Various embodiments of this invention disclose a dynamically responsive shock attenuation system for apparel intended to protect boney areas of the body where skeletal structures are close to the surface and soft tissue layers are thin, that comprises two or more materials with different, narrowly prescribed physical properties which, when used together, produce a dynamic, continuous, and proportional response over a wide range of impact forces. In various embodiments of the invention, the two materials comprise a first material that exhibits generally Newtonian behavior to impact forces and a second material that exhibits generally non-Newtonian behavior to impact forces.