, white could also have invaded your territory directly and gotten away with it (aji in lower right corner). This is much harder after the monkey jump sequence (although still possible on this board I guess, as blacks shape in lower right is really bad).Most of the time, the loss of aji and ko threats for your opponent is already your advantage. "Punishment" doesn't always mean an immediate game-deciding blow, but sometimes just minor differences (at least in our eyes). On that matter my favourite quote from the Ishida: "An unconditional loss of two points is unbearable."
So instead of feeling uncomfortable, you should learn to welcome such moves and be grateful to your opponent for reducing his own options.
Of course, if there is an urgent/huge move elsewhere on the board or the area you're defending is too small, tenuki can still be better. Always think about tenuki!
