Martialarts works in selfdefense, trust me. But Ju-Jitsu/grapping art, would be the art of choice rather than a striking system. Since ju-jitsu have various technics to pasifie the attacker rather than destroy him.
btw my ex wife and I used to do martial arts together, and size and strength does not always win, you got to account for the sucker punch or the lucky shot.
Anyway way off topic.