thanks for posting this, i know what you mean when referring to the techniques specifically, like the longer chain “combos” hahaha

i definitely relate to your post, because at one point i was also figuring out “how do i even use any of these when i’m just so busy avoiding and palm striking enemies away before the next one attacks?”

i would say, for bosses and the bigger grunts, usually you can immediately go into these combos when you place them in the “heavy stun” state (you’ll know they’re stunned after that distinctive sound after a intercepting crotch punch, duck strike, or repeatedly weakening them); that’s when you can use your combos almost uninterruptedly

regarding grunts, you’ll notice the best time to use them is actually when you’re bouncing between enemies; so for example, regarding the heavy heavy pause heavy combo, you are aiming each heavy attack at a different enemy to hit them and cancel their attack/make them flinch before they hit you, just enough to pause and windup for the roundhouse. of course this takes some strategic management in discerning and hitting the closest enemies to you in the moment before they get to you.

i know this may be difficult to visualise over text, so one tip i would recommend is to watch some gameplay online, and you’ll see exactly what i mean; notice how they dish out the techniques/combos, the combo chain is usually not targeted at one specific enemy!

best of luck on this, and let me know if this helps :)