Okinawa and Karate

空手は，沖縄の伝統的な身体文化である。明治期に徐々に体系化され，戦前の昭和期に日本本土に紹介され，伝播した。本土では主に大学を中心に広まり，戦後は，スポーツとして発展した。現在では，主に「スポーツ空手」の愛好家が世界中に数多くいる。本土や世界でスポーツ化が進んだ一方で，戦後の米国統治の中，沖縄では，空手が純粋培養され，かつての本来の形を色濃く残した空手が継承されていると考えられている。ただ実際は，ガラパゴス的進化の結果，独特の現在の沖縄空手が形成された可能性も捨てきれない。つまり，明治期に体系化される以前の空手（手），少なくとも明治期当時の空手が一体どのようなものであったのかは，口伝による身体文化のために，今となっては客観的な検証は難しい。そのため，果たして本当にかつての本来の形を色濃く残しているのかどうかは定かではない。ただ，いずれにせよ，少なくとも言えることは，運良くスポーツ化を免れたが故に，武術として維持されているのが，沖縄の空手だろう。

Karate is a traditional body culture in Okinawa. It had been gradually systematized during Meiji era, and introduced and popularized in the mainland of Japan during Showa era before the world war II. In the mainland of Japan, karate had spread mainly between universities, and after the WW II, it has developed as a sport. Today, there are a lot of fans of mainly "sports karate" in the world. While karate has been sportized in the mainland of Japan and the world, it seems that the karate in Okinawa, which strongly keeps an essential style once as it had because of pure culture under the sway of United States after WW II, has been inherited. But actually, there is a slight possibility that the current unique Okinawa karate has been shaped through something like biological evolution in Galapagos. That is, it is difficult for us today to objectively determine what kind of thing karate (tiy) before systematized in the Meiji era or at least during the Meiji era was, because karate was a body culture handed down by word of mouth. Thus, it is not certain whether it really remains to be as it was then. But, anyhow, what we can say at least is that it is Okinawan karate that remains to be martial arts due to having escaped from sportization fortunately.