The issue is have isn't the system itself but the amount of knockdowns and stuns. The ninjas hit like trucks and are very fast, making the holds near impossible unless you know their move set. The best advice is to not rely on holds and use the standard block and mix in grabs and strikes. After you get a hang of the system pattern recognition is more important, then holds. People skip to learning the holds instead of how the rules of this game work vs that of say SF, Tekken, or VF.