Quick question. Regardless of local law, are you taught to attack first in a confrontation or are you taught to intercept the attack on you?

While not speaking for anyone but myself here, I, myself was trained to almost always attack first. One of the goals obtained from good chi sau is the ability to read("feel") motion and distance from an assailant even without contact. I believe, and through testing believe, that by the mere fact that WC is heavily angle based and connected to rotation of the body, that reading an attacking movement comes naturally after many years of good chi sau. What do you think?