well, do you get like 150 different nasty physical punishments and line them up for the child, like if you pull hair putting peanut butter in it, or if they grab something spitting on their hand or whatever? Yes, they understand physical stuff like that, and it might stop them doing it, but it is not teaching them not to do it for the right reasons, and imo it is bordering on abusive, certainly potentially traumatic.
my son is 2.5 and perfectly capable of understanding why he shouldn't bite someone. that doesn't mean he doesn't do naughty things or occasionally hit other children, but he knows it's wrong because we tell him sternly so, explain why, stop him doing it and look very disapproving, and yes, that is enough to put him off doing most things like that, especially 'grade one' things like biting or hitting.
He learns that you don't do it, with the explanation reinforced. I wouldn't be against punishing by saying 'because you've just bitten that boy, we're going straight home or you can't have an ice cream or whatever', or punishing at home by removing a toy for a given period, or time out or whatever, but not something nasty done forcibly to the child. The more I think about it, the more upsetting it is...