Sorry but I felt like starting a new thread because the other one was getting too long.
So I sparred with my mauy thai friend again and I found that going in to the kick with a kick of my own is very effective. After working on my footwork and practicing just going in for a while, I now feel more confident with being able to handle that technique.
Maybe it was just a lack of confidence before and bad footwork.
Thanks for all the suggestions and help people!
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churn-ging…
Footwork and timing are critical. Just don’t think of it as an isolated technique. It is just one tool in your toolbox. Remember, if the only tool you have is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like nails.
Way to go. 
Matrix
good work, mate. getting in there and giving it a go is really the only way to find something out for yourself. well done.
stuart b.
churn-ging
when i first started sparring guys (after about 1 yr vingtsun) i had similar issues. My resolution seems similar to yours as well. When I actually started moving forward ala wingchun (instead of trading blows) I began to understand how our techniques actually work.
Its fun, but it could get boring knocking people down over and over again. 
Don’t you know that…