there is an aspect i'm not a big fan of, however. I seriously hope that these people don't think that they are really learning to fight. I know it sounds ridiculous, but i've met too many people who think they have real combat skills b/c they've joined some sort of club similar to this (such as some of those medieval "re-enactment" groups). I took olympic style fencing lessons for a few years in college & have been taking Kendo (japanese fencing) for over a year now. I guess i'm somewhat prejudiced when i see people who "sword fight" but clearly have no training in anything that even resembles actual sword combat techniques. I'm by no means an expert on sword fighting, & i dont kid myself into thinking fencing or kendo are real sword combat (as in "to be used on an actual battlefield"). But, they are sports derived from actual sword techniques that were designed to kill real people. So, they do have some practicality & history that give practitioners some understanding of what actual sword combat would be like (i.e. what would work, & what would just get you killed quicker). I guess it makes me cringe sometimes to see people "playing sword fighting", especially if (as i'm sure some of these people might) they have any interest in actually taking fencing, kendo, etc. as this will develop some really bad habits that will be hard to break if they begin taking real lessons (again, i've seen it happen to a guy).
Not to mention that when i look at those people, i don't see star wars. I see gothic comic book super heroes.... but i digress.
All in all, i'm sure it's fun (heck, i can't deny swinging around my master replicas lightsaber from time to time), but at the same time it makes me cringe a little inside...