A non-therapeutic method of controlling a walking assist device, wherein the walking assist device is configured to be worn by a user and to be operated in a normal and a learning mode, the method comprising; determining a first state variable for a gait phase of the user based on a gait of the user by means of a sensor of the walking assist device configured to sense hip joint angle information of the user; obtaining a second state variable by smoothing and time-delaying the first state variable; obtaining a third state variable by applying a torque control variable to the second state variable; determining an assist torque provided by the walking assist device based on the third state variable, by - generating the assist torque control signal by applying, to the third state variable, a gain for adjusting an intensity of an assist torque; and - controlling the assist torque to be provided by the walking assist device based on the generated assist torque control signal, CHARACTERISED IN THAT the method further comprises: determining the torque control variable in response to the gait phase in a gait cycle of the user corresponding to a set gait phase; and in the normal mode of the walking assist device, the determining of the torque control variable comprises: determining the torque control variable by applying a state variable value corresponding to a current gait phase in the gait cycle of the user to a torque control variable determining function based on parameters derived from a previous learning result obtained in the learning mode of the walking assist device. determining a first state variable for a gait phase of the user based on a gait of the user by means of a sensor of the walking assist device configured to sense hip joint angle information of the user; obtaining a second state variable by smoothing and time-delaying the first state variable; obtaining a third state variable by applying a torque control variable to the second state variable; determining an assist torque provided by the walking assist device based on the third state variable, by - generating the assist torque control signal by applying, to the third state variable, a gain for adjusting an intensity of an assist torque; and - controlling the assist torque to be provided by the walking assist device based on the generated assist torque control signal, - generating the assist torque control signal by applying, to the third state variable, a gain for adjusting an intensity of an assist torque; and - controlling the assist torque to be provided by the walking assist device based on the generated assist torque control signal, determining the torque control variable in response to the gait phase in a gait cycle of the user corresponding to a set gait phase; and in the normal mode of the walking assist device, the determining of the torque control variable comprises: determining the torque control variable by applying a state variable value corresponding to a current gait phase in the gait cycle of the user to a torque control variable determining function based on parameters derived from a previous learning result obtained in the learning mode of the walking assist device.