quote:
She took out multiple guys with her staff in the beginning, so she knows how to defend herself.
yes and.....
a. he was hit with a pretty serious laser blast to the hip by Chewie's bowcaster bolt - that pretty much killed anyone else and destroyed stormtrooper armor on contact.
b. fighting Finn he took a light saber wound to the shoulder that also weakened him
Kylo could have simply disabled Finn, he chose to duel him. he is obviously not very skilled with the light saber and when threatened he simple discarded him using the force.
He also earlier used the force to immobilize Rey and also threw her violently against a tree about 30 feet away....I think he could have dispatched her quite easily. He could have cut hr head off when he had her immobilized and swung his saber near her neck - but he was also after information and maybe also there is another reason he does not want to kill her (we don't know).
but for whatever reason he decided to battle her also hand to hand....when they do he actually has the upper hand for quite a while. he is pursuing her relentlessly and she is mostly dodging and blocking his attacks while retreating. He has her on the brink of defeat when she summons the force - this surprises him I think and also in his weakened state THAT, not her physical prowess or fighting skills is what allows her to knock him back and injure him in the face with a flailing saber slash.
I really don't know how anyone watched that and thought she was superior - she has some hand to hand staff fighting combat skills and used that in defense. But the force allowed her to make one move that only temporarily incapacitated an already physically depleted Kylo and then they were (conveniently) separated by a (inexplicable) separation of the ground right between their feet that created a 50 foot chasm while the ground beneath them remained solid(????).
she has surprising force strength and he knows that (even moreso now). and he is not the most skilled hand to hand saber/duel fighter. but he has demonstrated great power with the force as well.
should be a very interesting showdown going forward....i'm sure he will improve his combat skills and she will improve her mastery of the force skills.