The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition
I don’t like reality programs/shows at all… definitely not in the context of those broadcast in the region.
But I do like watching “Shark Tank / Dragons’ Den” type reality series, where people come to present their business ideas or developing companies to a group of famous millionaires/investors, hoping that, for a percentage of these investors’ stake in their companies, they’ll get the necessary capital to save/improve their business and possibly get a mentor in one of the investors. That’s why “Shark Tank” is interesting to me, where you have Mark Cuban, Daymond John, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary, and other investors.
You’ve probably heard of “The Apprentice,” the American reality series where Donald Trump once looked for a protégé he’d introduce to business, offering him excellent conditions. Though you probably didn’t follow it much because, to be fair, this region isn’t such a big fan of his… probably… what do I know, I’ve been sick of politics for years now.
However, “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” was a different story for me, which definitely caught my attention.
Martial arts and I have a long history. Even when (long) periods come when we “distance” ourselves from each other, that connection still exists. Somehow it’s unbreakable, even though I think the story is over. The moral and ethical values of martial arts, that “code” (samurai code, bushido) remains somehow “engraved” in you. Over time it perhaps adapts a bit to conditions and your life circumstances, but it’s always there, hovering over you, as a reminder not to stray onto the wrong path.
From the moment “ONE Championship” appeared, i.e., became a bit more “visible,” I always kept one eye on it and watched the development of this interesting entity for MMA (mixed martial arts) promotion. Somehow, I had a feeling this might become a more serious story…
…which ultimately came true.
Today, “ONE Championship” is among the top 10 sports media, especially in terms of viewer following and their content engagement.
Those who know the world of martial arts well (and especially the “MMA underworld”) will most likely immediately name: UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), Bellator MMA, K-1, Rebel Fighting Championship, or some other organization. Now there’s also “ONE Championship,” which patiently built its brand. They became number one in Asia, and thereby successfully positioned themselves on the world stage when it comes to media and martial arts.
Many world-famous fighters joined this “herd,” including legendary names like Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Angela Lee, Brandon Vera, James Nakashima, Sage Northcutt, and many others.
There’s no doubt that the success of the “ONE Championship” organization was contributed to by its leader, Chatri Trisiripisal, whom you probably know by the name he used while competing, Chatri Sityodtong. When you see this man of Japanese-Thai descent, you just want to give him samurai armor and put him to act alongside Tom Cruise. 😀
Chatri is one example of the saying “from rags to riches.” He grew up in great poverty and a complicated family situation. And when you look a bit more closely at his biography, it becomes obvious which two things shaped him to become what he is today.
On one hand, you have “warrior” Chatri. From a young age he’s been in the world of martial arts, primarily Muay Thai (and I don’t mean the cocktail), which took him down the path of professional competitor, where he ended his “fighter” career as a veteran with over 30 fights for the belt.
On the other hand, you have “business” Chatri. Although he lived in great poverty, he managed with great effort to graduate with an MBA from HBS, and later gained decades of experience on Wall Street and as a person who launched startup companies.
And what do you get when you combine martial arts and entrepreneurship?
You get “ONE Championship.”
“Wait, will this end up being some review that’s only for martial arts lovers? I’m not interested in that, should I stop reading?”
Slow down… if you’re interested in the entrepreneurial spirit, how to advance in your career, how to work in a team and against others… continue reading. 😉
Sixteen talented candidates from around the world (from the USA to Japan), 23 to 44 years old, with different psychological and business backgrounds, compete for a position that provides them a job (worth $250,000) for one year in the “ONE Championship” organization, where the winner will have the opportunity to learn directly from Chatri as his “protégé”… however, it will turn out that the position is much more serious than assumed…
The candidates are initially divided into two teams (Team Valor vs Team Conquest), and two categories of tasks are set before them:
Physical / sports tasks – from obstacle relay races, climbing rope-ladders while hanging from a bridge, searching for parts of a large cube, rowing, wrestling in the ring to simulating survival from a helicopter crash into water… The winning team (besides gaining psychological advantage over the other team before the next challenge) often receives a luxury reward (like shopping, detox massage, or dinner at an exclusive restaurant). The “host” of these physical activities is Dominick “Dom” Lau, who is also a ring announcer in the “ONE Championship” arena, and each week he’s joined as support (and co-host) by some famous MMA fighter.
Business task / challenge – both teams receive more or less identical tasks, which they must then present before Chatri, his right-hand man Niharika Singh (Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy), and his friend (each week it’s a different person, successful entrepreneurs-millionaires/billionaires)
Each week the “weakest link” of the losing team is eliminated (and sometimes there are two of them), until the best candidate remains at the end, who is “the chosen one.”
Physical tasks, besides deviating from the classic business reality series concept and thus giving a slight “refreshment,” also serve to see how competitors behave as part of a team and motivators of other competitors… but will often reveal some of their fears/phobias, which they’ll have to, for their own good (as well as the team’s), overcome.
Of course, what are the “stars” of the series are the business tasks. The two teams will have challenges to create a fan package prototype with a “ONE Championship” theme, make a seven-day marketing campaign for the luxury Singapore hotel “Andaz,” as well as for one recruitment agency (“Golden Equator”), to create a digital restaurant in collaboration with food-tech company “TiffinLabs” that combines two different cuisines (and the trick here is, well you draw your own conclusions about the difficulty of the task :D), finding advertising/solutions for “Everise,” creating a campaign for a new collection by “Tumi” company (Alpha Bravo e-sports Pro), creating a concept using “Twilio” technology to improve an NGO in terms of connecting donors and volunteers, and many other complex tasks.
When it comes to business tasks that happen every week, we can divide the entire process into three phases:
1. Each team must choose a person who will lead the project (project manager), who must smartly delegate tasks and utilize the talents of their colleagues (whether it’s negotiation, concept creation, research, marketing, financial aspects, etc.). Then we follow them through the tasks they perform, how they communicate with each other, what happens when they get into conflicts, and all of this is followed by the typical reality series effect, when certain candidates later comment on certain situations/colleagues themselves
2. Teams present their approach to the task and offer their solution before the previously mentioned three-member jury, who then give them general feedback on what they liked, what they didn’t, ask follow-up questions to clarify some details, etc.
3. Big meeting of both teams with Chatri and Niharika. Chatri then gives more extensive comments on what he liked about each team and what he didn’t. Here the project managers are first “under fire,” who must briefly explain why they made decisions the way they did, as well as who are, in their opinion, the competitors who contributed the most and least to the team. Also, in the losing team, the project manager must, besides himself, choose two more team members who will go “on the carpet” with him and bear the risk of being eliminated from further competition, i.e., they’ll later have to have a conversation with Chatri without other participants and explain to him why they should stay in further competition.
The third phase of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” is what’s the most suspenseful part of the series. Drama, quarrels, and tears will often break out here before Chatri and Niharika. Competitors will have to reveal their true faces here, because although they must work as a team, they’re still competing (primarily) for themselves, because only one person will be chosen as the winner. They’ll blame each other, justify themselves, support each other, and even form secret alliances. However, tactics like backstabbing or trying to eliminate the strongest competitor simply won’t have much effect here, because Chatri is looking for the most competent person, not the most manipulative (especially when you consider the position the competition winner will be placed in). And moreover, besides the cameras, Niharika also often visited and silently observed and took notes about members during the first phase of business tasks, which she would later discuss with Chatri.
And that would be an attempt to briefly(!?) describe the concept of the business reality series “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.” 😀
Why did I like this series?
Well, for starters, because top-notch production was done for the series. From the opening credits to the companies that wanted to participate, the support “ONE Championship” received is obvious. No part seemed amateurishly done.
Then, there’s the combination of two things I love, which are martial arts and business.
As I mentioned, the competitors are of different business and psychological profiles, and it’s interesting to watch how they behave when facing challenges, as well as their interaction with other competitors. On one hand, they should show good team spirit. But on the other hand, the prize is a position at the top of management, which will lead to (expected) conflicts, debates, and taking more credit for oneself. Someone might say, “see, that’s what a person is like,” but is it even possible to break through in some spheres of business differently when you have rivals on all sides… I don’t know, maybe it’s just me… I’ve always been an advocate of the understanding that teamwork and open communication are key, and the rest is “may (hopefully) the best man win,” but of course not everyone thinks that way…
I already said there’s quite a bit of drama here, and those dramas will be followed by competitors’ tears, which will reveal their anger and frustrations… but also some painful details from the past that shaped them into what they are today.
Chatri himself is interesting with his behavior during episodes. Normally, he seems calm and cold and will always shoot competitors with his gaze. Occasionally he’ll deliberately add a bit of drama and flare up with a reaction to shake up competitors (with his demand for perfection) or “cut” some events (nowhere does it say that one participant must drop out per episode, I’ll just say that much), and sometimes he’ll show his softer side, he might even smile once or twice during the series. Though when he rips into some candidate, you feel like crying with them, as if he ripped into you. XD I believe the series organizers tried to prompt him on how he should behave, but I think in the end he didn’t listen to them too much and we had the opportunity to see many of his true faces. XD
I already mentioned that the production is at a high level, on par with some thriller-drama. Of course, when this is added to reality series, it’s certain this can make things a bit cliché, but again, the point is to make this reality series watchable even for people who aren’t strictly interested in business and martial arts (though for lovers of these two categories the series will be especially interesting). But the plus is that each episode maintains a high tempo and dynamic, so time flies quickly.
Another reason why I liked “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition”… is that I don’t like reality shows/series of any character AT ALL. I only tolerate “Shark Tank” (and that’s precisely because it’s business-oriented, i.e., entrepreneurship), where participants/entrepreneurs have a few minutes to present their product/company (sales pitch), after which the “sharks” start questioning the participant and analyzing their company from a financial aspect (how much profit, what are the margins, projection of future profit), what are the visions for the company, as well as whether it makes sense to invest… which is then followed at the end by negotiation about financial terms “how much money for how many percent stake in the company” (or in Kevin O’Leary’s case, royalties, royalties, royalties…). Of course, for viewers the most suspenseful part is precisely the negotiation part and whether the participant will accept the “shark’s” offers (or several of them, if they’re willing to join forces). However, for those interested in the slightly “deeper” aspect of business, it’s interesting from the beginning to the end of “negotiations” (the business idea itself, marketing methods, margins, gross/net profit, patent, etc.). And now, “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” somehow squeezed in there and managed to pique my interest. And for other types of reality series… I don’t even want to think about them, let alone comment on that topic.
And finally, two interesting facts/thoughts I had while watching “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition.” The first is that I managed relatively early in the series to predict the finalists. 😀 And the second is that I wondered why at the final interview with Chatri, neither of the finalists said “If I’m chosen, I’d like to find a way for my candidate to work with me in the future while I’m with you.” I don’t know if they could (or had the right) to say something like that, but, considering both finalists are completely different both in thinking and approach to work (and as personalities, which is quite obvious), it somehow seemed logical to me that they’d somehow collaborate in the future, because they would perfectly complement each other’s virtues and compensate for the other side’s flaws.
All in all, in the end “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” turned out to be a very interesting business reality series for me (you can watch it on Netflix), and I wouldn’t mind seeing a second season with new competitors in the near future. I think that will happen, because this business reality series managed to win some awards as well. 🙂
And you, dear reader, how familiar are you with “ONE Championship”? 🙂
“ONE Championship” website
“The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” website
Trailer
Imdb
Release Date: 2021
Format: Series (business reality show)
Number of Seasons: 1 (10 episodes)
Average Episode Duration: 45 minutes
