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The Liar The Cheat and The Thief: Deception and the Art of Sword Play

Maija Soderholm

4.49 · Rating details · 41 ratings · 6 reviews

You don't fight bodies you fight minds.

In this slender volume, Maija Soderholm of Sonny Umpad's Visayan Style Corto Kadena and Larga Mano system presents the details of one of the most important and least understood aspects of personal combat. How to control the opponent's mind.

The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief explores the drills and the mindset of one of the last mode

You don't fight bodies you fight minds.

The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief explores the drills and the mindset of one of the last modern duelists. As Sun Tzu said "All warfare is deception".

On the surface, this is a book about learning to deceive one's opponent in the fighting arts. And it would be a great addition to the canon if that were all it managed to be. Yet, a closer read suggests that this book is pretending to be less than it is to conceal some deeper lessons. We should hardly be surprised by this. Just as Musashi and others have taught us, the sword is a vehicle for understanding other things. In truth, what Ms. Soderholm has provided us is a guide not merely to reading one’s opponent, but to writing him. The advantages of that having that ability are limited only by one’s imagination, whether the context is the ring, the battlefield, or the boardroom. These are deep waters, and the tools provided are powerful — to be used cautiously and wisely.

Rob Crowley, former MAJ, US Army Special Forces

My focus, for many years, has been on surviving violent encounters. I don't duel. I don't square off and try to keep things fair. So why am I excited about a book on dueling, using weapons I don't even carry from a culture not my own? Because there are principles underlying all things, and sometimes the principles are easier to see if you force yourself to shift perspective. There are three things that the long blade teaches better than any other medium: distance, timing and deception. Maija Soderholm understands these nuances deeply. I've been waiting for this book for a long time. It will make me better in my totally unrelated field.

Rory Miller, author of Meditations on Violence, Facing Violence and ConCom – Conflict Communications: A new paradigm in Conscious Communication

After 35 years studying the Filipino martial arts, I thought I knew what 'flow' was until I met Maija; flashing smile hiding the glint of steel. To improve your art, watch, in the videos, how her feet and torso turn in different directions and the hands deliver the attack on a third line. Deception within deception.

P.H. (Mac) McRedmond, Deputy Sheriff, Retired and 50 year martial arts student and instructor

There are teachers and there are teachers. Rarely do you find the ability to both DO and TEACH at a high level of skill within the same person. I have seen Maija Soderholm's skill in technique and teaching ability firsthand, flowed with her on many occasions and been the recipient of embarrassing lessons in humility. As a 28 year practitioner of the martial arts, that's not an easy thing to bring about.

Maija's Art of Deception is the brass ring. There's no holding back, nor is there any mystification - you can't simply let your mind relax, the game is more mental than it is physical and learning to integrate the two has been the stumbling block of many teachers. Maija's art isn't a *system* per se, but the essence of every martial art on the planet; It's a living, evolving manual of motion you can return to for years, and get something new every time. Maija never lets you relax in a drill, she constantly reminds you (sometimes painfully) that higher martial arts demands deeper concentration.

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Kindle Edition, 140 pages

Published December 12th 2014

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Aug 04, 2016 Anne Beardsley rated it really liked it

Shelves: will-read-again, non-fiction, martial-arts

This sassy, skinny book is mostly made up of drills. They are brilliant. Since I practice a Japanese sword style and know only about three things about Escrima, I had to look up a number of the terms, but it was worth it. Most of these drills are things I can use with fellow students of my totally different style...because sword fighting is sword fighting.

Carefully, one step at a time, the author adds new elements to her drills. She tells you what to do, what not to do, and how not to do it. She ...more

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Feb 28, 2018 No rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mma

A must read for any blade practitioner.

"Sonny Umpad lived as a virtual recluse in a booby trapped house. He taught classes in his living room, the walls of which were hung with swords and knives and coated in the brown oily residue of nicotine." - Maija Soderholm (The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief, Pg.3)

"From verse 73 of the Hávamál :

"Tveir ro eins herjar tunga er höfuđs bani er mér í heđin hvern handar væni"

Two men are the destroyers of one: the tongue is the head's slayer; I expect a fist in A must read for any blade practitioner.

"Sonny Umpad lived as a virtual recluse in a booby trapped house. He taught classes in his living room, the walls of which were hung with swords and knives and coated in the brown oily residue of nicotine." - Maija Soderholm (The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief, Pg.3)

"From verse 73 of the Hávamál :

"Tveir ro eins herjar tunga er höfuđs bani er mér í heđin hvern handar væni"

Two men are the destroyers of one: the tongue is the head's slayer; I expect a fist in every fur cloak

Wisdom poems generally point out that which we forget, or need reminding about. The advice is mostly good common sense, but here when talking about threats, Odin feels no need to say - 'Beware the enemy running at you with an axe'! There is no need to point out the obvious! But instead he cautions - Be careful - Your mind is as much a target as your body. True intent is often hidden." - Maija Soderholm (The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief, Pg.4)

"The sword is a singular weapon, a thing of beauty, with a history wrapped in myth and legend. Handle them for long enough and you begin to see why. They are strange objects, tools really, made for one thing only - to cut. Each has a personality of it's own: a way it moves and feels in the hand, the power to take a life in perfect balance with the power to protect it." - Maija Soderholm (The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief, Pg.22)

"A blade truly sharpened for real use is not just called sharp, it is called 'live'. As one of my teachers said, "The difference between a live blade and a sharp blade is that with a live blade, you do not feel the cut." - Maija Soderholm (The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief, Pg.22-23)

Excerpt: "...one night some of the locals decided to take insult, and Sonny knew that they would be waiting for him when he left. He was not armed so before he left, he slipped into the bathroom and fabricated what looked like a knife blade from the tin foil in his cigarette packet. As he left the club he flashed it as though trying both to conceal it and show it, whilst saying 'I don't want to fight...' (which is what Sonny told me I should say if I ever actually intended TO fight): Suddenly the odds had changed and the guys waiting for him hesitated long enough for Sonny to reach his car. Meanwhile, one of the guys, seeing him with what he thought was an illegal weapon ran over to the cops and told them that Sonny was carrying to try and get him into trouble. The cop came over and Sonny just crumpled the foil in his hand. Knife? What knife?" - Maija Soderholm (The Liar, The Cheat, and The Thief, Pg.76)
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Sep 06, 2020 Adam Smyer rated it it was amazing

I picked up this book because of a general interest in martial arts; I have never practiced sword play. This book is about so much more than sword play. As with all helpful fighting systems in my experience, there is a framework laid out here. And, in this case, underneath that framework there is a philosophy - one that resonated for me. I incorporated that philosophy into my martial and non-martial interactions, and the results check out.

I’ve never read The Art of War but I did stumble across ...more

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Nov 21, 2018 Raymond Goss rated it really liked it

Book covers a good number of drills. While a few links to videos are provided, the book would be better if there were more videos or pictures. The drills need to be practiced and I did this with a few of my students, but it will be a while before digesting most of the information. I think reading Rory Miller's "Drills" book in conjunction would be beneficial to the reader. What I enjoyed most about this book is the coverage of the psychological aspects of training and fighting, learning to read ...more

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Jun 30, 2017 Timothy Nichols rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017-goals

In martial arts, the real secrets are not techniques, but training methods. This little gem of a book delivers a treasure trove of learning experiences to try with a partner. I'll use some of these; I'll adapt others, because they are optimized for a dueling environment, and that's not what I train for. But the whole book is a worthwhile read for its commentary on human nature. ...more

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May 09, 2016 Raven rated it it was amazing

Short and sweet, this excellent book describes techniques for misleading one's opponent into errors of judgement during a fight. A series of progressive drills are included which I intend to try out with my friends and martial arts group, mixed in with illustrative anecdotes from the author's time training which describe the principles brought out to be worked in in the subsequent drills. I've tried some of the solo drills already, and they're challenging and worthwhile even for experienced prac ...more

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