Hi Jester,
I must confess that I know almost nothing about Tomiki aikido, so I cannot compare it to the spirals I see in aikido.
Maybe there could be spirals hiding within the straight lines
In karatedo, for instance, the straight punch,
tsuki, involves a turning of the fist, which to me is an expression of the spiral going like a serpentine within the linear movement.
Another possibility: What seems like a straight line in the technique, turns and twists when both tori and uke are in motion. Maybe it is less straight in
jutai than in
gotai?
Spirals within spirals. You notice it is almost an obsession of mine...
I am not even sure that I believe there can be such a thing as a straight line. Gravity won't allow it.