There were further 'building restrictions'  and the permitted height of an ordinary house used the 'kalami' as a measure. This was the height of a man with his arm raised holding a length of cane. (Kalami literally means 'cane' or 'reed'). If they were higher, the owner was forced to pull down the top part until the house complied with the restrictions. In this way, the elite families controlled the defensive capabilities of their inferior neighbours. This inferior social group was called the Achamnoteroi  and relied on the Nyklian families (also known as the "Megaloyenitai" or great families) for protection.
The feuds were conducted according to established rules and the main objective was to kill as many of the opposing family's men as possible and wipe them out or force them to surrender. To do this in a closely confined village, one family would try to build their tower higher than their opponent's and using muskets, cannon and rocks - try  to smash the marble roofs of their houses and effectively neutralise them.
Simultaneously, the constant barrage of bullets and small cannon were used to kill as many of the male members, 'the Guns', of the opposing family as possible. So the towers grew higher and can still be seen in many of the old villages in both Mesa and Exo Mani. Where the feud was with a family from further afield, ambushing members of the family and their supporters was the approved method and occasionally, if one side felt strong enough to succeed, they would launch an all-out attack on the enemy's tower.
             The Maniats themselves acquired a reputation for ferocity and courage that was second to none and every man was always armed with as many weapons as he could manage. In 1600, a French traveller described them as follows: "These mountain dwellers are so laden with weapons that they look like hedgehogs. A huge sword is not enough for them, they carry a gun on their shoulder and in their hands they hold an axe, a club and a short spear." In addition, they often carried two or three primed pistols in their waist sashes.

The same feudal hierarchy existed in the Outer or 'Exo' Mani but with less rivalry. Here the villagers would accept a family as their Kapetanios and this heredity would go unchallenged. There are tower houses in Exo Mani but villages do not bristle with towers as they do further south at places such as Kita or Vathia. In Exo Mani, the strongholds of the Kapetanios tended to be organised in defensive positions that resemble small villages themselves, such as the Troupakis 'complex' at Kardamyli or the former complex at Kitries. 
Obviously the towers and complexes proved to be good defences against the Turks as well as neighbouring clans and J. B. S. Morrit observed, "The country admits not of the conveyance of artillery and their towers, ill calculated as they may seem for the improved warfare of more polished nations, offered a powerful means of resistance against the efforts of the Turks and had more than once materially delayed their progress."
The feuding was encouraged and prolonged by the Turks as it weakened cohesive efforts to resist their occupation. They invested power in one clan leader, granting him local autonomy and the title of 'Bey' and it thus became the Bey's problem to control the Mani. This ploy, however, did not enable them to subdue the Mani as those they appointed continued  to maintain Maniat interests and the dream of Greek freedom, while seeming to support Turkish interests at the same time.
The first two Beys, Zanetos Koutifaris of Zarnata (1776-1779) and Michael Troupakis of Kardamyli (1779-1782) were both lured on board ships for a 'conference' and then beheaded by the Turks for their failure to control the Mani.
The third, Zanetos Grigorakis of Gythio and Mavrovouni (1782-1798) not only negotiated with the French for support against the Turks but also helped the escape of a notorious pirate, Lambros Katsonis, who had been attacking Turkish ships from his fortified base at  Porto Kayio. He was deposed by the Turks and Koumoundouros of Zarnata (1798-1803) was made Bey.
To cause  disruption among the Maniats and within the Grigorakis family, he was removed from office four years later and Zanetbey's nephew, Antonios Grigorakis of Ageranos (1803-1808) was made Bey.