the dueling art but mostly on self-defense, and evolved from the Italian fencing tradition, probably in the 18th century, within the agropastoral environment of the "Masserie", fortified and isolated micro villages within olive tree plantations. In the Masserie, the "Frantoiani" (artisans and producers of olive oil, an expensive and precious product at that time) could not afford to pay private soldiers and warriors, and so they had to develop specific methods with the stick and the knife, their common tools, to survive for defending themselves and the precious olive oil from the continuous attacks of bandits. The recreational or dueling aspects of this school are indeed minimal, due to the hard life, isolation and limited social life that characterized the Masserie. The school is characterized by very short distance and uses not only a sophisticated strategy but also physical strength and dexterity, typical of "Frantoniani" due to their hard job requirements. More diffused in the past, even if secretly kept among masters, the only Masters alive of this art are now Nunizo Galante and Domenico Mancino, who learned it at a young age from Nunzio's grandfather and from several of the other Frantoniani alive, most of them now deceased or very old. Master Mancino defines the School he inherited more like an artisanal art, based on master to student direct teaching and slow learning, rather than a "tradition", transmitted to a larger audience or shared in social events, like it might have happened in schools that were more social or focused on combat and ritual dueling. In south of Puglie, the "scherma salentina" of the Bridisi/Lecce style, probably one of the oldest, is enriched and bound to the tradition of the "Pizzica", a dance that mimics the knife fencing. This fencing and dancing school is still well alive and practiced. In Torrepaduli during the festivities of San Rocco, this is a traditional and spiritual event where the society around it and many fencing Masters gather together to challenge each other, sometime still to regulate old or new issues. These challenges most of the time are resolved in the "Ronde" (the dancing duels), following a specific hierarchy and code to hide the different Master's secrets and tricks, without the need of dueling with real blades. Some of the known Masters alive are Leonardo Donadei (son of the famous and great fencing Master and Knight Don Raffaele Donadei), Alfredo Barone, Flavio Olivares,