The declaration of independence is a statement written by men representing the people of the colonies, where they list and describe the reasons for declaring their independence from England.

The actual statement of declaration of independence comes at the end of the document and it states the following:

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

The events and circumstances that led to the separation from England were many, and they are are stated in the declaration of independence.  The British government was imposing many restrictions, policies and laws upon the colonies which led to unconformities and finally a decision to become independent.

In 1767 England passed "The Townshend Acts", which led to confrontation between the English troops and the colonists, resulting in many deaths in Boston.  The second measure in this act (called revenue act) imposed custom duties on some good being imported into the colonies, these duties were collected and sent to England.

The state of Massachusetts started defying the British policies which resulted in England to close the port of Boston to trade.  Other American colonies united in sympathy and Virginia finally proposed that the colonies meet to devise actions against the British rule, this led to a calling of the first continental congress in September of 1774.

This congress sent petitions to the king of England to stop the aggressions towards the colonies, but the king instead just declared that the colonies were in rebellion; this led to armed conflict.  In June 1775 congress created a committee of five members to create a draft document for a declaration of independence.

The five members of this committee were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston.  Thomas Jefferson was who actually wrote the first draft of the declaration.  Congress met, reviewed the draft, made some changes and finally concluded on the document that we all know about.  This final document was approved as the declaration of independence when congress met in the Pennsylvania State House on July 4, 1776.

The declaration of independence served as a source for the creation of the Bill of Rights - which are the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution and talk about individual rights - and for the creation of the Constitution which is the basic instrument of government and supreme law of the United States.

The original declaration of independence is at the National Archives in Washington D.C.

History of Martial Arts

Before the existence of martial arts as we know them today, many civilizations are known to have practiced different forms of fighting similar to boxing and wrestling.  The paintings found in the pyramids show that there was a form of fighting similar to boxing in Egypt going back to the year 3,000 B.C.  Several other civilizations along this region show evidence of some type of fighting techniques.  During the Greek Olympiads, boxing and wrestling were practiced at the events.  In China types of fighting similar to the modern martial arts (sometimes referred to as open hand fighting) were practiced around 200 B.C.

It is believed that around 500 B.C, the migration of Buddhists to China, to teach them about the religion, resulted in the development of techniques to be able to resist the intense training.  These techniques involved mental and physical routines which later evolved into self defense techniques.

Many modern techniques using weapons were developed during different periods of time.  Some techniques, as the ones that use sticks, emerged per the necessity of people to defend themselves using their working instruments as weapons.

 Today’s martial arts combine techniques from several different disciplines.  Tae-Kwon-Do is the widely known martial art that originated as a national art in 1955 in Korea.  Tae-Kwon-Do is currently practiced all over the world and is one of the events at the Olympics.

Karate-Do, Judo, and Aikido are the main martial arts from Japan.  Each one consists of special techniques that differentiate them from the others.  Judo, for example, is based on a fighting approach similar to wrestling.  Aikido is about using your opponent’s energy to set them off balance.

Kung-Fu is the most widely known Chinese martial art; it has several fighting styles. Chinese martial arts were made famous in the western world by Bruce Lee who found Jeet-Kune-Do based on his life’s training on different martial arts.

As in Jeet-Kune-Do, there are other martial arts that have been born based out of the teachings and techniques from different ones.  Such is the case of Kyuki-Do; founded by grand master Ken Ok Hyung Kim.  Kyuki-Do is formed using the philosophies and techniques from Tae-Kwon-Do, Judo, Hapkido (Korean martial art similar to Aikido) and Kobudo (a Japanese martial art that specializes in the use of weapons).

The practice of martial arts provides self confidence, physical fitness and discipline; elements that are essential for a healthy and productive life.  The benefits of practicing martial arts can be obtained at any age, but they provide the best results when done at the early ages.

A Brief History of the Origins of Christianity

According to history and the writings in the Hebrew bible, Abraham left the city of Ur in Mesopotamia on a quest to start a nation of God on a different land.  Abraham, his family, and followers traveled north west following the paths of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to reach Haran.  From there they traveled south west to reach Canaan.  Canaan is now called Israel.  After many years, shortages of food and hunger struck the people of Canaan.  Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, guided the people out of Canaan and traveled west into Egypt where they lived in prosperity for a period of time.  The pharaoh of the time feared about them taking too much control and decided to reduce them to slaves, which they remained as for hundreds of years.

Moses, who was one among the Israelites (later called Jews), became their leader and guided the people out of Egypt and back to Canaan, however, it took them 40 years to come back to Canaan.  It is believed that during this time they received the body of laws and the Ten Commandments from God; these became part of, and gave rise to, their religion called Judaism.  Judaism is considered the first monotheistic religion (belief in one God).

The Jewish nation suffered many attacks from different civilizations and empires causing many people to eventually migrate to other places.  Most people migrated to the west and settled in places such as Germany, France and Spain.  These settlements originated different groups of Jews with their own traditions and sometimes their own languages, although sharing Judaism as their religion.

The migration of Jews and sharing of their religion and ideas with the western world provided the basis for the western concepts of ethics and civil law.  Judaism also influenced Christianity; the Christian beliefs have their origins on Judaism.

Christianity began as a Jewish sect in the eastern Mediterranean.  It rapidly grew and by the 4^th century it became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire.  Christianity became the dominant religion in most of Europe, but it was also present as a religious minority in parts of the Middle East and North Africa.  With the colonization of other land, by mainly European countries, Christianity spread to the American continent and many other parts of the world.