Kung Fu and Keeping Your Cool!

After watching Serena Williams lose her cool and, thus, her semi-final match at the US Open I thought about how much Kung Fu has helped me in 'keeping my cool'. One of the reasons I started training in kung fu aside from fitness was that I have an extremely bad temper. I felt that the principles of kung fu would help me learn how to control it. It still amazes me how correct that thought was. Especially since I picked a Sifu who epitomizes the idea! I also saw that training, in general, should be intense and also has this affect.
One major part of Kung Fu is that you learn to fight. In Eagle Claw Kung Fu your main goal is to control your opponent through locking them by joints or muscles. This requires tremendous self-control as you want to be able to apply just the right amount of strength and pressure so as NOT to injure unless you need to. In order to do this one must truly attain Kung Fu (high level of skill attained through hard work and time). My Sifu (teacher- Grand Master Leung Shum) always said that when fighting you should keep a slight smile on your face. This helps you stay relaxed. It also can disarm any opponent since they won't know what you are thinking and can also see that you are relaxed. The way you get to this point is through intense training annd repitition of techniques. It also requires a large degree of high intensity fighting, as closely simulating the real thing as possible. In many cases I recommend that a student competes in full-contact fighting to get even more realistic. If you can handle this over the years, when a real life situation arises, you are much calmer and will react in the manner that you trained.
All of this can help you in real life with no fighting. If you are threatened, whether physically or just mentally, you have been put through far more stress than the average person. Your sense of 'time' slows down and you don't make those snap reactions that get you into trouble. Your calmness can affect your opponent and the will, in turn, also calm down. This will deescalate the situation and you may not even have to fight. If it is just a mental situation, the same principles apply since, in many cases, a person will try to intimidate you.
In your training you should push your limits physically and mentally. If you do, then any stresses that come at you in your every day life will seem minimal and not affect you as harshly. You will remain calmer and deal with the situation better.
In conclusion, when you train, whether in Kung Fu, Tai Chi or just fitness training, you should put your body through as intense a work out as you can at the time. Your physical AND mental body will get stronger! This will allow for you to deal with daily stress in a much better manner.