I love the 2015 documentary “Star Wars: Evolution of the Lightsaber Duel” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vGjNnZhJFI
It nicely expands upon the 2004 doc “SW: The Birth of the Lightsaber” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIefj6dOhnM
You can easily see the disconnect between the reinterpretation in the Prequel Trilogy use of lightsabers, compared to the earlier the Original Trilogy. And I also like that the 2015 doc goes into more detail on Kendo and the origins of the lightsaber, plus showing Kendo in more modern competition and training.
FWIW I took Olympic style fencing for a few years in college and then spent a decade practicing and competing in Kendo regularly. I also studied a small amount of Iaido and Battojutsu and have a strong general interest in sword combat and general medieval combat (european and Asian). IMO the ANH fight between Vader and Kenobi is the most “realistic” sword fight in the whole franchise, the ESB duel is the best stage combat that’s realistic “enough” and is terribly fun to watch, and the Snow fight between Rey and Kylo really does a great job conveying the sheer intensity of sword fighting to the audience while also being very entertaining. The prequel fights are mostly preposterous and cringe inducing. And finally, NONE of it is even remotely ACTUALLY realistic when compared with actual sword combat. It’s make believe space wizards with laser swords. And that’s ok!
That is very cool.
One of the things I do enjoy about the Sequel Trilogy is the return of the intensity and weight of sword fighting that the OT had. And that wielding a lightsaber in combat is not easy as swirling around as quickly as possible, or needlessly “spinning” as often shown in the Prequels.