Well. Nobody ever accused Atton of being overly bright. He does realise how bad an idea it was, though, a little too late.

He tries to block - but his arms are too high, and the punches slam into his gut with enough force to knock the air out of him, make him double over and, with his centre of gravity off from not being in a fighting stance, one leg to buckle so that he drops down onto one knee, one arm hitting the floor to support himself.