Hitting

Son is getting very bad with hitting, he has always been fairly bad with biting, hitting, scratching but he nearly stopped doing it but lately if we get in the way of playing with something or give him an instruction he doesn’t want to do he hits me, like violent hitting. It’s embarrassing. In public. We obviously say gentle hands, try to remove him but in public that isn’t always possible so I end up getting punched in the face. I don’t see other toddlers doing this. I feel like my son is aggressive and I don’t know how I’ve encouraged it. Please help!