Last Boss Confusion

So I can get to the last boss with the brute. :/ Then he destroys me with his 5 hit combos. Mashing block as fast as I can doesn't work and trying to time things doesn't either. Am I just really bad or is there something else going on? Hints ideas? FYI, I've never seen the Apple II version. I played this as a kid on the Commodore 64 over and over till I beat it. The tricky ending was a real bummer if you took all that time just to get wiped out by your love at the end.