That stuff deserve more favs!

 This is a tremendous reply. A lot to chew on. Thank you.

I think it is plenty fine to up the color count a lil, unless you were aiming for a very "lowfi" look. That can look nice too, if done right. AAing sprites like these never would really work, sadly (at least when it comes to the actual contour of the sprite). unless you knew exactly what color your objects would be on at all times.

usually, AA is used to smooth borders between background and foreground. obviously, it can be used to smooth color transitions within a sprite too, but it isn't "that" common.

Usually, it would more feasable to use "selective outlining" ( beware ! labeled as *bad* technique by some. IMO it has its' merrits in a quite a few situations to make sprites more readable, especially in ingame enviroments where a lot of stuff happens on screen at once. ) Here's an example on selective outlining. Notice how the outline is shaded according to the lightsource, more or less.

Speaking of lightsources: a Note for gamesprite lightsources: Always shade sprites with a lightsource from directly above. that way, you can easily mirror it, without having any weird lightsource fluctuation.

I made you a quick edit. note that it is not perfect, as it was "quick and dirty" and also I need some sleep right now, but I added 2 more colors in there, and generally moved values around a lil to have more variety in hue shifting available, and allow for more different color ramps.

You can see the ramps I added to the extended palette in the lil "maze" thingey to the lower right.

the two added colors allow for some finer contrast on dark areas, like the bandana on the eyes, belt and such. And also allow you to add detail to areas like the back more conveniently. ( I also changed the lightsource of the lifted leg to a propper "from above" shading. it was kinda from below for the lifted leg )

also, do check out these great tutorials from stoven,on doing fighting game characters. (change the number behind the url to change pages.. the layout doesn't really work anymore it seems. Lol )

and last but not least, if you are up to bringing this to the next level, why not take this to pixeljoint ( and pixelation) forums? I'm certain you'll learn a lot more from the feedback there, than "randomly poking around alone". ;3

good luck with this piece. Like I said, the motion itself is great, keep it up!

 I completely agree with pretty much all of this in regards to needing refining, the sad thing is, is that i did. i followed some aa tutorials on here and apparently i just don't get it. i don't understand how i could 'refine' it anymore without upping the color count, which is apparently bad form to many here.

despite the criticisms, I like the blur.  It's stylish.  Who cares about real physics if it hinders style?

Agree about the blur: no outline, one bright color only (real physical blurs can't be dark). That yellow might do it. I don't mind the 'disjointing' though.

That's a solid basis with good motions and general shading. Now the pixeling needs frame by frame refining: clean up the line work (many jaggies, esp in the blurs), work on the palette, maybe add a little detail.

 The disjointed sprite on the foot was intentional. I see it a lot in fighting games, it was particularly inspired by samurai shodown, which will often have the trails come before the attack swing.

The color of the swing blur is kinda weird to me,  and I don't think it should be dithered. The color I shouldn't say, just more the way it is shaded. Looks too gradient-y. Also I'm not really liking how the blur is outlined, I'd say remove the outline entirely IMO. Outline makes it look too separate from the body when all it is supposed to be is the foot moving fast and being blurred. Which brings me to the down swing of the kick, the blur is not even on the foot but coming from it.  Look at the blur on sword swings from RPG games or the attacks in fighting games.

Your feeling is probably right, as I am quite bad.

 the motion is great, but I feel as if there could have been done more with it in terms of shading and working more clean in general.