昔、いつの頃か忘れたが玄制流のS.I.先生から、空手は沖縄の地域によって特徴が異なり、地域の名前を取って大きく首里手・泊手・那覇手に区別されていると聞いた。首里手は首里城近郊なので士族の拳、泊手は首里手に近い拳、那覇手は中国拳法を取り入れた庶民の拳と聞いたこともある。それで、それぞれどこら辺だろうか／相互にどの位離れているのだろうかと気になり、地図で調べたことがある。
当時は、沖縄本島の南端・中央・北端くらいに分かれているのだろうかとイメージしていたが、地図で見ると首里地区も泊地区も那覇市内に含まれる。少なからず驚いた。那覇手に囲まれた中で首里城周辺でのみ首里手、泊港近郊でのみ泊手が流行ったのだろうか。
Fig.1 Current Map
どうも首里地区は元々首里市だったが那覇市と合併して消滅したものらしい。それで先日古い地図を探してみた。
Fig.2 Old Map
これなら首里手と那覇手を地域名で分けたことは理解できる。ただ、泊地区はここでも那覇市内である。これを見ると泊地区では首里手よりも那覇手の影響を強く受けそうである。
さらに探しているといつの時代の地図か不明であるが以下のものを見つけた。地図名に首里及び那覇とある。
Fig.3 Other Old Map
これを見ると泊地区と那覇地区はほぼ別の町として発展してきたものと理解できる。泊は那覇に近い（ざっくりとみて、泊～首里は4～5ｋｍ、泊～那覇は約2kmくらいだろうか）が、首里城王府から海に出ようとすると/外国からの使いが琉球王府へ行こうとすると泊港を経由するだろうから両地域で交流は盛んであったろうと思われる。
さらにさらに探していたら以下の地図を見つけた。
Fig.4 Coastline
1700年以前の琉球王国時代、現在の那覇市のかなりの部分は海の中。首里城のほんの2kmのところに海岸線がある。1609年の薩摩の琉球侵攻の際は、城までさぞやあっさり辿り着いたことだろう。
冊封使としてワンシュウの来琉が1683年との説があり（1800年代との説もある）、公相君来琉が1756年なので、1700年頃なら士族は既に護身武術を鍛錬していたことだろう。泊地区から見ると那覇地区とは海で隔てられており、どちらかと言えば首里地区の方が近い印象を受ける（海上交通の方が便利だったかも知れないので断言はしない）。
以前、もともと首里手・泊手・那覇手と言った区分けはなく、昭和初期の沖縄の空手大家の座談会か何かで便宜的に決められたものらしいと書いたが、もともと首里手・泊手・那覇手という区分けはあったそうで、1925年に県学務課案で公にされたものらしい。ただ、いずれにせよ空手の原形（手）は、沖縄本島の中では南端の首里城周辺の極限られた地域で発展／流行したもののようである。
因みに北谷屋良クーシャンク-で有名な北谷町は首里城より10kmくらい北に離れており、首里城から見ると那覇港よりも遠い。交通が不自由な時代には結構な距離である。従って、そこでは時代に流されず独特の進化を遂げた（または原形を留めた）可能性があるかも知れない、と思う。
Fig.5 Okinawa Main Island
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A long time ago, I heard from a Genseiryu S.I. teacher that karate has different characteristics depending on the region of Okinawa, and is largely divided into Shuri-te, Tomari-te, and Naha-te by taking the name of the region. I've heard that Shuri-te was a fist of a samurai family because there were near Shuri Castle, Tomari-te was a fist close to Shuri-te, and Naha-te is a fist of the common people who adopted Chinese martial arts. So, I was wondering where they were and how far they were from each other, so I looked them up on a map.
At that time, I imagined that it was divided into the southern, central, and northern ends of the main island of Okinawa, but looking at the map, the Shuri area and the Tomari area are included in Naha city. I was not a little surprised. I wonder if Shuri-te was popular only around Shuri-Castle and only in the suburbs of Tomari Port while surrounded by Naha-te.
See above, Fig.1 Current Map
It seems that the Shuri district was originally Shuri City, but it disappeared after merging with Naha City. So I searched for an old map the other day.
See above, Fig.2 Old Map
In this case, it is understandable that Shuri-te and Naha-te are separated by region name. However, the Tomari district is in Naha city. Looking at this, it seems that the Tomari area may be more influenced by Naha-te than Shuri-te.
When I searched further, I found the following, although it is unknown when the map was. The map names are Shuri and Naha.
See above, Fig.3 Other Old Map
Looking at this, it can be understood that the Tomari district and the Naha district have developed as almost different towns. Tomari is close to Naha (roughly speaking, Tomari-Shuri is about 4-5km, Tomari-Naha is about 2km), but when trying to go out to the sea from Shurijo Castle / When a foreign messenger tries to go to Ryukyu Kingdom, they would go through Tomari Port, so it seems that exchanges were active in both areas.
When I was looking for more, I found the following map.
Fig.4 Coastline
During the Ryukyu Kingdom era before 1700, a large part of present-day Naha city was in the sea. There was a coastline just 2km from Shurijo Castle. When Satsuma invaded Ryukyu in 1609, they probably arrived at the castle easily.
There is a theory that Wanshu arrival to Ryukyu as a sakuho-shi was in 1683 (there is also a theory that it was in the 1800's), and since Kūsankū's arrival to Ryukyu was in 1756, the samurai had already trained self-defense martial arts around 1700. Speaking of the Tomari area, it was separated from the Naha area by the sea, and I get the impression that it was farther than the Shuri area (I will not affirm because sea transportation might have been more convenient).
Previously, I wrote that there was no distinction between Shuri-te, Tomari-te, and Naha-te, and it seems that it was decided for convenience at a roundtable discussion of Okinawan karate landlords in the early Showa period or something. But originally it seems that there was a division between shuri-te, tomari-te and naha-te, and it seems that it was made public in 1925 by the prefectural academic affairs section. However, in any case, the original form (Tee) of karate seems to have developed / popularized in a very limited area around Shurijo Castle at the southern end of the main island of Okinawa.
By the way, Chatan Town, which is famous for Chatan Yara Kusanku, is about 10km north of Shuri Castle and farther than Naha Port. Seen from Shuri Castle, it is farther than Naha Port. It is a good distance in times when traffic is inconvenient. Therefore, I think that there may be a possibility that it has undergone a unique evolution (or kept its original form) without being swept away by the times.
See above, Fig.5 Okinawa Main Island
