I need some shield tips.

All right, so I use the charge blade and I’m not complete crap. Just beat the story and have beaten a couple deviljhos all solo. But I never block. Ever. It eats up my sharpness and there’s an evade mechanic that work just fine. It’s a stupid question, but, what’s the point of blocking? Attacks that are going to be impossible to get out of range of, and that I actually see coming, are so rare that I literally forget that I CAN block. What’s the point of having a shield I never use? So. Have any shield tips to improve my fighting?

(Note, this is a problem for me in almost any game unless there is a parry system)