The walk cycle
is one of the most important learning concepts in animation--and
also one of the most technically difficult, because it requires so much
attention to the movement of opposing limbs.
However difficult, though, if you can learn to master a walk
cycle then you can animate just about anything. There are many types of
walk cycles, and you can vary the motion to match your character or
his/her mood; you can do bouncy walks, shuffling walks, casual slouches.
But the first and simplest is the standard upright walk, viewed from
the side--and that's what we're going to attack in simplified form
today.
You can cover the cycle of a full stride in 8 frames.
Here is a walking cycle Flash Tutorial.
Walking Cycle Tutorial
100 days of walk cycles
Here is a tutorial that criticizes the "Walking Cycle":
April Peter, Animator
She has a good argument why the walking cycle is not the best way to learn.