Salvatore Barone. Their long term student and delegated to represent the school is Davide Monaco, who runs the school in Lecce. Sicily 1) In Sicily an organization called Liu-bo has codified the techniques of traditional Sicilian Staff Fighting known as "Paranza Lunga" and now organizes competitions at the regional level. This school is rapidly expanding. "Paranza Lunga" started around AD 1200 as a method of self-defense for shepherds. The staff was the weapon of the poor, who could not afford a sword. The staff was used in a whirling overhead motion, mimicking the way a knight would use a two-handed sword. Initially there was no established technique and the use of the staff was simply based on the imitation of the use of the sword. By AD 1600, however, separate schools of staff fighting had emerged. A few such schools, or styles, survive to this day. These are "Cavalleresca", "Fiorata", "Battuta", "Ruotata" and "Giocata". "Giocata" is the only style that uses a single hand to operate the staff, while all the other styles use both hands. The staff is about 120 cm long and is made of hard wood, usually from Orange or Pear trees, or from Rosella or Ulivastro trees. 2) Paranza Corta (Sicilian Knife Fighting) is the traditional knife fighting style of Sicily. It is still taught by individual masters but is not organized in a format suitable for divulgation to the masses. Those who wish to learn the art have to seek out the individual masters and be accepted as students. The weapon used is a folding stiletto knife which come in a few variants, the most famous being the Liccasapuni (literally "soap licker" because the blade used to be smeared with soap before a duel, so that it would cause permanent scars on the recipient of a cut). The Sicilian style is further subdivided into two branches: the school of Palermo and that of Catania. Sardinia Istrumpa, the wrestling style of Sardinia is also growing in popularity. The association promoting this sport is participating in European championships for Celtic wrestling stiles (such as Gouren), which has showcased the skills of Istrumpa wrestlers. Genoa In recent years the discipline of Bastone Genovese has begun to be taught in specialized gyms in the region of Liguria, where it had originated centuries ago. Naples Bastone Napoletano is the newest stick fighting discipline to come to the limelight in Italy.