Krauser passed along a video of his buddy doing a street pickup which culminated in a kiss close, and asked if I’d like to review it. Certainly.
I’ll do a view-by analysis, and highlight what I think are parts which demonstrate important game tactics and/or principles. As regular readers may know, Krauser is a proponent and practitioner of direct game, and particularly direct day game, so this video may surprise some of you who aren’t used to seeing bold approaches in action.
Krauser step-by-step analyzed this video as well on his own blog, but I decided to do my analysis before reading his breakdown. I was curious if our judgments would synchronize.
PS Yad’s documented street kiss close, which garnered some amount of fame, was reviewed here. Anyhow, onto the video:
0:00 – He approaches from the side, slightly in front of her, and has to backstep a bit. I think this is the best approach angle, because it looks like he just noticed her, and acted on impulse, as opposed to looking like he was stalking her.
0:10 – First deliberate kino. He lightly touches her on the forearm. Kino should occur early in the interaction, and be subtle. The kino also serves to slow her to a stop and drag her into his space.
0:15 – Audio is bad in this part of the video, but I think he asks her what nationality she is, or where she’s from. Direct game often uses brief, “stage setting” indirect openers. There is a lot of overlap between direct and indirect.
0:16 – He shakes her hand and positions himself so that she has to face him and stop walking. Smooth move. He does not let his hand linger long in hers. That’s an example of “pulling away” before her guard is up.
0:30 – I can’t translate, but it looks like he’s asking her a qualification question, and rewarding her with a short shoulder hug which he quickly disengages.
0:38 – “Can I be your friend?” This is the “official” direct opener, but recall that the actual initial opener was more indirect. Also, note his facial expression. There is no neediness being telegraphed.
1:03 – This sequence is extremely direct. “Do you have a BF?” “I would like to get to know you.” etc. But wait. At (1:11), he executes a combo pullback/neg when he tells her he just had a drink of wine and couldn’t remember her name. This is an “indirect-direct” game technique, designed to project both intent and value.
1:18 – He gets her name before he offers his. This isn’t a huge deal, but in general it’s a good idea to “reward” women with your name after they have given theirs. Just throwing your name out there first tends to smack of betatude and desperation.
1:28 – “I guess it would be a bit weird…” Preemptively verbalizing social tension or interest can alleviate it, and helps a girl get comfortable with you. Fleshing out her own thoughts is a way to connect with her.
1:36 – “I don’t know, what can we do?” Assume the sale.
1:46 – First real compliment, but notice he says it after she has agreed to see him again. Reward. Also, describing her eyes as “genuine” is more interesting than saying they’re pretty, or something similar like that. It’s less about physical features, and more about tapping into the contours of her soul.
1:52 – She is a bit nervous and throws out a minor objection (some may call it a shit test, but it’s not. it’s more like a female reflex to discharge the building sexual tension): “You’re so fuuuunny.” Notice he doesn’t apologize for his impertinence or back track in any way. He simply announces to her: “I just say what I feel.”
2:15 – I would like to point out his excellent alpha body langauge. He stands tall, rarely leans into her, and smiles cockily, all while maintaining easy eye contact.
2:38 – “I’m very forward, aren’t I?” Again he verbalizes the sexual tension, which helps condition her to his forwardness.
2:44 – He lays his hands on her shoulders, and strokes her hair a couple of times. Major kino escalation. Do you see her shrieking for the cops like an enraged feminist who thinks she just got raped? Nope. Looks to me like she’s smiling and very happy.
3:06 onward – There’s nothing wrong with capitalizing on your inherent strengths. Notice the face to boob contact. The touching has increased exponentially.
3:15 – “Well, I like you.” Goes for kiss. Rejected! But look closely… she closes her eyes and puckers her lips in anticipation just before her anti-slut defense kicks in. This girl is interested but ancient evolved mental algorithms are screaming through her neurons and pulling her back to the “chased” role.
3:20 – “You give me a kiss then.” Does he get flustered? No. His expression hardly changes from moments before the rejection to moments after. By pointing at his cheek, he deftly pushes her back into the “chaser” role, and the dynamic again reverts in his favor.
3:30 onwards – “Is it too soon to kiss each other?” “I’m very persistent aren’t I?” His strategy rests largely on airing the awkwardness that is naturally occurring in any direct street pickup.
3:42 – I like how he transitioned from “Let me take your number”. It was used as a springboard to molest her mouth. But he’s getting lots of IOIs… extended hand holding, hair grooming, dilated pupils (I can’t see that, but I bet they are.)
4:11 – Nice cherry-shaped ass. American women, take note.
4:28 – “I’m really bad with names, you know?” Her hamster hears: “This guy does this s a lot. He’s preselected. Engage Bartholin’s glands!”
4:40 – “Remember we kissed and had a nice moment together.” Anti-flaking tactic.
***
A couple of final thoughts. He’s fairly good-looking and she’s foreign. This will alter the pickup dynamics a little, but not as much as you would think. Street kiss closes are just as hard for good-looking guys with no game as they are for ugly guys with no game. Unless you are famous, most hot babes aren’t going to give up their lips to a stranger they just met, if he has no game. Yad, for instance, scores kiss closes on the street, and he’s no looker by any stretch. Nevertheless, this type of strong, bold, direct game will come naturally easier to men who aren’t so homely that women immediately throw up bitch shields or turtle and walk faster upon approach. Direct game of this nature is probably more suitable for either 1. good-looking guys or 2. guys who have rock solid inner game and belief in their worth to good-looking women. Men less gifted in the physical department and with inner game issues would likely see more success with indirect game, in which they can use time and gab to talk away their poor looks.
Also, I get a lot of emails from older men asking if this sort of direct street game will work for them. I don’t know Krauser’s age, but my guess is that it will be tougher if the age difference is significant (10+ years), and the man acts and dresses like his age. Steve, the guy in this video, looks to be in his late 20s or 30s, older than the girl, but not so much older that he triggers an instant blowout. If Krauser is reading this, I’d be curious if he knows any older PUAs who are successful with this type of game.
I just read Krauser’s commentary, and for the most part we don’t contradict each other on any major points. He makes a good observation about indirect body language working in concert with direct verbal intention, and vice versa. For instance, Steve’s strong eye contact directly communicates intent while his verbal statement is indirect. He also says that most of the attraction is built nonverbally, within the first 10 or 20 seconds of the interaction, by Steve’s masculine body language and forthrightness, and that most of the communication is taking place in her hindbrain. That first impression is absolutely critical, and it’s why you must master the right alpha male body language before tackling the verbal part of game.
Krauser notes as well that Steve never verbally DHV’ed (i.e., intimated his high value). He relied on his value expressing itself through his directness.
Check out Krauser’s game blog. It’s pretty good.
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