Is sparring a great training tool or a great waste of time??

A little bit of both I think. Its good in that it allows you to try and actually use the things you learn. However far to often it just turns into kick boxing. So then all it trains is how well you can take a hit, and how fast you can get a hit in. I know I am guilty of kick boxing when I spar. I saw this after every time I spar, next time I am going to try and do more kung fu while I fight, I want to be able to drop to a low tiger, do stuff like that when I fight. We will see if that happens though.