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Chudan uke: to "spiral" or not to "spiral"?

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Recently a colleague of mine on the Traditional Fighting Arts Forums posed this question: "Ok, so I've thought about something else that I don't completely understand about chudan uke. I've been taught that as the hand goes under the opposite elbow, the fist should face palm up. Why? Wouldn't it be more of a spiraling motion if the fist started with the palm down and then turned up as it intercepted the attack?" The question is a very interesting one and not many pick up this point. Let's start with the goju chudan uke. As my colleague mentions, the block is done with a fist that stays "palm up" through the entire movement. This type of movement relies on the circular action of the entire arm (moving at a 45 degree plane to your chest) to deflect the attack. Another way of deflecting an attack would be to use a spiralling movement in your forearm. This can be done from palm down to palm up or vice versa (both are found in the martial arts). L