I would say it depends? Arguably, even if you read books on body training, you won't become even close to Hanma Yujiro. And assuming you have the time and the ressources, you will still be comparable to the many gym lovers in a few years. Your life will be probably better but you won't be a superhuman. Then there's martial arts? I've done kung-fu and karate but I never felt like I was getting superpowers either. Many people do martial arts and they walk in the streets every day with us and we don't notice their black belts. Actually, I think that most of the martial you'll do won't compare to what a MMA fighter can do. So no superpower there either. Anyway, if you want to go that route, I recommend the Jack Dempsey book. http://www.amazon.com/Championship-Fighting-Explosive-Punchi... If you feel like you can do more complicated stuff for self-defense, there is Jeet Kune do. http://www.amazon.ca/Bruce-Lees-Fighting-Method-Complete/dp/...