For the past week I've been continuously watching videos and reading articles about Yamadori. What I really don't understand is the concept behind it, when does exactly a yamadori become a bonsai? I believe that the tree is already shaped by nature, if you find a 20-30 years old one, this is already aged and the trunk is formed. Does the tree become a bonsai only after is given a certain branch movement and some deadwood work? Also it seems a bit odd because you've lost those years of seeing the tree slowly getting mature, all you do is to basically collect the tree and then work with it until you've reached the results you had in your head so can this be called doing bonsai?

Thanks for reading this post!

All Bonsai in Japan back in the beginning were Yamadori. Once they got short on material from nature they turned to artificially shrink trees and keep them small. Yamadori is the beginning of Bonsai, not sub Bonsai.

Thanks for the reply spacewood!

So I understand that there is a scarcity of yamadori in Japan and China but I am talking about the general idea here. If for instance I go in a forest in my home country and I collect a yamadori, when will the yamadori become a bonsai? What processes or characteristics does the tree need to have in order to be called a bonsai?

Yamadori is way to get your tree that will be made into Bonsai. The original. Its a Bonsai at the end and there is no difference to other trees made artificially small etc.

You apply same techniques to make it Bonsai, what I mean, there is nothing special or specific about it.

even a yamadori can take years to become a good bonsai after collecting. not all yamadori trees will have good ramification so that would be something you have to work on or even branch movement. sometimes people will perform heavy bending in the branches. you dont just collect a tree and pot it in a small pot and call it a bonsai, there is still alot of training involved most the time.

I see now. So basically after you collected a yamadori, you have to make sure the ramification is correct then try to make a nice branch movement while it still has a natural form of a real tree. That's what i didn't get you know, like what makes a tree a bonsai. Guess is the shape of a natural tree while having a nice movement and ramification

if you find a 20-30 years old one, this is already aged and the trunk is formed. Does the tree become a bonsai only after is given a certain branch movement and some deadwood work? Also it seems a bit odd because you've lost those years of seeing the tree slowly getting mature

That's a really strange statement. You have not lost 20-30 years, you have gained them. Also, 20-30 years is nothing. Some are centuries old.
Let me repeat the definition (or one of the definitions) again:

www.nibonsai.co.uk/bonsai-knowledge/yamadori:
"To the Japanese, not every tree dug from the Mountainside is classed as Yamadori. It has to show the battle of growing many years in its form, with its old cracked bark and its trunk twisted by the elements. Such trees are not easy found and the title, Yamadori, is not given lightly"

So no, not any tree collected from the wild is a yamadori.

That's what i didn't get you know, like what makes a tree a bonsai. Guess is the shape of a natural tree while having a nice movement and ramification

That too is not quite right - it is not only movement and ramification, there's more to it.
Here's a start:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonsai_aesthetics

Auk wrote:

"To the Japanese, not every tree dug from the Mountainside is classed as Yamadori. It has to show the battle of growing many years in its form, with its old cracked bark and its trunk twisted by the elements. Such trees are not easy found and the title, Yamadori, is not given lightly"

Right. Most important features of Yamadori that are looked into Bonsai. The more it is naturally given with Bonsai features the better.