Completely agree. I do not practice martial arts, but I have read about body language and the dynamics of social behaviors; twice they tried to rob me and once to threaten me while I was walking in the street; the first time he had no partners and I was alone too, I didn't have much that he could steal, and I perceived him scared, so I just tried to reason with him and I was able to get rid of him without much effort, far from what anyone would think I was smiling during the robbery and had open body language, at that time I did not have the necessary information yet, but I understood that criminals are afraid, then time passed and while I was walking in the street I met him again, he got down and turned his head to the side, he didn't want to make eye contact with me. Maybe he was not a "professional robber", I will never be sure of that, but I did know that he was more afraid of me than I was of him, although I did not understand why. Later I read a book on body language written by Allan Pease, and I was very impressed by all the information we convey through body language, so I studied the matter. The other two occasions were somewhat more intense than the first, but now I knew something about it, and I'm a little crazy so I usually take more risks than is advisable, so I decided to put what I learned into practice, surprisingly on both occasions I avoided being robbed or threatened, and I did it without having to precipitate the conflict, I know it seems amazing but I think that as you say: exist a predisposition for things to happen in a certain way, and when you become aware of the situation and know what to do, the aggressor is automatically disarmed, you push him out of his "comfort zone". How would a lion react when seeing that the zebra decides to fight? I'm not sure, but the lion is likely to be a bit surprised by the situation, and if he doesn't know what to do, he could be eaten by the zebra. LOL
When someone has confidence and he knows what he is doing, it shows in his body language, the way he talks, stands and occupies space around him. Robbers do not want to get in trouble, as you said, sometimes the robber is more afraid. It is always better if you can protect yourself without having a fight. Thank you so much @thewriterman for sharing your experience. I really appreciate that!
By the way, I'm also wondering what the lion was thinking, maybe eaten by the zebra. LOL