Another note that's worth stressing is charging your swings for that second-long time window. Is it 1 second, or 1 1/2, I forget, but you're character will let out an oh-so-manly grunt that gives you an extremely high damage bonus, like 30 or 50%. Holding your swings on occasion helps a ton.
And if you play dirty like me, aim for the face and even the lower body. I'm always always going for the face, but I think that's just cuz I'm a jerk. I'd say I have no trouble glancing because I use a giant spear/hook, but I made a 3 PS wakizashi STF, and was getting hits on goretooth.
Probably for 1-5 damage... and he swatted me out of the air soon after, but the hits went through I swear to you!