Arturo Perez-Riverte's  Alatriste novels (Captain Alatriste, Purity of Blood, The Sun Over Breda, etc.) are excellent in the fight scenes (as is his The Fencing Master for formal fencing, including a fatal bout--set later in history than the Alatriste novels)  for sword work of different kinds, as well as period combat from fist-fights to battles in the Spanish wars of Counter-Reformation. 

One of the things about any fight with blades (from knife to heavier blades) is that you really need to be an expert to follow them--the lighter ones (knives, foils, epees, rapiers) move too fast for the non-player to follow, and descriptions of exactly who did what slow the action for readers.  Thrust, parry, slash, riposte is about as much as you can say without slowing things down.   Battleaxes, maces, and heavier swords move only slightly more slowly, and detailing blow by blow makes the fight seem slow.  So the best writers don't do it except when a fighter is describing to someone else how he killed the other guy or at least wounded him until he quit.

For naval battles in the age of sail:  C.S. Forester's Hornblower books (historically among the best) and Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books.   For much older ones, read Thucydides.  Not fiction, but interesting history. 

Consider memoirs, starting with Herodotus and Thucydides for over view--the historian's version--and then Xenophon's Anabasis (some English translations give the title as The Persian Expedition.)  for the personal account.  Caesar's Gallic Wars, of course.  In more recent times, many commanders and individual soldiers have written their memoirs which give illuminating glances into actual combat conditions and what it was like to be there.   Some are better writers than others, but what a fiction writer gets from these accounts is not how to write it, but what the reality was like.  William Manchester's Goodbye Darkness:  a Memoir of the Pacific War, on the other hand, is a master writer's memoir of the island campaign by a man who was there, in combat. 

I'll mention, since it hasn't been mentioned yet, that a number of women writers are experienced with fencing, martial arts, and--among women veterans--actual military engagements, in both training and combat.  I learned to fight as a child from my mother (who had grown up in a neighborhood of all boys), and while a girl fighting (especially effectively) was highly disapproved of, it came in handy with schoolyard and other bullies.  (And I'm now a perfectly safe, harmless, sweet little old lady whose swords are purely for decorative or recreational use, so quit that sidling toward the door.)  

Anyway, you can find women writing fantasy and science fiction who write excellent fight scenes, true to both the moves and the sensations.    As with male writers, there are also some who don't, who base their research on TV and movie fight scenes rather than the real thing, but increasingly, women are writing good fight and combat scenes.   In part this is because more women are training or have trained in some form of fighting, and others are well-read in military history (and thus constructing believable battle scenes with feasible tactics.)  Tanya Huff's Valor books about Torin Kerr are excellent; Lee & Miller's Liaden Universe stories have good fight scenes, Glenda Larke's The Lascar's Dagger, C.J. Cherryh's works (too many to pick from; I've recently been re-reading the Foreigner series)...and naturally, near midnight and with a foggy brain, I'm losing track of others that I know I'll think of two days from now.  And my own don't totally suck.  

Although Sam's post is from 2011, its wisdom is timeless. I write para-military thrillers with many hand-to-hand scenes and firefights. His suggestion for Krav Maga training for those who have never fought is excellent--KM is hard-hitting basic fighting skills. He mentioned the Jason Bourne series as great fights, and I agree. The style Bourne uses is Kali, which is what I am training in now. It's a weapons-based style, and excellent for someone new to fighting. They would learn the basics of weapons and empty hand fighting at the same time. And even though I've trained in martial arts for over 40 years spanning several styles, I still go to my fellow students or current or former instructors to choreograph particularly demanding fight scenes. I've found they are more than happy to share in the process of creating a story.

@Jmclintock--I've been hearing so much about Krav Maga lately! Funny coincidence--or maybe it is starting to be a popular sport/class?

One of our most popular posts on the Book Country blog is this one from author Anthony Ryan about how to write an effective battle scene. Some good takeaways for fight scenes as well!