Knife fencing - Traditional italian martial art

Fencing with knives traces its origins to the popular Italian tradition, to the point that each region can be proud to have its own combat systems.
We have documentation from the 13th century that certifies that duels have always been part of the tradition and customs.
Masters of arms visited European courts to teach nobles and knights the use of the sword, which at the time was not only a tool of battle, but was also an ornament used to settle arguments and defend honor. Discharged soldiers also taught combat techniques. Commoners were not allowed access to the nobility, who could use these figures to learn the art of combat. The etiquette did not allow interactions, collaborations or friendships between such different social classes; therefore, people who belonged to the lower classes had their own methods of combat of agro-pastoral origin.

Swords were expensive and reserved for certain classes, so the knife was not only a companion for work, but was available to all; "a faithful companion to keep in the 'saccoccia' (pocket)" says a Roman poem. Thus, in the neighborhoods, the knife was used to settle disputes between men of honor.

From north to south and in the islands, the Italian martial tradition encompasses different styles and systems of fencing with the knife, methods that have evolved over time, and transmitted within families.

The knife was the most widely used weapon in the city, the protagonist of duels and frequently used to end arguments. Like every tradition, this one has been carried on in time. In Italy the laws about the carrying of the knife have always been strict, as a consequence people started to use it less until it almost disappeared completely as the practice of the same. As a consequence techniques have been demonstrated, therefore handed down, in popular dances such as pizzica and tarantella. Some of these clandestine schools that taught knife techniques, belonged to groups linked with the local underworld (Genoese, Roman, Apulian, Neapolitan, Calabrian, Sicilian ...).

They range from Roman fights with stones and knives, to duels with a jacket wrapped around one arm as a defense and a knife in the other hand.

To give an idea of the variety of systems and the skill of those who practiced them, the Swiss called the Italian masters "knights of the knife."

Today there are very few people left who have inherited this part of Italian cultural history. It is only thanks to these masters that this art has survived until today and lately it is being rediscovered thanks to researchers who not only recognize the cultural heritage, but also its beauty and strength; so that the whole world can experience it, just as it did so many years ago.