.. When a further ten days had passed the king asked once more, and he answered: "Not yet. His eyes still have an angry look, and he is full of fight." Another ten days passed, then he said: "I think he is ready now. When he hears other cocks crowing it does not bother him. When looking at him you might think he was made of wood. His character is now fully-formed. No other cock will dare to fight him, they will all run away when they see him."

Let us take our example from this fighting cock. We must observe, recognise and control our true feelings, perceptions and emotions. Once we have been able to follow our thoughts consciously, we must take a similar approach with our negative moods, but much more subtly. If we are successfully able to experience our feelings and perceptions consciously, and to gain control over our moods, our body will feel good, our mind will be clear and there will be contentment in our heart.
"If no feelings of anger or sorrow, or even pleasure arise, the mind is in a state of balance (in the middle)", says the "Way of the Middle" (Jung Yung) by Confucius. To illustrate this, let's imagine a WT follower in the SNT stance. He/she is in perfect balance. "If such feelings arise, and if the mind reacts to them in a normal, unperturbed manner, then it is in a state of harmony", Confucius continues. Here we can imagine a WT follower who uses his/her Chi-Sao skills to compensate and "harmonise" all the forces acting on him/her.
Fighting others is not the true and final goal of Kung Fu, however. The object of practicing is to win the fight against yourself. Then there will usually be no physical confrontation with others, because we have freed ourselves from our "ego".
People want to give orders to others and feel they are masters over them, but genuine humanity and mastery means mastering oneself and helping others to achieve the same for themselves.
How many oriental and occidental martial arts "masters" remain "real" masters if we measure them by this yardstick?

Best wishes, Keith R. Kernspecht