To add to your debate about good animation vs martial arts, they are different. good animation (unless for other purposes like stylistic) tries to simulate reality whereas martial arts is just ideal theory (much like physics) and reality (ie. shaolin monks) tries to emulate this ideal....which will never happen like perfectly riggid bodies or perfectly elastic collisions in physics.
So good animation in my opinion is how well it simulates the imperfections of reality and motion.
Your timing is good but your staff lacks inertia, like her staff and hands would not move until after her shoulders move, and only after her hips move and only after her legs and feet since the floor is really pushing against her feet to make her move at all.
So to sum it up, I would add "weight" by:
1. showing that it takes time to have the force travel through the body by making that slight domino effect of motion from the source of the force.
2. adding acceleration from slow to fast or vice versa in varying degrees of all movement.
3. especially for characters, movement in a direction is only possible if she pushes against the exact opposite direction first, ie. lean forward first before you take a step (gravity is helping your body push against the ground); or rotate the shoulders the opposite direction a little first before she can swing in the desired direction.
Hope that wasn't too winded... but I like your animation anyways if you want to keep it stylistic.
"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there...with open arms, and open eyes" - Incubus