An ROW question in vein of all the white-light uproar

[Welted 24/7]

This is something I've never been clear on, since I've seen it called both ways. Okay, we have Fencer A and Fencer B. Fencer A lunges, Fencer B's white light goes off for whatever reason(other than touching Fencer A) in the middle of A's lunge, A's lunge lands. Two lights, one for A, and one white. Is there a touch, or no?

I've seen some people just stop the action as soon as the white light went off, and some who allowed the touch to go through. What's the real call?

[remise]

Was there blade contact? A parry? Who extended first? Who was moving forward first? These things, I think, factor into who gets the touch.

[kalivor]

Assuming that:

1) A is attacking, B is counterattacking/trying to parry/standing there like an idiot.
2) A commences their attack prior to B's light going off, and
3) A's attack arrives (and it is not the remise causing the light)

Then A's attack should stand.

If assumption 1 is incorrect, then A does not have RoW.
If assumption 2 is incorrect, then the halt should be called before the attack begins.
If assumption 3 is incorrect, then the attack fails, followed by a halt being called for the mystery light, followed by the remise.

[Purple Fencer]

If A has the attack all the way, B's white light is irrelevant.
If B meets A's blade prior to A landing and THEN the white light goes of for B...no touch for A even if he lands valid, because the parry was made...the fact that B fired a white light (perhaps for a loose barrel), simply means that it sucks to be him...because it'll probably be a one touch bout at the end!

[KD5MDK]

If A has priority, the touch stands. Nothing B does when A has priority matters except a parry. (I'm counting retreating as A failing to land his touch, thus A's problem)

[mrbiggs]

As a general reply, a fencer can finish their action, and have it count, on all except a few circumstances. (Going off the strip is one, time running out is another. An injury could possibly be the third, I don't know.) Therefore, if B's blade broke before the lunge, the halt is before As attack, but if it's during the lunge, A's attack before the halt stands.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Welted 24/7

This is something I've never been clear on, since I've seen it called both ways. Okay, we have Fencer A and Fencer B. Fencer A lunges, Fencer B's white light goes off for whatever reason(other than touching Fencer A) in the middle of A's lunge, A's lunge lands. Two lights, one for A, and one white. Is there a touch, or no?

Going into Referee Test mode:

All that I will parse is:

• A makes an attack
• B's weapon indicates an off-target hit
• A hits on target

Based on that: Touch for A.

I've seen some people just stop the action as soon as the white light went off, and some who allowed the touch to go through. What's the real call?

This is actually a different question than the first and it all has to do with timing and tempo.

Let's take a similar situation, worded as we would have in the referee test:

Fencer A makes a compound attack. During Fencer A's initial feint, the scoring box indicates an off target hit caused by Fencer B. Fencer A continues with another advance and lunge that hits on target.

In this case, the off target went off before A's final attack began, therefore it stops the action and we reset.

Craig