In this paper, a model reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme is applied for the precise and robust motion control of a pneumatic system with load variation. The reference model for MRAC is designed systematically using linear quadratic Gaussian control with loop transfer recovery (LQG/LTR). The sigmoid function of inverse velocity is used to compensate for the nonlinear friction force between the sliding parts. The experimental results show that MRAC effectively overcame the limit of the PID controller when there was unknown disturbance, including abrupt load variation and model uncertainty in the pneumatic control system.