Michael Phillip Begum, better known as BrolyLegs, was an American professional fighting game player primarily known for competing in Street Fighter.
18 Facts About BrolyLegs
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BrolyLegs was affiliated with the AbleGamers charity and was a member of the Street Fighter League.
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BrolyLegs began his competitive gaming career in his adolescence by participating in tournaments for Super Smash Bros.
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BrolyLegs was a competitive fighting game player for over fifteen years, and stated that competitive gaming had allowed him to pursue opportunities that he otherwise would never have had.
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BrolyLegs streamed on Twitch and wrote an autobiography called My Life Beyond the Floor.
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BrolyLegs's father was a welder and mechanic, and his adoptive paternal grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, built a chain of women's clothing stores after immigrating from the Soviet Union.
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BrolyLegs's parents separated when Begum was six years old, and Begum resided in Brownsville with his father and younger brother Johnny.
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BrolyLegs's father died in January 2009 from a brain aneurysm, leaving Begum and Johnny to live with his mother and younger sister, who had both moved to Houston following the separation.
9.
BrolyLegs was diagnosed with scoliosis, which prevented him from standing.
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BrolyLegs's father built various tools and structures to help Begum, such as an electric wheelchair for Begum in middle school.
11.
BrolyLegs often played games with his brother where he would operate the controller with his face while his brother held it using his hands; his father would place the television on the floor in order for Begum to see.
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Begum's gaming nickname "BrolyLegs" was a reference to the character Broly from the anime Dragon Ball Z, a series he was a fan of as a teenager.
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BrolyLegs had often expressed his reluctance to make excuses for himself whenever he competed.
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BrolyLegs took advantage of the flexibility of button remapping that Street Fighter along with other fighting games often include.
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BrolyLegs used his position as a fighting game player to represent gamers with disabilities, including teaching a disabled gamer from Denmark.
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BrolyLegs advocated for custom controllers for disabled gamers, alongside universal button mapping for video games.
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BrolyLegs received rewards as a member of Cross Counter Training, and had coached for games such as Street Fighter, Super Smash Bros.
18.
BrolyLegs published his autobiography, My Life Beyond the Floor, about how his disability affected his life.