Loricism

Loricism is a philosophical and practical system of "mental self-defense" that actually precedes Viam Chao by about 6 months. Both share the same creator, Daniel Donche, and because Loricism encompasses self-defense of the mind (from others and from the self), a physical system was needed to offer a complete package.

It should be noted that Loricism and Viam Chao combine to form a full-spectrum system of self-defense:
 * self-defense for the spirit - dealing with attacks against yourself by way of negative behaviors and beliefs
 * self-defense for the mind - dealing with attacks against your mind by increasing reason and logic
 * self-defense for the body - dealing with attacks against your body through martial arts

Origins
Loricism started out as a philosophy of living, similar in nature to Stoicism. Donche saw an opportunity to leverage his experience in the martial arts to help make the ideas more easily digestible, so he transitioned it from a set of philosophical concepts to a system of "mental martial arts." The aim of Loricism is to improve the self (character development), improve ideas (reason and communication), and improve the world (justice and charity). The primary mechanism that drove its creation was the need to expand reason in culture and improve the state of each individual to withstand manipulation, faulty logic, and negative self-thought.

Naming Conventions
Loricism takes its name from the Latin Lorica segmentata, which is the segmented body armor worn by Roman soldiers. It uses a number of other Latin terms for its concepts. Viam Chao also uses Latin terms.

Loricism and Viam Chao
Loricism is always included in Viam Chao training by default, but Loricism can also be studied and practiced separately.

Mental Martial Arts
Loricism is set up in a similar way to physical martial arts in that it also has ranks (the same five ranks as Viam Chao) so that practitioners can gauge progress. The goal is to train in a similar manner to martial arts so that students constantly improve over longer periods of time.

External Resources

 * Loricism.org
 * Loricism Wiki