Ahh,Grasshoppah . . . so impatient to learn how to maul others?

My Hebei-style xingyi teacher showed me how to do each move, as in physically perform it. Then I did it. Then he got opposite me and had me attack in a cooperative fashion, to demonstrate one or more simple applications. Then he attacked me cooperatively, so I could get the feel of doing the application. Then he had me drill relentlessly in the physical performance of each wuxing and animal form. Demonstrating applications did much to illustrate both how and why each form is executed the way it is.

My teacher holds off on actual sparring and tactical training until the student can credibly demonstrate flowing sequences of the wuxing and animal forms. The one thing I would've added to these prerequisites is for the students to show that they are in decent physical condition as well (people get sloppy when they get tired).

I think you still run into "traditional" teachers who maintain that xingyi's blows are so deadly that you can't allow sparring. In this "traditional" view, the two-person drills like An Shen Pao are it. Maybe there's something to that point of view. It's not a question I'm experienced enough to answer: does free-sparring have a place in xingyiquan? In the other "internal" Chinese martial arts? People like Mike Patterson think it does.