on the subject of punching holes in wood blocks...

Rating: 7/10 (9 August 2004)

Anyone else notice that the block of wood which Pai Mei punches his fist through (when Beatrix is watching) appears to be made of layers of plywood (which are weak and can be punched through by anyone using enough force), but the blocks which Beatrix tries to punch through all appear to be made of solid oak or some other similar hardwood? It really does look like layers of soft plywood when Pai Mei punches through it... Did they have to do that to make it technically possible for the actor to punch his fist through it, or are we supposed to draw the conclusion that Pai Mei was cheating and just trying to test Beatrix (i.e. nobody would have been able to punch through the blocks she's faced with and he's just trying to gauge her will to continue with the training)?