I understand completely. I really felt the heat any time he would drop to the floor-- in .05 seconds he would grab my feet and pound my face! On reaction, I started ducking to try and block it (as a NM/Sieg player, you can't grab ducked players with a grab that works on standing ones...right?). Not like that would help, of course, as he could throw himself into my body from the floor, and it would have the same effect as grabbing me. Eventually I got fast enough to grab him from the floor, which brought him back up to his feet in an amusing manner.
I was playing Sieg, and learned that 3B was the only real tool in my arsenal fast enough and with enough range to stop him. I have also started learning the beauty of flap jack throws-- two important parts of Sieg that I had only sparsly implemented until now. But the dredded Sieg whiffs abounded, much to my dismay, and I was punished every time for them. In the end, the battle made me seriously think picking up Dampierre and learning him and his mustache.