Right of Way is a set of rules used in Foil and Saber fencing that determine who gets the point if both fencers hit each other at about the same time. The person with Right of Way gets the point.
Right of Way dates back to when people would fence for real combat -- not for sport. Back then "sport fencing (Foil)" was training in a safe environment to learn the skills needed for combat. If you were fencing in a combat situation, your main goal would be to stay alive. "Right of Way" evolved as a way to make sure that the fencers learned to make the decisions that would keep them alive.
The heart of Right of Way says that attacking into an attack is not a smart move (unless you don't get hit!). While you might hit your opponent you would also get hit -- and that does not help your goal of staying alive. So if both people hit, the fencer who started the attack has Right of Way and gets the point (as the other fencer did not make a smart move). The attacker is defined as the person who starts moving forward with an extending arm.
The attacker loses Right of Way when the attack is parried (blocked) or the front foot lands during the lunge. The Right of Way then shifts to the other fencer as they can gain Right of Way with a repost.
The effect of Right of Way is to create a flow in the fencing exchanges that encourages fencers to take turns being offensive. If a fencer goes against the normal flow of the action, it is that fencer's responsibility to make sure that the referee can see that Right of Way was "stolen." Like all sports, due to the athleticism of the top athletes, the rules at the highest "professional levels" are applied differently than they are at lower levels. My favorite analogy is basketball -- Michael Jordan was allowed to take more than two steps. Anyone watching Shaq play knows that the referees don't enforce the fact that technically basketball is a noncontact sport.
How the rules of Right of Way are applied varies from club to club.
There are 3 main categories of applying Right of Way: 1) Classical: these clubs call right of way the way the rules used to be written, where you need an extended arm to gain right of way. 2) As Written: these clubs call right of way exactly as the rules are currently written, moving forward while beginning the extension of the arm. 3) By Convention: These clubs call Right of Way as it is called at the highest levels of competition. They place much less emphasis on being able to see the arm extending and place more emphasis on the footwork and which step in the exchange the point was scored.
At Rockville Fencing Academy we believe that the rules should be called like they are in any other sport. At the entry and recreational levels they should be called as written. When the skill level and the speed of the fencer warrants, then there is a shift to applying the rules by convention.