The art of how to pargalide is truly fairly straight forward. The inflated paraglider has an aerofoil shape similar to that of an aircraft. Both are designed to give as much lift as possible, with minimum air resistance.

The paraglider is handled on take off and in the air with two brake toggles, which pull down the back end or trailing edge of the glider to steer it. The toggles are also used to slow down and land the glider.