Chances are this person won't be responding, but I thought I'd bump this post anyways.
I live in Richmond VA, and have been thinking of starting my own or finding a dedicated practice partner/rival. Technically such a thing isn't really new to me, since I was mentored by my father in a lot of weapons-based combat, and had others to practice with during my high school years. If there are any of you out there interested, why not drop a line in this post and we can see what we can do.