A swordmaster was a melee warrior who was proficient in the use of bladed weapons, such as vibroweapons or lightsabers. A swordmaster was constantly training to better his skills in combat. It took years of training and practice to become a swordmaster.
A master duelist of the Old Republic.
An example of a Jedi swordmaster was Mace Windu, considered as such because he was a master of all forms of lightsaber combat and due to his mastery of Vaapad, which he created. Prior to the Clone Wars, Windu was considered equal to Count Dooku and even close to Yoda himself in skill among the Jedi, and by the end of the war, even managed to disarm the likes of Darth Sidious.
Obi-Wan Kenobi was considered to be one of the greatest Jedi swordsmen of all time. A practitioner of Form III: Soresu, Kenobi was considered the greatest master of the form ever, just as Count Dooku was considered the greatest Makashi practitioner ever. His staunch and tenacious defense was enough for him to hold off Anakin Skywalker's Djem So offensive barrage, whose abilities had surpassed those of all other Jedi, as Skywalker had managed to overwhelm Dooku and Cin Drallig by himself. allowing him to block, parry, and deflect the relentless barrage of blows from the newly appointed Sith Lord, Darth Vader, growing increasingly infuriated by Kenobi's unwavering defense, holding out long enough to take advantage of openings in Vader's offense to break his offensive momentum and avoid being overwhelmed and due to his arrogance, the Sith Lord made a mistake in trying to kill his former master, giving Kenobi the opportunity to take him down.
Cin Drallig, Sora Bulq and Grand Master Yoda were also considered swordmasters. All three of them had mastered every known form of lightsaber combat and Sora was known for helping Mace Windu develop his Vaapad fighting style. Also, all three became lightsaber instructors to many younglings. Yoda was considered to be the greatest swordmaster of his time, alongside the likes of Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Darth Vader, and Darth Sidious.
One of the earliest known Sith to have achieved such mastery of lightsaber combat was Tulak Hord, who is noted by Kreia to have been the greatest lightsaber duelist of his time, and perhaps any era. Hord felled many Jedi at the Sieges of Yn and Chabosh, and was never actually defeated in lightsaber combat; in the end only being killed due to a betrayal by his own apprentice, who stabbed him in the back.
Kreia demonstrated a great deal of practical knowledge of the various lightsaber forms through her instruction of the Jedi Exile during their journey. She was a practitioner of telekinetic lightsaber combat, and fought with it on a never-before-seen scale. She had the ability to fight with three lightsabers at once, holding each aloft with the Force, making them float and appear to fight with a will of their own. It should be noted, however, that this tactic was an act of desperation, as Kreia had lost both of her hands in previous engagements.
Count Dooku, the definitive master of Makashi.
Kas'im was a Dark Lord of the Sith during the New Sith Wars who was trained by the highly skilled Sith Lord Na'daz and said to be a prodigy, quickly grew to become more skilled than his master. After slaying Na'daz, Kas'im's swordsmanship was deemed to be unrivaled among the Sith and he earned the title of blademaster at the Sith Academy on Korriban. Kas'im had achieved full mastery over every form of lightsaber combat, and proved comfortably effective with any blade type, be it one single, one double, or two single blades. He was the one who trained Darth Bane in the art of lightsaber combat and although he was ultimately killed by the latter in single combat, he still proved to be the superior duelist and only through his inferior power in the Force did he lose his life against his much more powerful apprentice. Bane was himself one of the greatest swordmasters of his era as well.
Count Dooku was once a Jedi Master who fell to the dark side and became the Sith apprentice to Darth Sidious, who dubbed him Darth Tyranus. Dooku was a practitioner of Form II: Makashi. He was regarded by many as one of the greatest duelists of his time, on par with Mace Windu, whom he had bested before in sparring duels, and was considered by many as second only to Grand Master Yoda prior to the Clone Wars.
Anakin Skywalker, and later known as Darth Vader, was arguably the greatest swordmaster in galactic history. As a Jedi, Skywalker's preferred style was the highly aggressive Form V: Djem So, which involved using brute strength to batter down an opponent's defense. His immense strength in the force further increased his effectiveness, being able to channel and amp himself to an even higher degree of strength for his attacks. After his turn to the dark side as Darth Vader, he created his own hybridized Djem So, consisting of elements from all lightsaber forms. By the end of the Clone Wars, his lightsaber skill was so great that he was able to defeat Count Dooku single-handedly. During the massacre at the Jedi Temple, Vader's extraordinary skill allowed him to swiftly and effortlessly cut down every Jedi in his path, from young Padawans to highly experienced Jedi Masters. He even managed to defeat Cin Drallig, the Battlemaster of the Jedi Order, even while fighting another padawan at the same time. During his duel with Obi Wan Kenobi, Vader proved to be the superior combatant and was only defeated when he got blinded by rage and hubris, which allowed the calm and composed Kenobi to dismember him. Had Vader managed to keep a clear head and control himself, he would have defeated Kenobi. After his cybernetic reconstruction, Vader's lightsaber skill was hampered in some aspects while others were enhanced. On one hand, he lost some of his speed and agility. On the other, his heavy prosthetics meant that his strikes had more force, which could stun or knock down his opponents. In the end, he was able to kill many Jedi that survived the purge. Vader's new hybridized of Djem So consist elements from all seven lightsaber forms, which Vader became a master of each form. In his final duel with Obi-Wan, Vader's mastery in Form III was so perfect that Obi-Wan was unable to find an opening for an attack.
Darth Sidious was also one of the greatest and most skilled Sith swordmasters, as he has mastered all the seven lightsaber forms, all their stances and techniques and is capable of using each form equally effective ambidextrously. Indeed, he had proven to be capable of competing with Mace Windu and even Grandmaster Yoda, although he was disarmed by the former, and on the verge of losing against the latter.
- "Fightsaber: Jedi Lightsaber Combat" — Star Wars Insider 62
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide
- Keeping the Peace