Nothing quite like picking a main, going to training mode, setting the CPU to max and just working on blocking/countering. The game gets a lot simpler when you aren't eating combos nonstop.
Ok, as long as I'm soliciting tips, how do you counter? I can block pretty well now, for someone who's just starting anyway, and am starting to be able to pick out when my opponent will go high or low, but I've yet to learn how to get a counter in.