A vehicle occupant blast isolation system uses small explosive charges and small rocket motors to isolate vehicle occupants from blast loads. The system initiates the explosive charges to remove all mechanical linkages between the occupants and the initial shock so that no shock effects are transferred. The system counteracts the effects of the impulse by igniting the rocket motors to provide a restoring force to counter the effects of the impulse load. This combination of mechanical isolation and impulse negation addresses both the high-frequency initial shock and low-frequency impulse effects from explosive devices.