Im asking this out of curiosity. When I get mad, I generally mutter something under my breath and get over it. But sometimes, I become overwhelmed with anger. At that point I have to punch something, human or not. I currently have a broken bone, or at least that's what it feels like, in my hand from punching a concrete wall. But how do you react?
I spent many years... decades actually... struggling with a hot temper and a tendency to violence.
My earliest success in controlling my temper and desire to hurt those who offended me was in martial arts training. I had an outlet for my aggressions, as well as training that focused on self-control. I learned breathing and meditation techniques to keep my emotions in check.
Then there was the years I spent as a cop, when I spent a lot of time interacting with scummy people and having to maintain my professionalism regardless of what verbal abuse I was given or how stressful the situation was.
The problem with both was that the anger was still there, and the desire to do violence to those who caused it was still strong, just kept on a leash.
It is only in relatively recent years that I've really made a fundamental change in how I handle anger, and the secret is that I don't get angry very often anymore and when I do I am able to actually let it go and truly calm down much more rapidly. This came about through a lifetime's experiences in what might be called "the human condition", and a newfound compassion and sympathy for my fellow man.
After all, we all do things that anger others sometimes. Often we do so in ignorance or by accident; sometimes we do so out of thoughtlessness or distraction. Sometimes we have no choice, such as if you're a manager and you are obligated to have words with a subordinate over something they did. Sometimes we're angry or upset and we "share the heat" with whoever annoys us, whether they did so on purpose or not. We're all human, and I'm just as fallible as anyone. The guy who pisses you off so bad you want to smash his face may not be an a-hole all the time.... maybe he's just having a bad day, maybe there was some misunderstanding, maybe he's stressed out and he'll regret his behavior later.
Even if this is not so, there's nothing to be gained really by breaking his nose just for simple asshattery, and much to lose. Nor is there anything to gain by letting him ruin your day with long-term anger... in fact some a-holes love nothing more than to think they've ruined your day, that you will be upset all day over their behavior.... so why let them win?
Life is so much better when you just let things go and don't hold a grudge. When you let anger rule you, you miss out many opportunities to take joy in the moment, to fully appreciate some good thing that you have right in front of you, because you're still mentally obsessing over some slight that happened hours ago, or yesterday, or last week.
I've been a lot happier and more content (not to mention better company) when I adopted this point of view.
Now when it is something big, some real and serious harm, that is a much more difficult matter... but if you recognize that getting angry does not benefit you in any way, that it does not help you in your quest to seek suitable redress for the harm done to you, that indeed it serves little benefit even in self-defense, it is easier to let it go and decide what to do (if anything) about the matter using logic and reason.
I remain human of course and from time to time I still have trouble setting my anger aside.... but I'm much better at it than I ever was before.