Amateur Fighter Looks to Move Past Personal Demons

November 11th, 2011

Some amateur fighters are motivated to fight by dreams of glory, some fight as a release from the daily grind of their jobs, and others just want to hit people. Amateur fighter Tim Frain will be fighting for something far more personal, the memory of his recently deceased father.

 

The 40-year-old Frain, who works at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, will step into the ring for the first time on December 2nd for the upcoming Invasion 4 fight in Aurora, IL.

 

With a record of 0-0, Tim’s journey to the ring is coming much later than other MMA fighters, but the ups and downs of his personal life over the last year has given Frain all the motivation he needs to step into the ring.

 

Frain, who started fighting at the age of seven when his dad introducing him to boxing, has always had a fighting mindset.

“The fighting part I’ve done outside of the ring, say on the streets. And the high school I went to was a tough high school, so I ended up throwing a lot of fists.”

 

Although Frain doesn’t have much MMA fighting experience, he’s worked overseas teaching self-defense in Japan. He’s also worked and trained with military personal, Cook County corrections officers and Chicago policemen, and he’s been trained in stick and knife fighting.

 

At the beginning of the year Frain became a new father and found himself with some time off.

“I kept hearing people talk about this MMA gym Emerald Smoke. And I just wanted to finally do it (train for a fight),” says Frain.

“MMA was a just very natural thing for me to fall into.”

 

But not long after his daughter’s birth Frain was unexpectedly faced with the shocking news of his father’s death.

Bill Frain, a Chicago firefighter for forty years and a navy veteran, committed suicide in late February after battling prostate and skin cancer.

 

The loss was devastating to Tim, but his new training gave him the outlet he needed to let out some of the complex emotions he was dealing with.

 

“I had extra energy. Extra anger. I was training almost too hard, and I injured my shoulder. But it did help to release some of those feelings.”

 

The suddenness of his father’s passing led Frain to be close-lipped about the news, and only recently did Frain open up to his coaches and trainers.

 

“My jiu-jitsu instructor suggested I get involved with youspoke.org and got me in contact with one of the founders.”

The organization is a community for those deeply affected by suicide, and allows people a creative outlet to share their story.

 

While the wounds haven’t healed yet, Frain is ready to step into the ring.

“This has been a personal journey for me, and a hurdle I feel I want to get past. I don’t want the message to be you have to quit things in life, I want my message to be you can push yourself beyond your limits.”

 

Michael Claire -Onlinesportfreaks.com