[SimSlim]

bottom line.... i think if your goal is a documentary on the "american weekend warrior subculture" then you ought to just concentrate on groups that fit into that category, and... i dunno how to articulate just what i want to say, but... i think that pretty much rules out serious kendo/iaido/JSA people.... even if they practice "only on the weekend", what i think you're getting at is the difference between people who train seriously in weapons-based martial arts and people who do *something* involving weapons "just for fun" (i.e., SCA, LARP, etc.)

you might consider interviewing the "just for fun" crowd to see if any of them do "serious training" in weapons-based martial arts (i.e., kendo, iaido, JSA, etc.) and then ask them how/to what extent their serious training carries over, if at all, to the "just for fun" stuff they do on the weekends. ....or ask them what kind of training they specifically do (i.e., if not "serious training") in order to carry out their "just for fun" activities.

in the greater scheme of things, it seems as if this thread is directed towards the wrong group of people...