I'm certified (aka paid, took the weekend course and got some stuff) in one of CDTs levels. I'm going to avoid anything about Tom Patire and will not mention that CDT is also meant to generate additional income for martial arts instructors.
The good:
The premise of CDT is to handle the most likely situations that the majority of people will encounter. That means mostly untrained punks, drunken uncles, obnoxious students and anyone else that's doing something annoying but doesn't deserve a fist in the mouth or a knee to the nuts. For the job for which they're intended the techniques are sound. The system is well thought out to protect those around the user from additional harm, including the person on which the techniques are being used. It borders on paranoia that you are being recorded by a s.c. and gears it's techniques to reflect that.
CDT isn't supposed to replace your martial art but give you more options for when you need a lower level of force.
The bad:
I'll let this one go for now...
The Ugly:
It's pricey.
IMO, even the lowest level of CDT can not be taught and retained over a weekend. The techniques must be trained at least once a week for several months to become natural. The more advanced techniques which are very good should be practiced several times a week to become natural, IMO. Most schools that offer CDT have a once a month practice session which just isn't enough, but a getting into study group helps.
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