GeneC

Imo, it depends on how much you want to fight, 'cause the first response could be ,"Well, ya got the easy part over with, Sunshine. Talkin' about it."

Really, this falls in the "Mindset" area- be aware of your surroundings and don't get yourself into that situation. Don't go into unlit reas. If you see folks in front of you , cross the street, take a different direction/route, walkin to a lit are/store, get yourself around other people, etc
All confrontatons should be considered serious, as they can escalate to be fatal real quickly. Any sign of being afraid or passive will enable the BG.
This is that big gray area in the gun world too, as by law we're legally able to use lethal force only in a felony situation, which this is not. You might want to consider taser. You do not want to allow the Bg to "get in your face", as it's be proven that a BG with a knife can get to you and stab/cut you from 21 ft away, pretty much before you can correctly respond (OODA loop issue). If you do not want to fight, I'd suggest taking a fighting stance and assert that you don not want to fight, but prepare for the worse. Do not turn your back on a bg EVER( alot of MA techniques have you doing that). Main thing is to try and find out why this bg has singled you out, but know, they think they can take you. If they just don't like the way you look, you may have no choice but to fight, but of course, we try to avoid that at all costs. My policy is to be friendly to all, but have a plan to kill them.