Hi Joncoh,
Let me start with the easy.. I do not have any jade anymore. I do know however that they are not really woody species, and as such, I would personally find them less suitable for bonsai. Whenever you cut a branch, you can expect 2 branches to form at the leaves just below the cut.
For the maple.. When the plant is in growth, removing the growing tip might result in 2 side branches just before the cut, again at the first set of leaves. To force a lot more side branching, you should remove a little more from the branches, and do this all over the tree. That way, the roots are sending up lots of fluids, which cannot go anywhere: The plant will start to create side-nodes everywhere (Read up on apical dominance in order to get some idea how this is organized in the tree, from a fysiology point of view).
Your trident has loads of branches. Consider whether you would like to keep all of these or not. Removing some of them might encourgae growth on others.
Internodal distance is indeed the distance between subsequent [pairs of] leaves. In general, the branch will create short internodal distances for the first and often second set of eaves of the season, as well as for foliage created in summer. By letting the branches grow out, and once most of the branches have grown 3 or more sets of leaves clipping all bejyong the first 2 sets you can stimulate a finer ramnification. However, you do this only once you are happy about the fundament of your tree.
If you are still building the trunk, roots or main branches, be a bit carefull: You need abundant growth to create trunk and roots. And often you will want to have a few main branches to form, on which side-branches grow.
So...
- Is the trunk thick enough?
- Do you have the taper you want
- Are the roots good
Then select which branches to keep in the final design, and remove the rest. Also, if the branches are too big (Never have side-branches more than 1/3 the size of the main trunk they branch off of) remove it, and regrow.
If the branches you want to have are too long, with few side-branches, try whether a serious pruning (removing 1/3 of the length of all branches to keep) will create back-budding. If not, consider removing most of the branch, and re-growing them through the 'grow 3 sets of leave & trim' method.
Hope it helps mate!