The problem I had with branch development, was that I started pruning them too early, while not mature enough, and they just stopped growing. Then they died, and new buds came out from the base of the branch. In hindsight, I suspect that the tree was too weak (lack of fertilizing) to respond well to branch pruning.
On the other hand, if you let the branch grow totally free, it will look too leggy, with internodes a mile apart. That doesn't work with a shohin. You need dense internodes (that's what I thought at the time).
This year, with my new group of redwoods, I have a different approach: I let the branches grow freely, let them thicken and lignify...even if there are too leggy. But I wire them at the right angle and position. In the meantime, I fertilize and keep the tree in top shape.
Next year, when I have branches a couple of feet long, I take off the wire (mostly guy wires that bring them down), and cut them back, looking for a new bud to be selected as the new branch leader.
I remove the superfluous growth, and let it grow again for a whole season.
The key here is: just one cut per year, and removal of all the suckers. With other species, I can do much more, but with redwood, as little as possible.
After a few years of repeating this, I hope to have enough taper and thickness, so that I can start pinching to create some nice pads. I think that redwood branches need to achieve a critical mass before they are viable enough to last. Otherwise, easy come, easy go, they don't last too long, and keep frustrating the hell out of me. Also, in this time, you have to be prepared that the tree will look like a shapeless shrub, and not the bonsai you envision.