Frankly, I've never felt Yoda HAD to do anything. I respected him long before he ever drew saber. It could have been avoided entirely. And the experience was pretty dreadful.
TPM Yoda looks just stupid.
AOTC Yoda was more flexible, but looking at him was the glaring fact that he wasn't just fake, he wasn't even there.
ROTS Yoda looks more or less the same. I don't care for CGI characters. They lack realism, no matter how pretty.
OT Yoda kicks ass. He didn't need to be a hyper kung fu monkey. He was little and funny and wise. An idol.