do penalties stop the action?

[jack12345]

Hello fellow fencers,

I have a question for you, but first let me set up the situation. I was fencing this weekend and I did a parry riposte and hit on target. The director calls hault, and then said that the action stopped when the other fencer covered target. My point was not awarded. I told him that if he got the touch, then the point should be annulled, but because I got the touch, I should still receive it. He responded by saying the action stopped when he covered target before the parry riposte, and not when he called hault. Is this correct? A. Do penalties stop the action? and B. If they do, when can the person who did not commit the penalty receive the touch?

Thank you very much, your responses are appreciated

[downunder]

If your riposte started before the covering target, you should have been awarded the touch.

The referee may have been indirectly trying to say that this didn't happen, equally he or she may have been incorrect.

[tbryan]

This question isn't really about penalties. It's more generally about starting and stopping the bout. The referee will halt when a touch was scored, when a penalty has occurred, when the fencers pass, when fencer crosses the lateral limit of the strip, etc. (There is a good section on when to call halt in the Referee Handbook on http://fencingofficials.org.)

The relevant rule for your question is

t.18.3As soon as the order “Halt” has been given, a competitor may not start a new action; only the movement which has begun before the order was given remains valid. Everything which takes place afterwards is entirely non-valid (But cf. t.32.1/2).

In your case, the referee said

the action stopped when he covered target before the parry riposte, and not when he called hault.

If your opponent attacks, you parry and start a riposte, the opponent covers, and then your riposte lands, the halt occurs when the opponent covers target. Since your riposte had already started before the halt, it is allowed to finish. You would score a point.

But that's not what the referee said. He said that your opponent covered target during the attack, you parried and started a riposte, and then the riposte landed. The still halt occurs when the opponent covers target. Since the halt occurred before you even parried, your riposte is after the halt and would not count.

The part where the referee said, "not when he called the halt," was a clarification. When something in the bout requires a halt, the referee says, "halt." In terms of calling the action, the halt occurred at the moment of the action that caused the halt, not at the moment the referee says the word halt. For example, if your opponent covered target, then you parry-riposte, then the referee says "halt," and then you hit, your action was still after the halt. The halt happened when your opponent covered target even if the referee did not say "halt" until after you started the riposte.

[darius]

There are two possible situations here:

1. Opponent attacks, you make a parry and begin your riposte. AFTER you begin your riposte, the opponent covers target and you hit. The ref may call halt for the infraction, but you are allowed to finish your action. Touch plus card; if it's a red card, this can be a two-touch action!

2. If the opponent covers target BEFORE you begin your riposte, the halt is for the infraction. Card, and no touch, because you didn't start your action before the halt.

Based on your ref's explanation of the touch, the call is correct.