My dad had too much sense to ever get physical with my brother and I, he beat us up when we were kids as was deserved, but when we got to like 10 years or so he'd just punish us financially and such.
Now my mom on the other hand.. she was freakin' insane. She got mad at my bro one time when he was like 11, and went after him with a cooking spatula. My dad stepped in tellin' her to calm down and stuff, and she ended up breaking it in an effort to flog my dad with it. (we celebrated the defeat of the evil spatula used for punishments - I was like 9 at the time)
When we got older, and much bigger than her, she continued efforts to be physical with us. Sometimes it ended rather badly being as nobody, even if its your parents, is going to sit there and get smacked around if you don't have to. My mom was not the most rational person when it came to assaulting her children, but for the most part she was a good enough mom that it never got too bad, except once. <- that'd be my bro's story to tell, he can post further on the matter if he wants, but I won't.