As the short, ponytailed girl walked through Patten Gym on Sunday afternoon, a tall man in sunglasses approached her.

“Hey baby, you’re looking good tonight,” he said while drawing closer.

“Back off!” she yelled, lunging forward to push him away.

The students attending the women’s self-defense seminar clapped as the scenario ended, and the attacker removed his sunglasses, transforming himself into Paul Smith, the assistant instructor.

“I think she won,” said head instructor, Keith Moore, as he motioned for another volunteer to act out a scene.

Women’s Coalition and the Northwestern Aikido Club joined forces to hold the class Sunday.

For three hours, Moore and Smith, aikido instructors who work in Chicago and teach classes for the NU club, taught students techniques and simple skills they can use to ward off an attacker.

“It’s about giving people agency and control over their own safety,” said Nell Haynes, Women’s Co president and a Communication senior. “I think people feel safer and more confident after taking the classes.”

Although Sunday’s class was the first time Women’s Co and Aikido Club teamed up to teach self-defense, both groups would like to hold the classes regularly, said Bart Chwalisz, Aikido Club president.

This week, Women’s Co is banding together with various campus groups to sponsor Women’s Week events such as the defense class, a discussion on eating disorders tonight and a performance by Eve Ensler on Friday, Haynes said.

The group also is using the week to help publicize rape-aggression defense classes offered by Evanston Police Department. The next classes, which will be held Saturday and Sunday, will teach different skills than those covered in this weekend’s seminar, Haynes said.

This weekend’s self-defense class attracted about 13 students, including a few men. Moore began the instruction by explaining that self-defense is about winning.

Moore stressed that students constantly remain aware of their surroundings. Even simple habits such as reading on the El or looking down while walking can make people less aware. Awareness is what gives people the ability to defend themselves during an attack — even if the aggressor is much stronger.

“Awareness is the foundation of self-defense, not physical strength,” he said.

Students also discussed how to appear confident and how to not to fit a victim’s profile. They practiced “walking with purpose,” as Moore described it, and how to use their voices to convey strength.

Although the event was co-sponsored by Aikido Club, the skills Moore taught were not aikido techniques. Rather, he said the class focused on tactical moves students could use without having formal martial arts training.

Chwalisz said self-defense classes teach some skills similar to aikido but do so in an atmosphere less formal than martial arts classes.

“It’s a more informal, practical approach to self-defense,” said Chwalisz, a Weinberg junior.

While participants practiced simple palm hits, elbow jabs and knee strikes, Moore and Smith counted and observed technique. At the end of the class, students put the moves they learned into sequences, but Moore advised them to practice at home to become comfortable with the skills.

After the class, Education junior Allison Kish said learning to how to defend herself reminded her that, even on campus, women must be aware of the danger of attack.

“It’s hard to realize the environment you’re in isn’t a completely safe one,” she said.