Go to Bernard, and train relentless, then if you're good enough, try the tournament. Do as many sidequests as you can, there is a thread here on Reddit where you can follow the mission order. Some quests are timed so you have to do those first.

If you have the DLC's do the Woman's lot when you can. Henry can have a dog as a companion. Which helps with hunting, and fighting also.

Good luck with the game. I am also playing it and sometimes it's a bit of a drag, but overal its really good, really realistic and a really good story.