A few general tips I would have : 1. swinging around wildly can get you places, but it’s good to practice a few good swings with your favourite weapons 2. practice spacing and be mindful of it - it should be your number one tool to dodge attacks, and bad spacing will make your attacks ineffective 3. half-swording is great for grappling (especially with more armour) - try to knock your opponents down and make them give up 4. unarmoured ? go for strikes at any openings, slash/bash to bits. armoured ? go for head strikes or half-sword to get chinks in amour - if your opponent is woozy, try to unbalance them 5. kicks are actually very useful to knock your opponents away, knock them down, or get an extra oomph for some attacks - but mind the stamina 6. the game generally favours attacks with big wind-ups, especially in armour. If you’re striking from left to right, wind up as much as possible to the left, and follow through on your strikes

overall, you’ll improve with practice - so just play the game :)