Training the High School Choir: A New Approach

There was a special way that freshmen were obligated to deal with the mistakes and errors they inevitably committed. The slogan was "The error of one is the error of all." It was wrong and destructive to permit a new teammate to believe that an obvious error—in conduct or in performance—was his alone. Instead, when such infractions occurred, we freshmen formed two lines face to face and were required to hit each other. By doing this, each one of us could feel that it was necessary to be both sorry and responsible. There was no slacking off either. The upperclassmen who watched would make you hit again if they felt the blow you delivered was too light. I always hit hard because I did not want to be made to strike a second time. I hit hard and in turn was hit hard myself. This happened more times than I can remember.

Sadaharu Oh and David Falkner,
Sadaharu Oh: A Zen Way of Baseball
(New York Times Books, 1984)