You have no reason to hold in DOA 3 unless you fucked up on several things at once. Movement is the best in the series and there is no convoluted stun system. If you get hit, it honestly IS your fault. You can't say that in any other DOA game.
So you take the damage that the stun-launch will afford, which probably won't be much unless your back was to a wall or a slope... which would be another failure on your part, because you had every tool at your disposal to make sure that didn't happen.
If you get stunned by a specific attack, have your back to a hazard, and panic mode hold... that's three mistakes at once. You deserve to lose a round for that.
