You'll probably want to use 'actor states'. When the character begins an attack, add the attacking state to the list of active actor states (this can be done a multitude of ways, the simplest probably being a dictionary). When the character hits the frame the attack de-facto ends on, OR is interrupted mid-attack, set the attack state back to off. When checking if the player is able to perform actions like jumping, moving, etc. first check that the current blocking states are not active.