You’ve already had a taste of combat by blasting the target drones in the tutorial. A wise pilot will avoid combat situations with other free-thinking individuals until he has procured a better ship with decent modules, upgraded his weaponry and outfitted his ship with a shield booster. Try honing your skills against some of the marks your local agent will send you out to dispatch or low-level pirates that can be found in 0.8 systems' asteroid belts.
If you're still relatively new to combat, you may wish to take along friends for the latter. Bear in mind that repairs can be expensive unless you’ve learned the necessary skills and purchased equipment to patch your armour and hull. In space that is regarded as secure - throughout 1.0 systems or if you are near to local sentry guns - do not allow yourself to be baited into a first strike.
If a player’s ship targets you but does not fire, do not be fooled into thinking you can make a pre-emptive attack. The security services are obliged to respond to a weapon's fire NOT targeting systems. By striking the first blow, you'll cause CONCORD to spring into action and destroy your ship.