You will know when youve made an attack.
This basic guide is for version 1.2.x
Basic Melee is holding RMB when swooping and flying into someone. You can also do this at close range without swooping by aiming at the enemy and holding RMB. You see a white flash and a sound effect when you make contact. The attack animation will only happen when you are in range and make contact.
You can block Basic melee and ki-attacks by aiming at the incoming enemy/ki-attack and holding block.
To throw people, swoop into them without holding any mouse buttons. You'll enter what is known as AutoPunch. Before this process ends, hold RMB. This wont work if the opponent was blocking the AutoPunch though. To block AutoPunch, you must be holding block and aiming at the enemy before they get to you.
To struggle against a throw you just hold LMB and hope the enemy runs out of ki.
To use Advanced Melee you must first swoop into someone and enter the AutoPunch process. Press and hold LMB and a direction. This will fill up a bar which will change colour. The colour depends on how long you held that direction. Green is a weak attack, Blue is Medium, and Red is a Power hit. The speed at which the bar fills up depends on how many AutoPunch hits were landed.
Fill up the bar with as many attacks as you can, trying to make it difficult for the enemy to predict. There are special combos which you can input, but you must figure these out yourself, They are easier than you think. As a fun tip, try to end your attacks with a Red attack to launch your enemy away. When you finish filling your bar, the animation begins.
During this, a set of directions in white will appear at the left of screen. Match these arrows with your directional buttons to dodge the opponents attacks.
When there is a diagonal arrow, you can use either of the 2 directions ie if arrow is pointing south west, you can press either down or left. Some arrows are random, and you will have to guess. Advanced melee is heavily turnbased and many veterans dont like it, but it can prove useful in my opinion.
I hope this helps, and dont be disappointed by slow progress, it takes time to truly master.