I don't really mind if you see it coming as long as you either get hit or block. :P I was doing lots of throws on purpose so I could train you to do throw on wakeup so Hotaru would work better too.
As for the sword countering, it's just a neat parlor trick, I don't think you really need to worry about it. I mean you were doing fine. You just have to zone more and you did.
Although I remember now that a counter is a free hop or dash in at least.