More than 150 women learned self-defense from the West Liberty Police Department on Saturday.

Police Chief Kary Kinmonth says a lot of people asked them to train women to defend for themselves after the disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts. The University of Iowa student has been missing for almost a month.

He explains, “With Mollie Tibbetts, the unknown disappearance, what's going on with that, we've had a lot of people that have contacted my office and they're asking for, what can we do, what can we do to be safer."

Some of the things they taught people at the training was that their voice is their first weapon during an attack. They told them to yell and talk loudly so people nearby would know that they may be in trouble.

Kinmonth says fighting off an attacker isn’t like a boxing or mixed martial arts fight. The only rule is surviving.

He says, "If they have to kick somebody in the groin, if they've gotta grab somebody by the neck, if they've got to smash them up in the nose. We just want them to know all bets are off."

Women also learned things like how to escape a choke hold, or somebody grabbing their hair, and how to get away if they get knocked down.

Brenda Hohmann wanted her fourteen-year-old daughter Jenna Woodward to learn these tactics, and hopefully teach her friends.

She says, "To make sure that if somebody tries to come after them, we don't have more missing kids."

Woodward says recent events have had her worried. She explains, "You never know what's gonna happen, because like they said earlier, you could be at the grocery store and something could happen. You just never know.”

Between all of the punches, knees and kicks, Chief Kinmonth reminded people that the chances of being abducted are rare.

He says, "West Liberty, we haven't had one in years, we haven't had a sexual assault here in years. Doesn't mean it can't happen tomorrow, doesn’t mean you don't need to be on your toes. But we are safe, we are safe here in Iowa."

He hopes this is the first of many self-defense classes for those in attendance.