90% of martial arts classes are absolute trash, don't bother. You can honestly get the basics taught better for free on YouTube, half of them will actively teach incorrect technique or will at least just sit and let low aptitude students injure themselves for no good reason by not correcting bad habits and letting them try to brute force things. Any instructor worth a damn and able to teach better than that isn't just teaching random middle aged bums how to throw their first punches, he's teaching real contenders.

By all means get some pads and gloves and a buddy to slap you around the head when you drop your guard though, that can be fun and educational.