The Original Series didn’t have expertly choreographed fights by today’s standards…well, probably not by the standards when it aired either. For the most part the numerous hand-to-hand fights in Star Trek are incredibly silly. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have our favorites!

10. The Ultimate Computer
Kirk pokes this guy pretty hard, so we think it counts as a fight scene.
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9. Shore Leave
In Shore Leave Kirk dukes it out with a recreation of an old rival. I always like fights to exhaustion. Plus, as far as shirt rips go, this one’s pretty elaborate.
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8. The Savage Curtain
Kirk and Spock team up with Surak and Abraham Lincoln to take on four of the worst villains in history. Sounds awesome already, right? After Lincoln and Surak go down, Spock and Kirk are forced to take them on 2 vs. 4, which they do with little trouble.
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7. Space Seed
This fight kind of seemed like it just needed to happen because it was getting towards the end of the episode. It mainly gets high ranks because we love Khan, and the above move, of course.
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6. Amok Time
Even though the stakes aren’t really felt in this showdown (despite the writers trying really hard), it’s still cool to see Spock and Kirk face off.
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5. A Taste of Armageddon

We like this fight scene mainly because of how Kirk deals with the situation. He was captured and is surrounded, yet still acts like he’s in charge.
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Anan 7: “What kind of monster are you?”
Kirk: “I’m a barbarian. You said it yourself.”
Anan 7: “I had hoped I had spoken only figuratively.”
Kirk: “Oh no you were quite accurate. I plan to prove it to you”
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The actual fight isn’t much of a fight. Kirk basically takes out the whole room by pushing them over. It kind of looked like a Three Stooges move, but I still like how it showcases Kirk’s character.

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4. The Trouble with Tribbles
Scotty shows what he’s willing to fight over in this classic brawl with the Klingons. You can insult the Federation, you can even insult his captain, but if you call the Enterprise trash, you’re done.
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3. Gamesters of Triskelion
One of the punishments on Triskelion is to be tied up and used for practice. Uhura refused to beat a defenseless guy, and since Kirk takes responsibility for her actions, he has to face the punishment in the guy’s place. Since this was towards the middle of the episode, I was preparing myself for the scene in which we learn to hate the bad guys because they would beat up Kirk while he’s almost defenseless. Then I remembered this is TOS, and most scenes are supposed to show us how cool Kirk is, so Kirk wins.
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2. Arena
Once again the actual fight is pretty lame, but what makes this episode work is the crescendo to the showdown, and Kirk’s ingenuity during the confrontation. Okay, okay… maybe we’ve also grown fond of the goofiness.
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1. Where No Man Has Gone Before

This is our favorite purely because of how the rest of the episode prepares the viewer for the actual fight. Kirk watches his friend grow stronger and stronger, and as the power corrupts him, you really get the sense that any chance Kirk has is slipping away (even if Kirk gets a really big gun). Gary Mitchell just begins to toy with Kirk, but then he suddenly faces a moment of weakness. Unlike most fight scenes in TV shows, where there’s a feeling of inevitability, in Where No Man Has Gone Before there’s a huge urgency for Kirk to take him out. For stakes that are really felt, this showdown gets our top spot.