This is probably nothing new under the sun, but should be given at least a cursory examination - some of these predators can zero in on you, no matter how much you stay off their radars.
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Chin up, dig my heals in when I walk (In basic training it was called āWalk like you have a purposeā), look straight at them, hold my hands slightly curled like Iām fixin to grab something, I lift weights to look fit. Never Never look away or look timid.
Iāve been told I look like an angry man when I walk the streets.
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6ā2" 200+/-, in my 60ās but work out daily. Cut my own hair, wash with dish detergent, crooked nose, mono brow, super social able, beard, and a background in hitch hiking, panhandling,bike clubs, drug and blood (mine) sales. Survived that crap, got out of all of it, present life is easy.
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Iāve ingrained that in my wife, you step out of the car like you own the place. Walk the streets like thereās a SWAT or SEAL team behind you! Never look away. Be polite, be professional, always have a planā¦,be the predator.
However, you canāt bulls#Ā„ a bulls#|Ā£Ā£ā¬r. The thing is, not to look like a victim. I see people/ marks in the parking lot all the time, that donāt have a clue where they parked! Definitely a victim!
When Iām in public Iām the predator!
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Your posture and how you stand is key. Always make eye contact and have your game face on. Show people that you have good situational awareness and the walk is important, walk with confidence. Growing up we called it a bop 
. I donāt know if anyone in the community remembers that slang.
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Is that the walk where you Dip on one side. My army roomie from Cabrini ā Green told me it was a status symbolā¦
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Look people in the eye like youāre trying to see inside their soul because you should do that anyway. Confidence, walk and talk with confidence. the girls love it too! I wear my USMC baseball hat and IDGAF shirt.
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Walk with confidence. Leave the cellphone in your pocket unless you are calling 911. Be aware, look around. Look for mopes. Keep them in your peripheral vision. If you see a mope coming toward you, cross over to the other side or step into a store that is open on your side. If he is hanging around outside the store, talk to the folks in the store. Sooner or later the mope will move on to another vic. If that is the circumstance, either you are visiting areas that you might re-consider or you might have a friend who is or has been in law enforcement evaluate your street presentation. You might be advertising Ima Victim.
I am an old geezer, so I carry a cane. It is the Ka-Bar aluminum cane. Donāt be fooled by the description. It took me 20 solid minutes with a hacksaw to saw it down to an appropriate length for my height. I may be an old geezer, but if you get whacked on the side of the thigh or the knee or the side of your neck with that baby you are going to remember not to mess with old geezers with a cane for a long time. I do practice swinging it and thrusting with it. Nice part about carrying a cane if you are an old geezer, you donāt especially stand out and you can take it with you anywhere, although I wouldnāt try taking it through the checkpoint at a federal or state courthouse. I donāt fly anymore so I donāt have to worry about airports. I have a knee scar and id cards for other body parts so I am pretty sure I could present a good argument for taking it on a plane if I had to. You can buy wooden canes that really are disguised if you buy canes built for heavyweights. Buy a cane that is rated up to 6ā6" and 350 pounds. It is made of denser, thicker wood and is almost as good as my Ka-Bar cane. I also have a heavy-weight wooden cane that I would use for really strict inspections. No reason I couldnāt take it right into a courtroom with my physical anomalies.
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I try to be as inconspicuous as possible. When I get close to people I make eye contact with a subtle smile or nod or both.
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By being visibly aware, basically. Look around. See somebody that might be checking you out, give them a quick chin to feet and back scan. No silly eye contact āchallengeā (or eye contact āopeningā to start a shark bump conversation), but a chance to scope them out and be seen being aware of them. If there is a possible threat (not that common for me in my area, really), donāt flat turn your back until farther away, take an angle and/or continue looking around including turning head far enough to see behind you in your periphery (or just turn so that you can look sideways and see what used to be behind you, repeat as necessary).
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I bopped alright, my mother hated it.
Vinney Barbarino ( nƩe John Travolta ) got that strut from me!
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@Scott52,
I bopped swinging my right arm back and forth and lowered my right leg as I stepped forward into the bop. LOL. When I was a young teenager and did it people would say, Donāt mess with that dude look at the way heās walking.
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It used to be called swagger, now they call age related neuropathy!
If I bop into the supermarket tomorrow, someone is going to call an ambulance for me!
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I can still walk like that brother @Scott52 and maybe thatās why they leave me alone or cross the street when I am out and about. I start thinking to myself as Iām bopping, Iām not gonna be a victim today. 
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From Cold Steel $40.00. I love it. If this doesnāt say ādonāt mess with meā I donāt know what does.
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