Holder of the 10th DAN and pioneer of Goju-Ryu karate in this country, he passed away at the age of 85 in his hometown of Kamen.

Fritz was born on 3 November 1935 in Breslau. After completing an apprenticeship as a miner in Dortmund, he moved to Sweden to study mining engineering. From 1954 to 1957, he left his studies at the university behind and set off on a journey of discovery by bicycle. His tour took him to 26 countries on several continents, including Japan and Sri Lanka. In Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, he came into contact with the sport for the first time in 1956. A year later, Nöpel decided to stay in Japan for a longer period of time.

In addition to his work as a deep-sea diver, he learned and refined Goju-Ryu karate under Master Tomaharu Kisaki (9th DAN) at the Yuishinkan Dojo in Osaka. The relationship between Nöpel and Kisaki was not only characterised by mutual respect, but went far beyond the sporting realm. Until Kisaki’s death in 1996, the two grandmasters visited each other regularly.