Hard limit (BDSM)
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Although limits are things that are not done in a scene in BDSM, play is often used as a way to expand on such limits. A hard limit, on the other hand, is an automatic pre-agreed line never to be crossed, as it would be a breach of acceptability.
Examples might be a person who has a medical condition or phobia, or would feel unable to handle some matters (since to the majority of practitioners, BDSM is based on mutual respect and exploration, underpinning the roles). Practitioners often make a light-hearted distinction between "good pain" (that which is erotic, beneficial, or valued to explore, such as being whipped) and "bad pain" (involuntary, non-stimulating pain, such as walking into a lamp-post or suffering a fever).
A minority view is that some people see all BDSM experience in the hands of a competent Dom as teaching limits and self-discipline, and therefore argue that this is a false distinction. Such people often do not believe in hard limits, arguing there should be total trust and no preset assumptions. They would instead tend to view the concept of hard limits as another example of topping from the bottom, that is, attempts by the sub to retain control and dictate to the Dom what dominance is or is not okay, rather than experiencing genuine surrender and allowing trust to direct the scene.
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