What Is an Attack in Preparation in Saber Fencing?

Published on Saber Nation: October 6, 2026

An attack in preparation in saber fencing hits while your opponent is still getting ready to attack. What USA Fencing t.101 calls an attack, how referees read it, and drills to train it.

An attack in preparation in saber fencing is an attack you launch while your opponent is still getting ready to attack: stepping forward, drawing the blade back, or searching for your blade. Coaches also call it an "attack on preparation." If your opponent has not yet started a correct attack, yours is the first one. That gives you the right of way.

It is one of the most common calls in saber, and one of the most argued. Here is what the rulebook says, how referees read it, and how to train it.

What the rules call an attack

The term "attack in preparation" is coaching vocabulary. It is not a defined term in the rulebook. To understand it, start with what the rules say an attack is.

The USA Fencing Rules for Competition (October 2026) define the attack in t.9 as "the initial offensive action made by extending the arm and continuously threatening the opponent's target," before the lunge. The saber chapter adds its own test in t.101.2:

The attack is correctly carried out when the extending of the arm, with the point or the cutting edge continuously threatening the valid target, precedes the initiation of the lunge.

Articles t.101.3 and t.101.4 set the timing for a lunge and for an advance-lunge. The arm has to start extending before the lunge, or before the advance in an advance-lunge. The touch has to arrive at the latest when the front foot lands. The FIE Technical Rules (August 2026) set the same standard in the same articles.

So moving forward is not attacking. Arm extending, blade threatening target, then the legs: that is an attack.

What counts as preparation

Anything that comes before that point is preparation. In saber that usually looks like:

Advancing with the arm bent or the blade drawn back
Pulling the blade back toward the shoulder before a cut
A slow or hesitant step
Searching for your blade with a beat or a take

The foil chapter of the rules says this outright. In t.83.2.d, actions, steps, or feints made with a bent arm "are not considered as attacks but as preparations, laying themselves open to the initiation of the offensive or defensive/offensive action of the opponent." The saber chapter does not repeat that sentence, but its own test in t.101.2 points the same way. No extending arm and threatening blade means no attack yet.

The saber chapter does spell out one version. Under t.106.4.d, an attacker who bends the arm or pauses during a compound attack is the one counted as touched if the opponent attacks or stop-hits during that pause.

Attack in preparation vs. counterattack

The difference is timing, and it decides double lights.

Your opponent was still preparing. Your action is the attack. If they keep coming and both lights go on, the touch is yours.
Your opponent's attack had already started. Your action is a counterattack, not an attack. Under t.106.3.a, if you stop-hit a simple attack and there is no fencing time between the two touches, you alone are counted as touched.
Your opponent was making a compound attack. A stop cut can still win, but only if it arrives one period of fencing time before the final movement of their attack (t.103.3). That is a counterattack "in time," a different call. Our guide to the compound attack covers it.

The rules also give a third option. If your opponent tries to find your blade and misses because you avoided it (a dérobement), "the right of attack passes to the opponent," which is you (t.102.2).

How referees describe it

In saber, the referee alone decides priority (t.100). When both lights go on, listen to the call. A referee may describe one fencer's preparation and then award the attack to the other side.

Calls vary. One referee's notes from the 2014 FIE World Cup in Athens recommended dropping the phrase "attack in preparation" as a single call. Instead, the referee should call it "attack," or split it into two calls, "preparation… attack," with the matching hand signals (Sydney Sabre, 2014). Either way, the result is the same: the touch goes to the fencer who attacked into the preparation.

If you are new to reading calls, start with How to Watch a Saber Fencing Bout and our right of way guide.

How to set it up

Coaches treat this as a timing skill, not a speed contest. The Coaching Compendium's intermediate saber lessons put it this way: attacks in preparation "rely on careful timing by the student and an error by the opponent." They also need balance and good position against an opponent who is trying to rush or crowd you.

Own the distance. Stay just outside your opponent's lunge. Their preparation then has to bring them closer to you.
Read the cue. In the Coaching Compendium lesson, the coach signals the moment by pulling the blade tip back toward the shoulder while standing up slightly and still coming forward. That is the opponent "outrunning" their own hand.
Arm first, then legs. Extend as their step lands and finish with a short lunge or advance-lunge. That order is what t.101.2 asks for.
Finish safely. Fencing.net's tactical guide notes that when it is done right, you can still parry or avoid their action after you hit (The Tactical Wheel).

Two common versions:

Beat into the preparation. Beat their blade on the foible and attack. A beat on the foible keeps priority (t.104.1). A beat on the forte gives them the riposte (t.104.2). More in What Is a Beat Attack in Saber Fencing?
Avoid the search. When they reach for your blade, take it away and hit. A missed search hands you the right of attack under t.102.2.

Common mistakes

Going too early. If they have not committed forward, you are attacking from too far. The attack falls short and they parry and riposte.
Going too late. Once their arm is extending, you are counterattacking. On a double light, you lose.
Making your own preparation. Cocking the blade back before you go is the same mistake you are trying to punish.
Crossing your feet to close distance. In saber, any forward movement where the rear foot completely passes the front foot is forbidden under t.101.5, and your touch is annulled. Use a lunge or a flunge instead.

Partner drills

Keep it simple. One idea per set.

Hit the step. Your partner advances with the arm bent on a random count. You attack on their step. Ten reps, then switch.
Prep or attack? Your partner mixes a real attack (arm extends first) with a preparation step. Attack into the preparation, parry the real attack. This builds the read, not just the speed.
Search and avoid. Your partner tries to beat your blade. Avoid it and hit.

For footwork that supports all three, see our fencing footwork guide.

Learn saber timing in Bethesda

Saber Nation is a saber-focused club at 4701 Sangamore Rd, Suite LL2, Bethesda, MD. Work on timing like this in private lessons, or start with beginner fencing classes, adult fencing, or youth fencing.

Sources: USA Fencing Rules for Competition, October 2026 (t.9, t.83.2.d, t.100–t.106); FIE Technical Rules, August 2026 (t.9, t.101–t.106); Coaching Compendium, Intermediate Saber Lessons; Fencing.net, The Tactical Wheel: First Intention Counter-Offense; Sydney Sabre, Trends in Refereeing 2014.