We see that Finn can fight with a lightsaber,
first on Takodana against strormtroopers and later on Starkiller base against Ren.
Is this something that's part of his back story that we're going to find out later, or is there some little-known fact about Stormtroopers that they're trained in hand-to-hand combat with non-projectile weapons? If memory serves, this is the first of the films that shows a stormtrooper brandishing anything besides a blaster-type weapon; as such, there's never been any suggestion that they are trained with other types of weapons.
Answer
Because he was trained for it
In "Before the Awakening" book (Disney canon book that is a prequel to Episode VII, detailing Finn's training), Finn's chapter covers this in detail:
The following morning they started on intensive melee combat training. This was done outside the simulators, in one of the exercise rooms designated for the purpose. Previously, FN-2187 and the others had trained in hand-to-hand combat, working in close quarters with fists and feet. This time they found the room prepared with racks of weapons and shields lining the walls.
The instructors demonstrated the use of each weapon, the vibro-axes and shock staffs and force pikes and resonator maces, elaborating at length on the respective strengths and weaknesses of each and when and how to employ them to best effect. They explained the composite alloys used to make the weapons, how some of the equipment was strong enough to block even a lightsaber. FN-2187 wondered about that—not whether it was true but whether or not they would ever be expected to fight someone who used a lightsaber. According to the First Order, the Jedi were extinct.
Soon enough, the instructors passed out the weapons. FN-2187 found himself with a mace and shield. Zeroes and Slip each ended up with force pikes. Nines used a one-handed vibro-axe and a shield. They were told that all the powered weapons carried only a nominal charge, making them incapable of penetrating stormtrooper armor.
They began drills, basic moves—stance, attack, parry—and then repeated, over and over again, until FN-2187 could feel perspiration running down his back inside the bodysuit he wore beneath his armor. When they’d finished, his arms ached from the effort of maintaining the mace and shield, but there was a sense of pleasure, too, the delight of learning something new and learning it quickly and well.
The books further covers it and shows that in practice combat, Finn basically mopped the floor with most everyone else in melee practice, including his own current squadmate champion and other squads as well.
In addition, in the movie novelization, it is further explained:
... No one noticed the troopers who had come up behind them—except Finn. Charging, he surprised one trooper with the glowing blade of the lightsaber, then another. A third came at him with a close-quarters weapon and the two locked in combat. Despite lack of any training with a lightsaber, Finn was athletic and courageous. In tandem with such traits, the saber made him a formidable fighter.
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