How severe does a punishment spanking need to be?

As a kid growing up, I always conceived of a spanking as the infliction of unbearable pain with a parent's hand or belt. I never specifically thought about how long it would last, but if I had thought about it, I probably would have said two minutes on the short end and four or five minutes on the long end. It would involve crying, screaming, tears, and panic about not being able to bear the pain. I never thought to myself, "well, it will hurt, but I will be able to take it." As things turned out, I generally behaved and never suffered a spanking along the lines mentioned above. (As an adult, I did, but even then most spankings did not reach that level). What I find surprising is that on Internet videos, this type of spanking (we're talking adults, not minors) is rarely seen. In fiction, it is encountered somewhat more (Crimson Kid is an obvious example), but not as much as I would have thought. If the person who is being spanked is able to bear the pain, is that a true punishment spanking? Some would say that it is -- and I don't think there is any right or wrong answer here -- but it does fall outside of what I always considered a punishment spanking to entail. Comments?

I would find two minutes of intense hand spanking with no warm up quite a challenge. I think it would be for the spanker too. Normally though, the spanker varies the pace so that is fine.

A half hour session with warm up, a variety of implements and a measured pace is quite normal for me. Sessions have extended longer than that but it does depend on the scenario. Punishment (I am talking role play) scenes are usually quite severe but time is not the main determinant.

I have no idea about real punishment though. Certainly school punishments were a short sharp shock.

Yup, school slipperings and canings were a short sharp shock.

How long/hard for a play spanking? Well that depends almost entirely on the spankee. I generally hand spank for a minimum of five minutes and a maximum of ten (hurts my hand too much if longer).

A discipline session can, however (and delightfully) last for hours.

How hard depends on what she can take. I would generally aim to spank/strap/cane or whatever slightly harder than that or she misses out on the wonderful feeling of losing control.

Well, I think it depends on what we are talking about. A true punishment shouldn't be a lengthy involvement, as a rule. Anything lengthy starts to qualify as "enjoyment." An exception to that rule might be writing lines, which qualifies as punishment, and also lengthy.

As adults, we usually like to test the boundaries of what is or isn't punishment. What we can, or can't take. WHY we are willing to take, or WHEN we aren't willing to take anymore. Those explorations aren't interested in the "correction" of punishment as a formal concept of punishment, but in how much "punishment" our body, or minds can take.

I'm not sure any clarification is necessary, but just in case: when I wrote this, what I had in mind was essentially continuously unbearable pain lasting through almost all of the spanking. If spanks are given slowly, say, one every ten or fifteen seconds, the pain can be intermittently unbearable. I've had this kind of spanking, and at least for me it's much, much easier to take than when the spanks are fast and furious and there is no time to recover. When it's one per second or every other second, the pain can be continuously unbearable.

The private visit of a LEDA Lady and her hairbrush at a Comfort Inn, I think definitely would qualify as a punishment spanking. The special Nuwest hairbrush similar in size to one I saw at Harrods years ago is an experience that is unforgettable. We're talking multiple spankings with much needed corner time.

On the third go at my bottom it was already bright red and blistered even before she had my crying for a quick stop.

Julia clamped her leg over mine and gave me swats in quick flurries of four, than six. There was no safe word. She also required three hard swats with her very large wooden paddle that barely fit in her large beach bag. That was demanded and it was very hard to take it.

Some interesting thoughts here. In a story, the build-up and a good story is where the main interest is and the actual spanking is the icing on the cake that rounds it all off. I like punishments to be realistic and far removed from the fantasy spankings that make up adult play, but that's just my taste.

I would tend to agree, overall, and the hand is more personal, even intimate and is often very evocative.
Getting back to the OP's point, what is severe for one person, may not be as much for another. I think a punishment spanking, if that is the intent, need only be severe enough to achieve the goal needed or wanted. If it isn't a punishment, that's another question.

I'm surprised I didn't look at it from a story point of view, too.

In story format, while I prefer a good build-up, I prefer discipline in more depth and duration, but with a real-world outcome from a shorter session. I rationalize this as a description of discipline is relative to your experience, and/or imagination. In reality, three to five disciplinary smacks is enough to get someone's attention, but in a story, this usually is only enough to raise an eyebrow. In imagination, as a top, I'm capable of dispensing disciplinary spankings daily, and to numerous brats.

In reality, I once "fun" spanked three consensual women one day, of moderate duration each (about 2-3 minutes) and averaging about 30-60 smacks each, although one was a little firmer spanking than the other two. My hands are not thin and delicate, but not as calloused as they used to be. My hand was incapacitated for several weeks, being swollen and black and blue from palm through to back of my hand, with probable bone bruising (which heals after months, not weeks).

The old saying, "this is going to hurt me more than it will you" really has a physical basis of truth.

To expand on what Often123 said, people have completely different pain threshold. Not only that, but one person pain tolerance can vary quite a lot from one session to another depending on various factors (like if they are nervous / stressed and many others). So for example, while one person may be able to fairly easily take 20 strokes of the cane, for another taking only 5 would be excruciating.

With that in mind, I think that a possible definition of a "punishment spanking" is a spanking that goes beyond the spankee pain tolerance to the point where if they could stop it, they would immediately. Obviously such spanking should only ever happen between two consenting adults and even then there should be a lot of precautions being made to ensure everything is safe. There is also the case of some people having such a high pain tolerance that it wouldn't really be possible to give them such spanking without risking to injure them which obviously should never happen.