Gaming Majoras Mask: Final Boss Questions

[DoItRight]

This is my first time playing through Majoras, I finally opted to play it with the convenience of the 3DS version.

To start, I'm not going to bother getting the Fierce Deity mask. I don't like the game enough to commit that much time to grinding all masks.

I ported to the moon, got through the first 3 segments of the fight just fine, but completely failed to understand how to beat Majoras wraith (The whip phase), and promptly died.

At which point the game immediately dropped me back at the beginning of the fight with only 3 hearts!

With all that info:

1. Can I gain hearts during the fight to allow me to keep going without exiting?
   
2. How do I exit the fight to get some fairies and the like?
   
3. Is there a decent strategy to defeating the Majoras Mask Whip form?

 

[KoalaBoy]

1. Yes
2. You can't simply "exit the fight" to get fairies. Play the song of time and properly prepare for the fight next time
3. There's loads of tutorials online on how to defeat Majora's. Once you know what to do, it's actually quite easy. Also, i know you said you don't plan on getting the fierce deity, but it's dumb how easy the fight gets once you obtain the mask