Brolylegs: Against All Odds

Have you ever told yourself you could not do something because you are at a disadvantage? Brolylegs, born with arthrogryposis and currently one of the top Street Fighter V players, would disagree.

Mike Begum, also known as Brolylegs, is a player within the Fighting Game Community (FGC) who regularly competes in Street Fighter V. The character he plays is Chun Li, a Chinese martial artist whose move set relies heavily on her kicks which Brolylegs capitalizes on by aggressively and constantly attacking.

This aggressive playstyle Brolylegs uses has earned him multiple wins for Street Fighter V tournaments, such as Street Fighter League 2019. Even when he does not win he earns a favorable ranking such as second place. A performance that contradicts this was in Street Fighter League 2021, a tournament hosted online instead of in person. Brolylegs performed poorly with an 8% win rate due to hesitation in picking Chun Li as a character, opting to play M. Bison during two of the matches instead. 

Switching characters may not seem like an issue, however, in part due to Brolylegs’ disability and character unfamiliarity, when the player picks a character they do not know how to use, his loss becomes more understandable. Arthrogryposis is a condition where the limbs do not properly develop in the womb and are unable to develop further once born. Due to this condition, Brolylegs moves around using a mobility scooter and must play any video games with his mouth. 

Brolylegs’ disability affected his childhood immensely with his infant years being spent learning to roll instead of walk. Brolylegs’ parents divorced at a young age due to disagreements over several topics, leading Brolylegs and his brother to play video games to avoid arguments between their parents. Nowadays Brolylegs has not experienced much drama outside of an incident with another player Dalauan Sparrow, also known as LowTierGod, who insulted Brolylegs after being defeated in an online match. 

Against all odds, Brolylegs continues to be an active competitor within the FGC and is considered one of the best Chun Li players of all time. He shows that no matter how disadvantaged you may be, victory is always possible through hard work and creative thinking. 

Written By Butler, March 16, 2022