Trust your instincts and avoid this (video)

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To be honest, if that was me, I don't think I would have realised that he wanted to attack me. I could tell from the oint where he had his hand to his mouth and stared around, but in these situations, I do exactly what you just described and completely ignore my gut, something I intend to change. I once walked through a field where a number of cunts were waiting at the other end, and instead of going the other way like I wanted to, and should of, I just carried on straight through them like an idiot.

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Being a gentleman from an ethnic minority standing in front of a skin head being questioned, giving away 4 - 6 inches and several stone, I don't think you want your hands in your pockets or behind your back.
In fact I think I might get all my students to sew their pockets up because in all the clips that are being show, it comes up a lot.

This is another example of late (or non-existant) fence. As Richie has pointed out in one of the DVDs (forget which) don't let your man raise his hands above yours. In this clip the skin head does it very subtley. He's an expert bully, not needlessly alerting his target to the impending danger. Unusually, he's not after a buzz from intimidating someone. It's totally the actual act of beating the guy down he's enjoying.

Hate watching these nasty unprovoked attacks, but I guess at the same time, they are useful.

Awareness is the real key to dealing with this stuff. you can be as bad as you want but if someone gets the drop on you then it might all be worth nothing. I like two quotes on this.

"Be polite. Be professional. Have a plan to kill everyone you meet." Rachel Lucas.

"Violence is the first option, and the last choice, of the competant." Don't know who said it.

Jeff Cooper's color codes are excellent for this purpose. They're really a mental trigger. As I mentioned elsewhere it's four levels.

White
Yellow
Orange
Red

White is what most people are in. It's what the kid in the clip was in. Neither physically prepared or mentally prepared. Clueless about what is going on. In short; lunch.

Yellow should be your condition whenever you're not in a position damn near impossible to sneak up on without alerting you. This is the "commentary walking" that bob Spour mentions. You are aware of what is going on around you and your awareness is outside your head. Let's say you spot some suspicious looking guy.

Now you're in orange. you've identified a potential problem and are deciding on what'll be your trigger of attack, maybe you see a good way of taking the guy out or whatever. You've established the fence. If he tries to jump your fence. You are in Condition Red and you take him down hard.

Marc MacYoung said a pseudo though will look at you and wonder IF he could take you out while a real tough will look at you and know HOW he would take you out. Apart from physical training, this is how that works.

And remember; If in doubt (about your safety) you're NOT in doubt (about taking the measures to make sure you're safe).