  We develop a new framework to study minimum $d$-degree conditions in
$k$-uniform hypergraphs, which guarantee the existence of a tight Hamilton
cycle. Our main theoretical result deals with the typical absorption, path
cover and connecting arguments for all $k$ and $d$ at once, and thus sheds
light on the underlying structural problems. Building on this, we show that one
can study minimum $d$-degree conditions of $k$-uniform tight Hamilton cycles by
focusing on the inner structure of the neighbourhoods. This reduces the matter
to an Erd\H{o}s--Gallai-type question for $(k-d)$-uniform hypergraphs, which is
of independent interest.
  Once this framework is established, we can easily derive two new bounds.
Firstly, we extend a classic result of R\"odl, Ruci\'nski and Szemer\'edi for
$d=k-1$ by determining asymptotically best possible degree conditions for $d =
k-2$ and all $k \ge 3$. This was proved independently by Polcyn, Reiher, R\"odl
and Sch\"ulke. Secondly, we provide a general upper bound of $1-1/(2(k-d))$ for
the tight Hamilton cycle $d$-degree threshold in $k$-uniform hypergraphs, thus
narrowing the gap to the lower bound of $1-1/\sqrt{k-d}$ due to Han and Zhao.
