Dealing with the gangs in Keeliai had practically become a hobby for Korra and she was expecting him to not give up easily. When he wrests away, she took a half a step back and waited for the punch or kick that would surely come.

"You guys can never make this easy, can you?" Not that she minded getting a chance to stretch out her martial arts abilities.

But when the strike doesn't come, Korra halted for a brief moment to take in what he was doing. While she wasn't familiar with what he was holding, she knew that having it pointed at her didn't make her feel any more comfortable.

So she spun around to execute a roundhouse on his wrist. Both to disarm and potentially break his wrist. Disabling him, getting her juulan back, and turning him over to the police was her plan.