Well, I am sure you are still her hero. As for the thug, what type of a man harasses a woman and has a mate attack his opponent from behind like that? he is a coward.

Thugs don't play fair or by rules. You want to go get lessons in just down and dirty self defense.

Wouldn't have made any difference. If getting into a stance takes that much effort you weren't ready. Also awareness is key.

You probably took too long putting on your gi.

You need to strengthen your strategy and street smarts IQ. That was bait. They person talking to your wife lured you and had that other person ambush you. Martial arts do help if you combine environment awareness with it. You have to read your surroundings and strategize accordingly. Smarten up!!

You deserved it. How is this a surprise to you?

As wonderful as Formal Martial Arts are, they're just that, Formal. Which is actually pretty useless in a bar fight or most things except someone using the same style against you. You want to learn to Fight? Try Krav Maga, Systema or one of the 'Urban self defense' systems. You want the one where the instructor giggles while showing you how to throw someone across the room by their nose and that uses 'pressure testing' at the end of the lesson (make yourself really dizzy and then get group attacked with the nights moves. Simulates being drunk or having your bell rung. Good learning technique). I'm not going to say anything about not being aware of your surroundings because you just learnt that particular lesson the hard way. However, Duelists do not win against fighters. You want a useful collection of unexpected, absolutely filthy moves you can fall back on in a bar. Going to a Krav Maga class as well is not being disloyal, it's being sensible and if your instructor says otherwise, they're only interested in your cash, not your safety or your stance. Go find the giggling sadists that got banned from calling themselves Martial Artists and you'll feel much better about things after a couple of months. Sad fact is that most Formal MAs do not, in any way actually prepare you for a real fight. Learn. Adapt and *always* Fight Dirty. That's how you win. We had more than a few formal martial artists turn up to our Krav Maga class because they'd just experienced what you have and realised that what happens in a Dojo and what happens on the street are two *very* different things. Go find a class. You won't regret it. 🫂