typical semi-beginner questions

Hello, I’m new to serious table tennis, I used to play when I was a kid and I’ve always been pretty good. Plus I’m a tennis player.
I recently got into it again at work and just to say how uninformed I was, I didn’t even know there were new scoring rules and a new plastic ball.. but I did a lot of catching up, followed video training and generally tried to get a grasp of what is like to take this sport more seriously.
Anyhow. I play mostly at work with a bunch of more and less keen people, some like me are getting into it more seriously and there’s a desire to progress. I bought myself an already made butterfly racked on Amazon:Zhang Jike ZJX6 as Office bats are rubbish. it’s quite light, relatively fast and sticky, but I never liked the loss of feeling I get from it. My fast shots go long. Now that I learned more and recognised I did a classic mistake (my bat is still not as fast and heavy as some colleagues though. I’m getting used to it but can’t stop thinking it’s not the racket for me.
My style is currently all round (more all over). I like to think I’m naturally an offensive player as I try to move the opponent and close the rally soon with fast shots, but when I do that I make so many mistakes I’m now taking it easier and playing a more cautious game.
I also never liked the feeling of over padded bats. Looking and readying about equipment I’m thinking of getting a safe Stiga all round.i could splash some cash on something more expensive, but I worry I just like the sound of names such as Nittaku acoustic and the idea of making nice sounds when hitting the ball..
So for now my plan is the Stiga Allround all wood. Rubber wise, since I don’t like too much padding and don’t need megaspeed, I was tempted to put some 729fx super 1.5 thick on both side, or maybe a little thicker on fh. I used to have a good FH with old ball and younger body but now for some reason is my BH that seems to do the best attacking and defensive shots.
Is this Chinese rubber a bad idea I will regret or it’s a good starting point? I want to learn to get a proper feel of the ball and place it where I want, I play very close to the table and occasionally mid distance, at least for now in office play environment. Any advice would be very appreciated and I aplologise, I know there are hundreds of posts like this one but I could not find much about the Stiga allround +729fx super combination, which might be a bad sign!
Thanks!

Thank you for all your quick answers. I live in south west London and any recomendations are more than welcome, I was thinking of getting some coaching to fix a lifetime of improvisated technique.
I selected the stiga all round as it seems the safe option, not being able to try any, and absolutely, I want a slow racket as I don’t need crazy speed. Thanks for the suggestions to use classic rubbers or slightly modern versions. 1.8 might be thin enough.
The reason I was tempted by the thin Chinese rubber was pretty much what NDH mentioned, to focus on spin! In fact before I got his reply, reading the previous (very helpful) replies, I though ‘ glad I asked about the Chinese rubber as I clearly don’t know what I’m talking about!’.
But seeing the last reply, I am tempted.. the 729 rubbers are so cheap that I might give them a try. Or, since I’m going for a safe blade, I might as well go with a safe rubber as suggested by Ingo and Trumpet. But right now the Chinese rubber is tempting me .. Nice to have found such an active forum here!

Hi. Reporting after the 1st day with Stiga allround and Friendship 729 1.5mm.
Feels like playing directly on balsa! I have adapted surprisingly fast, I have to push like mad on every shot and blocking that was one of my shots it is no longer... but I can see how possibly this setup might be good for learning the proper way, as if I spin or chop I have a huge amount of control but if I hit flat I might as well use an omelette pan.
The sound the racket makes is also rather unsophisticated!
I feel I should probably have chosen the thicker version as 1.5 of hard rubber and sponge is really nothing, or maybe I just have to adjust to the lightweight setup. Quite happy i no longer have to deal with the trampoline effect and another plus is that I’m getting double the workout! If I get nowhere I might swap the rubber for something less radically different from what I’ve used in the past but I’m quite happy with the experiment!

Good guess Whocarez. I’m quite good at serves but definitelly pushes, shortening stokes and receiving - especially spinny serves- is what I need to work at. And my FH which years ago was my favourite stroke but nowadays I just can’t make proper contact with the ball when I want to top spin peoperly. I keep working on it and I’m looking forward to the eureka moment, I had a few but too rare. I have a frien at work who is trying to learn propely like myself but in general we play always matches among colleagues, which was fun when I wasn’t interested in improving and I had my shares of victories, now I’m busy thinking what I’m doing and I would rather train at a club, and the overthinking makes me lose matches... I will be looking to join a local club soon, I always loved this sport and at 45 it’s too late to do it. This summer my father in law is visiting and he’s an ex TT instructor fro JP.. at 70+ he can still destroy me, I Hope o can get some free training from him! About the equipment, I just hope I’m not forcing myself to use something too basic when modern technology could help, but I like the direct feel I get from my new setup and will stick with it.

Thanks all, your opinion and advices are all really useful. I think I will start understanding things better as soon as I go to a club and have a few sessions of continuous play. Geeking around and reading about equipment I noticed posts of players mentioning that they coat their blade with vanish, no idea if there’s a special one for TT and it it’s really needed. I guess If you own an expensive blade it’s worth protecting it. Or is it a good thing to do regardless? I glued my rubber directly on the wood without sealing the wood with any vanish of any sort.. Just wondering if once I start changing rubbers it would be better to clean the surface from glue and seal the wood before I re-glue. I have to say I really enjoyed the process of assembling the racket and cutting the rubber

Thanks, when it comes the time to change the rubber I will seal it first. I wonder if people seal or treat the handle, the stiga all round was very economical and I guess the quality of the handle reflects it, but it’s a very porous almost brittle wood that feels really dry, probably good for the grip.

Thanks again for all the advices.
Yesterday I visited a local club for the first time. I was invited by a senior member I contacted by email. He turned out being a super nice gentleman who showed me around, explained all the things I needed to know and he assested my level with a really enjoyable 40 minutes of play. Apparently I’m not bad, I got already a lot of advices to work on. Great experience, now I just have to see if I can fit some TT time in my schedule without upsetting my wife!
Equipment wise..
I have to say he was rather unimpressed by the ‘we call it dead rubber’ 729+stiga-allround. He said he totally gets why I want the control and if I like it, use it as I work on the basics. He said my Other racket, the premade Butterfly Zjx6 Wakaba I got on Amazon, is actually not that bad and I could consider going back to it as soon as I feel comfortable with my ‘feel’...
So I’m confused even more than before and probably I will just not think about equipment, stick to my dead rubber for a bit and just focus on my technique, which has definitely improved since I started to use it.. although on the back of my mind is the idea that I could make my life a little easier with different rubber. After a few days using my dead rubber setup I can already feel I could handle something faster and a little bouncier.