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Does being attuned to the Force and its many subtleties automatically convey the skill to use a lightsaber effectively? Is it possible for a Jedi to simply not be any good at using one?

How useless a swordsman can you be to still pass whatever tests there are to become a Jedi Knight?

No. There are plenty of Jedi who are very weak fighters, or don't even use a lightsaber at all. (The Elfin jedi-master, Fayfrom the comics who got killed by Ventress didn't even have a lightsaber).

I think it's been bought up before, but basically, Jedi are not swordmasters due to their abilities, but a lightsaber is an excellent force multiplier for someone who can use it. (And they make nifty focusing tools).

DEATH wrote:No. There are plenty of Jedi who are very weak fighters, or don't even use a lightsaber at all. (The Elfin jedi-master, Fayfrom the comics who got killed by Ventress didn't even have a lightsaber).

I think that was less because she couldn't use a lightsaber and more because she was almost a total pacifist and had no need for one.

General Schatten wrote:I think that was less because she couldn't use a lightsaber and more because she was almost a total pacifist and had no need for one.

To be fair, I wouldn't say pacifist. I'd say she just found throwing shards of debris into her enemies like bullets to be more effective.

One of my speculation about the whole Jedi/Lightsabre thingy is that the ignition mechanism require a high level of precision, one normally unachievable by humans.

However, Jedi using the Force would be able to achieve required levels of precision tolerance so as to create a lightsabre. Thus, the ability for a Jedi to create his own lightsabre isn't so much mystical(although it is impregnated with symbolic meaning) but rather, a practical test of force skills.

So, when Luke was able to create his own lightsabre, Palpatine commented that his skills were complete as he could achieve the required state of precision and control over the Force and himself. Failure to do so is seen in Tenal Ka, where fatigue and impatience caused her lightsabre to explode when dueling against Jacen.

Of course, any mere machine would had been able to duplicate this feat, and presumably, aliens with fine motor and sensory skills.

Each Force-sensitive person has different strengths and weaknesses in applying Force powers. Most Force-sensitives appear to have more precise muscle control, increased speed, and short-term precognition. These common abilities should allow the Force-sensitive to be more skilled than those without Force-sensitivity (but otherwise of roughly the same physical and mental ability) in any weapon that he or she chooses, including a sword or lightsaber.

So I wouldn't say it's "automatic," so much as the Force-sensitive person has a huge advantage. If the Force-sensitive is not trained in the use of the weapon, then he or she will not be able to use it as effectively as someone who has been trained.

PainRack wrote:One of my speculation about the whole Jedi/Lightsabre thingy is that the ignition mechanism require a high level of precision, one normally unachievable by humans.

However, Jedi using the Force would be able to achieve required levels of precision tolerance so as to create a lightsabre. Thus, the ability for a Jedi to create his own lightsabre isn't so much mystical(although it is impregnated with symbolic meaning) but rather, a practical test of force skills.

So, when Luke was able to create his own lightsabre, Palpatine commented that his skills were complete as he could achieve the required state of precision and control over the Force and himself. Failure to do so is seen in Tenal Ka, where fatigue and impatience caused her lightsabre to explode when dueling against Jacen.

Of course, any mere machine would had been able to duplicate this feat, and presumably, aliens with fine motor and sensory skills.

IIRC in I, Jedi when Corran Horn was making a new lightsaber he described some kind of Force hoodoo type thing going on making the components of the sabre become one cmplete part and thus improving the efficiency and performance.

We know from canon that Dooku was a fencer in addition to being a Sith (with all the attached force abilities that come with it). And we know that his lightsaber has a curved hilt which allows him to pull off some slick maneuvers. So if there is a correlation, it's not a perfect correlation.

To paraphrase Vaarsuvius, there's a difference between being proficient with a weapon and being good with it. An appreciable degree of sensitivity is required just to use a saber safely and effectively. The Forceblind won't be able to deflect blaster bolts (the lightsaber's saving grace) and are likely to lop their own arms off. I'd say that all Jedi are by default proficient in the use of a lightsaber, while the additional swordsmanship and Force manipulation skills are what makes them good with a lightsaber. There are degrees of the latter, and some might not qualify at all.

I'd imagine that there's some correlation between skill in the Force and skill with lightsabers. This is likely because the higher skill in the Force means you can use it to help out physical abilities. The more of the Force you can pull on and the more precisely you can control it will in turn make for more fine motor control while still retaining superhuman power in those actions. Speed and strength are both very important to swordsmanship. So that basically leaves the Force sensitive to acquire the familiarity, knowledge, and basic skills needed to be a swordsman. Force sensitivity could take a poor swordsman and make him into a passable swordsman, but not necessarily a match for an excellent swordsman without any appreciable level of connection to the Force. Take someone who would be good or even good enough to comment on and give them the Force and it means you've got a force to be reckoned with.