The greatest disappointment of my career came on may 24th 1980 when the Japanese government said that no Japanese contingent would be attending the Moscow Olympics. I received a medal from the AJJA as the lightweight competitor selected to represent Japan in the Moscow Olympics, but of course that was no consolation. I was about 30 years old and coming to the end of my career, and still had not won a world or Olympic title. The headmaster of my school naturally wanted me to be there as a teacher, and although he accepted that I had to go to squad training to prepare for the Olympics, he was not happy about me taking another year to become World Champion. I could feel myself getting older. I couldn't train as well as I had been able to in the past, and I had to choose between the Job I loved and Judo. I chosed Judo and I left Ibaragi to go and live and train in Tokyo. It was much better there, and I taught at Tokai University full-time, but was able to train very well with really strong Judokas at the best Dojos in Japan. When I fought in the World Championships, I felt that I absolutely had to win. I had made many sacrifices, giving up the job that I loved to come and train in Tokyo, everyone had helped me so much. My friends and students, Sato-Sensei, and the Tokai University. I couldn't even consider the possiblity of losing. I won the World Championships in Maastricht on September 5th 1981
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Aaron "Duchman" Karels |