some techniques will not work if you are too close or to far away. Now take two steps back and try grabbing his shoulder.
Ranges are very important to effective self-defense.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about evasion is when to do it. If you evade too late, then you get hit before you can move. This can be accomplished by jamming the attacking tool before it can generate much energy, or by redirecting its energy before it reaches you. In self-defense, effective blocking is most often combined with an evasive movement. Thus, stepping to the side of a punch and pushing it away from you is much better than standing still and pushing it away from you or just stepping to the side.