I'm back only for this post.

... Or a QTE prompt.

Could be a counter indicator, à la the Arkham series.
It's neither.

https://abload.de/img/fightingthugsindicato9jf1p.jpg

Looks like a lock-on indicator. There's also a forklift in the background, and what look like newspapers on the floor.

The move Ryo is doing looks really similar to Akira's Houken at 1 minute 54 in this video: https://youtu.be/B9jm6lbJj54?t=113

High res:

https://abload.de/img/fight_with_thugsqrev6.jpg