It is all about angle of attack and speed. The closer the angle gets to 90° to the rope the faster you need to be moving and the finer the edge needs to be. At 45° to the rope you are at an optimum balance of pulling the fibers into the edge vs. the distance traveled through the material. At higher angles you have the tension of the fibers working for you but you also have more distance to cut through the cross section. A quick, snapping cut aimed a good 6-8" beyond the rope should do it. Make sure the rope is engaged by the blades sweet spot and that the wrist contributes to the snap so that the tip of the blade is leading the handle slightly at impact, so that the rope is pulled into the cut and does not slide off from it. A clean rope cut will drop a 6", or less, section on the ground almost directly below the rope. batting the cut piece out of the park works but is not as clean.

Kevin gave an excellent description.

Focus on follow through. Don't stop swinging/cutting AT the rope. That means you have slowed down.

Cut THROUGH the rope - which is why Kevin said to focus on a spot "beyond the rope".

Thank you both. that explains why it was taking me 4-5 swings to get through a 1/2 natural fiber rope. I was going 90 degrees.