They showed lots of clips of whippings, which is unbelievable. The skin on these guys back went black and blue with every whack, literally, every whack. I mean think about running into a piece of furniture which your shin. Sure it hurts but usually waits until the next day or a few hours later to black and blue. These were on film right then.
They did not show the hands being cut off, only up until the point just before impact.