Right of Way in Fencing, Explained

Right of way is the rule in foil and sabre that decides who scores when both fencers hit at almost the same moment. The point goes to the fencer who held the attack, not necessarily the one whose hit landed first. Épée does not use it.

If you have ever watched a bout, seen two hits land within a split second, and then watched only one light count, you have run into right of way. It is one of the most misunderstood ideas in fencing, and it is what turns the sport from a race to touch first into a tactical contest.

What is right of way in fencing?

Right of way, sometimes called priority, is the rule that decides who gets awarded the point when both fencers land a valid hit at nearly the same moment. It only applies in foil and sabre. In those two weapons, a referee is not asking “who touched first?” They are asking “who had the right to attack, and did the other fencer take it away before landing their own hit?”

In simple terms, right of way rewards the fencer who took the tactically correct action. If you start your attack first, you own the right of way. Your opponent then has two options: get out of the way, or take your blade offline with a parry and answer with a riposte. If they do neither and just hit you back at the same time, the point goes to you, the original attacker, even though both tips landed.

This is why newcomers often feel a call is “wrong.” Visually, two lights go off together. Logically, only one fencer followed the rules of engagement. The referee’s job is to reconstruct that half-second of action and assign priority accordingly.

Why Foil and Sabre Use It, and Épée Does Not

Right of way grew out of the training conventions of foil and sabre, where a “first to hit wins” model would reward reckless, simultaneous lunging. Right of way forces fencers to defend rather than trade hits like a slap fight. It rewards the fencer who commits to a real attack and punishes the one who ignores an incoming blade to counterattack blindly.

Épée keeps things simpler by design: any valid hit landing within about 40 milliseconds (1/25th of a second) of the other counts for both fencers, since the entire body is a target and the weapon was historically meant to simulate an actual duel where a double hit means both people got hurt. There is no priority to argue over in épée. That single difference is the reason many people find épée easier to follow at first, and foil or sabre more rewarding once the rules of priority are understood. For a fuller comparison of how the three weapons differ in target area, scoring, and style, see our guide to foil vs sabre vs épée.

How does the referee decide who has right of way?

Referees weigh a handful of factors, roughly in this order:

• Who started the attack first, meaning whose arm and blade began extending toward the target before the other’s.
• Who has established a threat, since a straight, extending arm aimed at valid target beats a bent arm or a blade that is not pointed at the opponent.
• Whether the defender took the blade offline, through a parry, before replying with a riposte.
• Whether an attack was interrupted, for example if the attacker’s blade was deflected or their action stalled, handing right of way to the other fencer.
• Whether a fencer already had a point in line, meaning a straight arm with the point threatening valid target before the attack began. A point in line has priority, so the attacker has to deal with that blade, usually by knocking it aside, before attacking.
• Whether a hit was a counterattack. Hitting into an opponent’s attack instead of parrying it, often called a stop hit, usually loses to a simple attack, because the attacker still holds right of way, unless it lands clearly before the attacker’s final action.

A typical exchange looks like this: fencer A extends the arm and lunges forward, so A owns right of way. Fencer B parries A’s blade, deflecting it away from target, and immediately fences back with a riposte. B now owns right of way, because the parry earned it. If both blades land at the same instant after that, the touch goes to B. If A had instead ignored the parry attempt and just muscled the hit through anyway, the touch stays with A, because there was no successful parry to transfer priority.

Why did the referee give the point to the other fencer?

New fencers and watching parents usually trip over the same few points. If the vocabulary itself is the problem, our glossary of fencing terms explains it in plain English.

1. “But my touch landed first!” Landing first does not matter if you did not have right of way when you started your action. Priority is about who committed to the attack correctly, not stopwatch timing.
2. “The referee saw it differently to me.” Right of way calls happen in a fraction of a second and require judging intent and technique, not just contact. Referees are trained specifically to read this, and even experienced fencers occasionally disagree with a call.
3. “Why doesn’t this happen in épée?” Because épée removes the concept entirely. Every valid simultaneous hit scores for both fencers, full stop.
4. “Both lights went on, so why did nobody score?” If both fencers start attacking at the same moment and neither clearly has priority, the referee calls a simultaneous action, gives no point, and the fencers restart.
5. “Does sabre work differently to foil?” The principle is the same (attack, parry, riposte), but sabre’s conventions differ in detail, mainly in how an attack starts. Its faster pace and cutting actions mean exchanges resolve even quicker, which is one reason sabre can look chaotic to a new spectator until the priority logic is understood.

If some of this still feels abstract, our guide on how to watch and understand fencing breaks down what to look for during a live bout, and our explainer on how does fencing scoring work covers the wider scoring system that right of way sits inside.

Referees also have fouls and cards to watch for, which what is not allowed in fencing covers.

Why This Makes Fencing Worth Learning

Right of way is a big reason fencing is as much a mental game as a physical one. Speed is not enough: you have to read your opponent, commit to sound technique and defend soundly.

At Fencing Masters in Singapore, coaches teach foil, sabre and épée, and a parent following a child’s first competition or an adult beginner drawn in by the strategy can ask a coach to walk them through right of way on the strip, where it makes far more sense than on paper.

Right of way is taught from the first lesson and revisited at every stage. To see how priority, attacks and parries play out in a real lesson, request a trial.