Defoliating is for leaf size reduction and/or increasing ramification. This tree doesn't need it now, or for some years to come. What it needs right now is to choose major architecture and make some open space "for the birdies to fly thru".
It is never easier to pick and choose what stays and what goes than when the tree is free of leaves. Same goes for wiring. You need to revert to the rules of bonsai until such time that you find a feature or form that is striking in a appealing way, at which time you can choose to ignore the rules. When you don't know what to do, follow the rules of bonsai:
Find a front: the best view, or the view that incorporates the best combination of nebari, trunk movement, branch placement, and any other feature you want to see or accent, and/or hide.
Choose 1st, 2nd, and 3rd branches (thence 4th, ad infinitum) and make space in-between them: they should be arrayed in a spiral staircase beginning at lower left or lower right with the heaviest branch, with each succeeding branch being shifted ~137.25° further around the trunk, smaller in diameter as you rise, and approximately the same open space, but space and length diminishing, between the succeeding levels. Ideally, the 2nd branch would be on the other side of the tree, with the 3rd branch sticking out the rear and giving you some depth of field. Whatever else is true, you need to make the best with what you have. Lower branches should be longer than the branches above, and have a similar shape, sag, foliage mass and general appearance. All the branches have been affected by the same forces of nature and should appear to belong together on the tree. The branches on the windward side of the tree will be shorter than those on the downwind side forming an unequal triangle from the front view. The windward side, most often left side, having the shortest triangle leg, the downwind side having the longest leg, and the bottom being a different length than the other two. It should also be an unequal triangle shape from the plan-view, too (from the top looking down): the longest leg is the front, and should be mostly open and clear of obstructive foliage so as to show off as much trunk and branch architecture as possible/artistically advisable; the shortest side (windward) runs from the tips of the left side of the tree to the center of the rear of the tree; and the last leg runs from the center of the rear to the furthest tip of foliage of the longest downwind (~right~) branch tip. These two triangles together form a three-sided pyramid that has unequal sides, called the Golden Triangle (GT). The branches of the spiral staircase all fit within the boundaries of the GT ~generally~.
Each branch should have foliage sticking ~straight out sideways into a flat fan. No foliage growing straight down or straight up. New growth will grow ~straight up from what is there, and you should clip & grow it into a pleasantly-crowned shape: not like a topiary, not dead flat, in-between. Lower branches should have wider, heavier, thicker fans/clouds than those higher above. The fans should look like they all belong to the same tree, formed by the same forces. The lower branches droop more than those above showing greater weight and age. Somewhere near the top, branches will be horizontal, with those above that layer slightly rising. New foliage will grow straight up for the most part, which should be trimmed to have some semi-round crown on a deciduous tree. Most pine designs have approximately a pointy tippy-top branch that is the leader of the trunk. In both kinds of trees, the bottom of the fans/clouds should not have foliage obstructing the clear view of the architecture of the branches. "Branches" do not have foliage near where they emerge from the trunk. "Twigs"
may have foliage on all parts.
The quicker you do this, let's say in one sitting? The worse the end product. Take your time choosing what to remove and what to keep in this process of, more than anything else, making open space. Many perfectly good twigs and branches will need to be wired to a better place. You might want to tie twist-ties on the branches that are candidates for keeping so you can make all the choices of major branches before you clear-out the space in-between. I'm sure others will add interesting advice, too, so give this a couple days for the additional info and bloodletting to dry before you actually do your work.
@Smoke will probably advise you how to draw a prospective plan that will be helpful in clearing the vision of extraneous twigs and buds, and you're sure to hear some "don't do that, do this..." All of which will give you choices to make. It's
your tree.
thanks
