A bit into the game you will start to encounter stone statues that come to life and attack. An easy way to defeat them is to exit combat mode and run close to it. When it starts to attack, get out of range. It will hit the ground and be on its knees for a short time. Jump near it and press Triangle to do a mighty chop attack. The back of this creature tends to be its weak point. This will get more difficult depending on how many of them attack you at once. It seems that the most that will attack at once is three.