Most adults who show up to their first class haven't thrown a punch since middle school gym class, if ever. That's not a problem to overcome before you start. It's the actual starting point. Your first few weeks aren't about looking competent. They're about getting comfortable being a beginner again as an adult, which turns out to be its own kind of skill most of us haven't practiced in years.

By blue belt, that discomfort is gone. You're not thinking about whether you look right anymore. You're just training. And if you trained years ago and are picking it back up, you'll find the muscle memory returns faster than you'd expect, even if the ego needs a minute to catch up to where your body already is.