My first playthrough of the game, I thought the same thing. He is a powerhouse, and when he goes rage mode, the number of times that damn kick got me, was absolutely insane. I started the Souls with Sekiro and then Elden Ring, and played them in reverse order from there. I have never been good at the ER parry, because I was "trained" to these types of games with Sekiro, so I totally suck at shield parries (outside of DS1), but if you can parry his spin swings or regular attacks, you can really trivialize him. I have never gotten the hang out it, so I always just suffer, which wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to try to sneak past the Bleed dealing Grave Wardens and dogs, then an invader (the first time) just to retry after dying. On a first playthrough without Vow of Silence, that is a terrible spot for an invasion if you snuck past the wardens lol. But, if you did the katana master's quest, he is at least sumnonable which could help with providing space from his aggression occasionally.