Heyo, love this mod to bits,

I enjoy this as it is and the movement is gorgeous.
I was wondering if a skill book for parrying blows would be a possibility.
It would be activated by swinging while another entity is attacking.
The punish for failed parries would be a minor mining fatigue after swinging.

As for Bare Hand Mode, I would love to see a "No Weapons" styled build.
A monk, if you will.

The monk/mode would have a buff in defense and knockback resistance and a small
strength buff.
An optional thing could be a way to block or deflect while wearing
protective gauntlets.

Just some ideas I had while playing.
I love this mod, as I've said and seeing it develop motivates me to enjoy MC even more.
You're doing awesome on this!