Several of the seven people gathered at the Council on Aging for a basic self defense course had been accosted.

"They looped back. They grabbed my purse, and they dragged me along, and I was scraped up all up...," started Pat Perry, motioning toward her legs. She sat through the one-hour class with husband Ron.

Dartmouth resident Meryl Zwirblis had a similar story. She had turned her back on her purse while at Stop & Shop, and when she turned back, the purse was gone. She went after the one man in sight, and got her purse back, but recognized that she was extremely lucky.

The new self defense course — led by Krav Maga instructor Jim Tavares and correctional officer Tony Franco — focuses on building confidence, with a few basic moves that could help anyone get out of a sticky situation.

"I don't belong to a gym, so everything I learn is important," said Zwirblis. "I definitely have to protect myself with my hands."

Here are five takeaways from the May 24 class. The class will meet again on May 31 at 1 p.m. at the CoA's 628 Dartmouth Street location.

1. Stiffen up.

If you see someone approaching you, the first thing you want to do is stiffen up. Bring your shoulders up to your ears, and extend your arms and fingers away from your body.

"[By doing this,] you send a message to your brain to 'get ready,'" said Franco. Not only does it initiate the fight-or-flight response, but it minimizes the neck and shoulder areas, making it harder to grab, he explained.

2. Go for the eyes.

Many of the moves — including the basic eye poke — focus on disorienting someone enough for you to get away.

"You want to line up the middle finger with the nose," said Tavares. The adjacent fingers will be a little lower, lined with the eyes. The key is aim and force. "You want to go... WHACK!" said Tavares.

3. Grab the chin.

If you see someone coming toward you, you can counteract by stepping toward them with your leading foot, cupping their chin, and turning their head away from you, using your momentum to drive the person backwards and lose their balance.

"If you control their head, you control their body," said Franco.

4. Mimic a windmill.

Stiffen your arms and stretch out your hands. This will create a flat, tight palm.

You're going to aim for the ear and hit hard with your palm, said Franco. This will definitely causing an attacker to lose their balance, and could possibly burst their ear drum, he said. You want to hit each ear, one after the other with each hand, which he called "the windmill."

"If you don't know how to make a fist and you hit something, you're going to break your hand or snap your wrist," said Franco, explaining that a tight palm is much more effective for beginners.

If that move doesn't bring the disoriented attacker to their knees, raking their nose will, he said.

With a flat hand, aim for the bridge of the nose and swipe downward with force. This will lead the attacker's head and body toward the floor, and cause a severe nose bleed, said Franco.

"You want to rake down, not up," said Franco. He explained that by moving your hand upward — jamming the bone up into the skull is not a thing, Franco said — the target can evade the move, making it useless.

At that point, you can give a hard kick to distance yourself from the attacker, he said.

5. Be aware of your surroundings.

Franco called it "three-second awareness," or constantly scanning the room and the people around you. By being alert and confident, you remove yourself from being an easy target, the men explained. They also suggested practicing the moves in a mirror so it's second nature in an emergency.