Quote Originally Posted by fccexpert View Post
A scything motion is not the same thing as a slicing motion. A scything motion is nothing more that a curved stroke. The easiest way to explain the mechanics, at least for me, that as you move the blade linearly (for example down your the side of your face) you also pivot the razor about the point where the blade and scales intersect. I use my wrist to do this, while I use my arm for the linear motion.
But scything has an element of slicing in it as you can read here (quoted from the SRP wiki):

The scything motion

The easiest way to move a razor over the skin, is to guide it in a direction, perpendicular to the edge. As a result the razor “chops” the hairs, much like an axe chops a young branch off a tree, with one blow. Out of a physical viewpoint this way of severing something requires the most force and is the hardest on the cutting edge. By adding a slight slicing motion to the blade, the cutting action becomes more effective.