Force ability, in my opinion, shouldn’t be equated to physical training, like you would for a martial art, or for learning the piano.
The Force is based entirely on faith. The various powers have nothing to do with technique. It is all about believing in the Force, believe in it and its will, and also importantly, believing in yourself, because we all are a part of the Force.
It’s about believing that we are more than just “crude matter”. Since these films are meant to be fairy tales for children, then the message of believing in yourself is, to me, is a very important one. That was the same message the OT gave us.
Also, I personally don’t think the dark side should be interpreted as the evil side. The light and dark side are like yin and yang, which aren’t inherently good or evil. The Sith use the negative aspects of the dark side, and their own dark side, to bend the Force to their will unnaturally, rather than allowing themselves to let the Force guide them through life.
Those negative qualities that make people do bad things can be found in the dark side. Those emotions and qualities aren’t always inherently evil, but consuming oneself in those emotions can lead to imbalance.
Not a perfect description, but check out this article about the differentiate between yin and yang & good and evil. Then you can try to apply it to the Force.
http://www.jonasyunus.net/blog-the_yin_yang_of_good_evil
I agree with a lot of this perspective, but I believe that the core of Jedi ‘training’ is in fact the process of learning to believe in yourself and the power of the Force, which is much more emotionally driven than a physical martial arts training process. The emotions which generate the greatest results, peace and calm and connectedness and so forth, are subtle and take time to establish, whereas emotions such as fear and anger are quick and obvious. Things like death and violence, things which are implied to be part of the Dark Side, are actually part of the natural processes of the universe and so they are part of the ‘balance’ of the Force.
To put it another way, the light and dark sides of the Force arise naturally from the life of the universe, and the ecosystems of this life are largely symbiotic and self correcting. Where there is an overabundance of life, death must soon follow. Where there has been a great deal of death a Jedi might feel the presence of the Dark Side, but this is as malevolent as the tree on Dagobah - it merely reflects the fear of those who enter it.
Sentient life, however, is uncoupled from this natural symbiosis and balance. If a person finds an affinity for the Force, they can use it to whatever end they wish, and such a person can be a powerful lever which moves the life of the universe. A single person - Force sensitive or otherwise - can destroy entire planets in this universe, and the Force has no recourse for this except to make itself available to those who will return the balance of the natural living order.
Thus, whether or not there are equal Jedi and Sith, or lightsiders and dark, matters not at all in the grand scheme of things. The first order of life is to live in balance with yourself and all other life. The Sith by their nature led unbalanced lives, but it was of little concern of the galaxy until their power was used to terrible effect. Similarly, the Jedi became through their blindness and arrogance an instrument of terrible suffering, further destroying the balance of the Force. Through a single action, a darksider could restore balance to the Force and redeem themselves, just as through a single action a Jedi could negate all of their noble acts.