I thought I'd share this video here, we worked on a rather cheap and overgrown Ficus tree (typical imported Chinese ficus retusa) and documented our work on it over the course of two years. I hope this helps beginners see how you can improve these trees, by letting it grow, select branches, and slowly refine it - let me know if you have any feedback for us as I hope to make some more of these videos! Any feedback would be really appreciated.