Well, i got a very short temper myself and one thing iv lernt is that thers some people who purposly try and wind you up to see you go off on one.
Maybe thats what your "friends" and this matthew guy were doing.
It sounds hard and i no how stressful it can be when u hav someone in your face and u just want to rip them into pieces but u no u shouldnt and then u just see red and go for them.
Sounds stupid but in these situations now iv just lernt that i got to walk away and be by myself for 10 minutes or so (and usually punch a few walls) but thats better then punching someone in the face.
The thing that opend my eyes is that my cousin who, like me, has a very short temper was out one night and some jerk was calling my other cousin gay and stuff and so his brother just lost it, punched the guy in the face a couple of times. The guy lost his eye and my cousins currently serving 2 years in liverpool prison for GBH
That was a real eye opener to me, he didnt mean to really hurt the guy and even thou the guy he hit is a total jerk whose a known bully round the area. He didnt deserv to be blinded in one eye.
U think that it could never happen to u and that ur in control of ur own fists but it can happen to anyone.
Just last weekend a guy in a near by town to me died in a fight. Just a drunken brawl that sent him topelling and he banged his head in the wrong place and was completely brain dead.
What im trying to say is it does happen and you need to realise that and you need to change.
Like i said, technique that works for me is just to walk away and be BY MYSELF for a bit.
Hope this helps u somehow.

