Start by going to duel and finding guys low on the score board and duel them. Then when you have the basics down you need to start fighting players that are better than you and just keep practicing. I think a few hours in duel will teach you more than weeks in battle just because you do the same stuff over and over and have little down time. This is just for learning some 1v1 fighting and blocking though, you can pick up bad habits just dueling. Dueling can be boring too, so don't get burned out doing that imo
You will probably develop your own technique, but for me I always tried to separate blocking from aiming the block. So concentrate on getting the right block direction before thinking about the orientation of your character. Just face the right basic direction, get the right block, then aim the block. This way you aren't trying to do too much at once and you can think more about the block direction first rather than doing all at once. Try to use movement to give you more time to block too, so if a hit is coming from your right side, move left while getting the right block and hold it while aiming it until it hits.
Best way to avoid feints if you're new is to assume people are feinting all the time and always hold the block until it hits (you hear the clash). Some feints are quite common, like right swing into stab, so if you see someone do that a lot you know its probably a stab coming, but don't assume it is.
You don't always need to change block when its just side swings. If you turn a certain way while holding a left block you will block the opposite side attack too. This is handy if you don't want to risk changing block direction
You can turn down your sensitivity if you find it hard to get the right direction
