I actually agree with the call. These days foil has a lot more attack in prep calls especially in this situation

@@CyrusofChaos I don't think this point was an issue of attack in preparation. Both fencers were advancing so nobody had clear priority. It was an issue of who attacked first. And, for whatever reason, the ref decided the right attacked first. In any case, my actual gripe is that I think this decision (who attacked first) is completely arbitrary. Did the fencer on the right have his arm pulled back slightly? Did the fencer on the left pause slightly? These are such trivial considerations. As a result, I think the fencing community should change our philosophy on this issue (deciding on who attacked first). Currently, the difference between who attacks first is decided by a few milliseconds. I think this is stupid. It doesn't lead to interesting matches because it really becomes arbitrary. Instead, I think if one fencer starts an attack before the other in less than .25 seconds (the average response time for a human), the ref should just call it a simultaneous. It's not like a person could have stopped himself in time anyway. If we called more simultaneous attacks, I think it would lead to much more interesting foil matches. Look at saber and how it becomes so subjective on who starts first because it boils down to a few milliseconds. That really doesn't take skills and officiating is susceptible to manipulation and corruption.

@@morninglift1253 It was. The ref gives preparation from the right, attack from the left. For what it's worth, I agree. Right blatantly pull his arm back