It feels like he could do more damage if he thrusted the staff with the speed he retracts it with. If the animation's reaction is as slow as its anticipation is, the action itself will have the emphasis and feel more powerful.

Tileset has changed a bit after i did this. I'll be posting new version of the tileset soon i hope =)

I like the piece, too, but the sign post on the left does not stand out much from the dark background, so (on my monitor, at least) it seems like there is a brown patch floating in the darkness.

 I like the monk's face. This is pretty cool, because it's like he's training forever without stopping. It kind of reminds me of videos I've seen of monks training in kung fu where they do something like punch a wall hundreds of times all day to toughen up until the wall crumbles over time. Maybe the delay between the finished thrust and when he pulls the staff back up to starting position is just a hair too long? He pulls it up so fast (only one very brief frame) that it's like a sudden snap that feels a little out of place compared to the more fluid thrust and long pause right before it.