Okay... point taken. You have met with and talked with and read thread posts from many martial artists, many who have 10 or more years of training... What percentage of all those martial artists do you really think, can take a random thug on the street? What percentage of those martial artists think they can take a random thug on the street? I would guess that most martial artists, with 10 years of experience, think that they could. I would also say that the group that really could take a random thug, would be a subset. Now, we can argue all day about just how big or small that subset is and about which arts put you in or out of that subset. Those are other threads. The point is that not all who train, really can and not all who think they can, really can.
We all post and snicker at the no touch guys, who put up money and get the crap kicked out of them. They train more than 10 years and really think that they are able to win. We all watched and criticized the wing chun guy... but he trained more than 10 years and really thought he could win. Then we see the video of the two MMA fighters getting in a brawl at a gas station... only to find out that they were outnumbered and the other guys had weapons. (ok, it wasn't a bat, it was a 2x4) Recently we saw BJ Penn get knocked out in a street fight. So, we have examples of people from the whole spectrum from no touch all the way to decorated UFC fighters getting owned in "real" fights.
The other thing we see in a lot of incidents is people breaking rule #1. They don't bring a knife to a knife fight... they don't bring a gun to a gun fight... they don't bring a stick to a stick fight... and they don't bring enough of their buddies. This isn't because they are too stupid. It's because they thought that they were showing up for a one on one, fist fight. Then find out too late, that they showed up to a different kind of fight...
Mr Gong could have gone out, got the guys license plate and called the police. Let law enforcement and his insurance company do their thing. I would encourage people to get help coming first, before starting to fight if possible. We just had a story where a kid got stabbed a bunch of times while everyone filmed it on the cell phone... no one helped. I am suggesting that you get your phone out and get the police coming first. I am suggesting you have a realistic view of the risk you take when you jump in. It might be better to grab a weapon of opportunity first... get some others to help out... maybe you can shout at the attacker and get him to chase you instead... keep your 6 feet of distance, with objects between you, allowing the victim to get away. I am suggesting that most of us, are not at the level where we can tighten our green belt, or brown belt or black belt... put on our cowboy hat and then calmly step into a situation expecting to "honorably" dispatch the bad guy with just our fists. Chuck Norris only does that in movies and TV shows, where he has read the script first. Memorizing patterns and playing tag at a childrens daycare center doesn't realistically prepare you to take that random thug, who may or may not be armed... who may or may not have buddies. In fact, fighting in the UFC doesn't realistically prepare you for that either.
On top of that... someone handing you a black belt doesn't give you any more duty to make the world better, and right all the wrongs, than you had before as a regular citizen. Now that you are a black belt, your "obligation" and "responsibility" to protect your fellow man and make things right has not actually changed. You are still just a regular citizen. You don't get a badge with your belt.
We need to be realistic about who we are and what our abilities really are. Mr Gong's story only gets sadder. The guy that shot him, hid from the police, then committed suicide because he didn't want to get caught. Had he got the plate number, and called it in, both of these guys would still be alive. But, he thought he could take the guy in a fist fight, stepped in and they both dies as a result. Filing a police report and insurance claim would have worked out much better.