Quote Originally Posted by nun2sharp View Post
The best way of describing the scythe motion is to compare it with a windshield wiper, an arcing movement with the wrist as a pivot.
The Wiki shows a distinction between the scything and guillotine strokes. In reality there is little difference though, to my mind, the guillotine stroke more accurately depicts how a scythe actually cuts.

I don't consider the scything stroke to actually involve a pivot. Yes, using an actual scythe does involve a circular motion but the contact between the blade and the individual hay/straw stem is not circular. The blade is slicing the stem. To see an actual scythe in action watch this