how long did it take you to beat sephiroth

Sephiroth is the hardest boss in the series next to LS but it seems most people have trouble beating him! even now I still cant beat him , his move "heartless angel" always gets to me and I end up doing the fight over and over again =/

so my question is, how long did it take you to beat him? and do you have any tips?

It took me over a month to beat him D: I cant even count how many times I had to restart the boss fight. I had to watch his moves carefully and see flaws in his moves.

Skills that I recommend having to beat him are:

The aerial recover

A negative ground combo. He will stop your combos after too many hits on the ground. The faster you get the finshing blow, the better

Jump Level 3. When he does Heartless angel, YOU CAN STOP IT. If you have jump level 3 and the aerial dodge abilty, you can stop him before he says "Angel"

Quick Run. After he HP drops considerably, you will have to run from Meteor. He may also do that attack from KH 1 where he has fire around him and it attracts you to it.

Just memorize his strategy. When In the air and he teleports behind you, just aerial dodge his slash and you get a nice air combo on him.

Also, if he gets Heartless Angle on you, try a good timed curaga. It will heal you right as Heartless angel hits.

Good Luck. And tell me where exactly you have troubles if that doesnt work.