You are about right. I whacked my kids past the age of 5 or 6, but not by much. What's more, no one should touch a kid when he is mad. For the most part, there are very few times when any adult should get mad at a kid who is less than about 12 or 13 years old and well before that time, if you have not taught them right from wrong, then you have lost them anyway.
Use corporal punishment, but only do so rarely, else it will lose its effectiveness. Legitimate corporal punishment causes very little physical pain.
"Use corporal punishment, but only do so rarely, else it will lose its effectiveness."
Exactly. What worked for me were my mom's THREATS to spank me. She rarely needed to, but I understood that she would, if pressed. If such things were outlawed, such threats wouldn't work too well.
What's more, she often combined the combined the threat with humiliation, too - "Do you want me to pull your pants down and spank you right here in public?" - in such a way that would gall any touchy-feely, self-esteem types - but it was 100% effective.