Several times in previous posts, I have mentioned how you shouldn't play Dee Jay in a way that puts him in a position to be "mauled" by the opponent's fighter. So what exactly do I mean by "maul"? Well, in basic terms, it means putting yourself in very close quarters to an opponent where your moves are not optimal (particularly if you don't have charge) and where the opponent is generally able to rain down hard on you because your normals suck at this range. The maul is actually why a lot of Dee Jays get KOed very quickly and also why I am against going for repeated up close pressuring with Dee Jay (the opponent tends to gain more from this type of interaction than you do). Without your charge, there is very little for the opponent to be afraid of while you, on the other hand, risk getting knocked down and further mauled anytime you try it.
This also goes for cross-up attempts BTW (in particular, repeated cross ups). It is a fact that Dee Jay has plenty of ways to deal out big damage in this game . . . but if you keep trying for predictable cross-ups, you'll never get a good chance to land them because you will be mauled into oblivion first. I've actually seen Dee Jays with a fuck load of life go for ill-advised cross ups on a cornered opponent, only to have it blocked and place themselves into the corner where they got needlessly mauled when they didn't have to be - sometimes, into embarrassing extinction.
Trust me. The MAUL is real. As a quick learning example, check out the first round of the video below and notice how Dee Jay gets placed into two maul situations from Hugo, the first of which costs him approximately 50 per cent of his life bar and the second of which gets him KOed. While consistently avoiding a maul at all times is impossible, this example shows how you want to avoid situations that make a maul likely, since the costs of doing so can be quite significant.
TLDR: Don't place yourself in a maul position under any circumstances. You're just making things a lot harder for yourself. AND a lot easier for your opponent. The best way to avoid the maul is to never put yourself in it to begin with.