Thanks for the comments guys I really appriciate you taking time to reply to my thread and help me out.
d0c: Awesome feedback! exactly what i was looking for. I totally agree with all your points. Im opening up maya right now so see what i can do with your feedback
Ive only really been animating for about 1 month (since i posted a walkcycle on here was my 1st shot) but the animation survival toolkit by richard williams is the baby! Im just through reading the section on breaking joints and overlap so hopefully together with your comments ill post an update soon!
Cheers