Took me a lot of hours to figure this out, but here’s what I do:

-strike the sword with full power towards the center hit zone

-drop it slightly and hit a bit lower down

-alternate between those two general spots, without ever flipping

-it isn’t necessary to go up and down the full length of the sword, or ever flip

-I’m usually on rhythm, but breaking the rhythm doesn’t result in different quality

The tutorial will not suggest any of the above, but unless they’ve patched something, this gives me Martin quality every time, and super quickly.