First, After Effects is not a video editing app—it never was. You edit in an NLE like Premiere Pro and use After Effects to create effects in shots you can't create in an NLE.
Effective editing for a sequence requires understanding the feelings you get by where the main subject is in the frame, how they are moving, how the light is reacting, and the timing of the cut. Adding effects like camera shake or light flashes can subtly change the mood of a shot, and sometimes those extras may need to be created in a compositing and effects editing app like After Effects. A pro would never try to edit a fight sequence in After Effects. You might improve a sequence of two or three shots in AE, add some distortion to a face after a punch, add flying blood or teeth, or add some sweat to a shot, but you would not cut a whole scene or a short movie in AE.
Let me give you an example. In a scene between a man and a woman, changing the cut by one frame can completely change the story the audience perceives. If the man is looking to camera left, and the woman is looking camera right, and you cut from the woman to the man before she blinks and then cut another version of the scene, cutting one frame after she blinks, the mood of the story will change from they are starting an argument to they are falling in love.
If fists are flying, cutting from the wide to the closeup or from camera one to camera two can change the intensity of the fight from Wow, that was a big hit, so he hardly touched him by just shifting the cut point from matching action to leading or following the second shot in real-time. They do that all the time in Jackie Chan movies. He throws a punch, and his arm is almost fully extended when the cut is made, but in the second shot, his arm is only halfway to his opponent. Those decisions are made in an NLE, not an effects app.
The key to an effective fight scene is first, camera angle and composition, then lighting, then the timing of the cuts, and only then, visual effects and composites (the things you do to a shot in After Effects). It is that way with any scene in a movie or short film.
I suggest you carefully watch a couple of fight scenes from movies you want to emulate. Look at them a frame at a time. Pay attention to the timing of the cuts. If you have not shot your scenes yet, the camera angles and the lighting are at least as important as the choreography of your actors. If you want to get personal with a shot, the camera should be as close to the actor as the other actor is. Most of the movie Rocky's great fight scenes shots were shot with a camera in the ring with the fighters. That makes the visual experience up close and personal. You'll never capture that kind of emotion by putting the camera at the back of the room and zooming in on the actors.
I hope this helps. There is no magic here. There are no plugins or AI tools that will help you more effectively create a scene that has any more emotional impact than a video game.
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