There is little doubt that the sport will be taking a giant leap forward in terms of its sport presentation and media exposure when the event begins tomorrow. 

The whole competition is geared for entertainment with the venue custom-designed for television, with Hollywood-style sound and lighting effects. 

"The taekwondo calendar is already complicated, so the concept was not one more competition, it was one special competition," Grand Slam technical delegate Philippe Bouedo explained.

"The venue looks like a TV studio, not a sports venue, and this this will make a difference - we are expecting five to eight million viewers to watch this online."

Experimental rules are being applied to reward offensive play and these could be brought in prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

"We have had a dream for this type of championships to take taekwondo to the next level, and that means more exposure to TV and other media platforms," World Taekwondo Technical Committee chairman Jin-bang Yang said.

"We have been in the Olympics for nearly 20 years and made pretty good progress, but we are not at the highest level yet - for the next level of development, we need this type of game."

Coaches have been urged to encourage their athletes to display as much showmanship as possible. 

"We want emotion - we want our athletes to be creative," Bouedo said. 

This is a view echoed by Organising Committee President Dejun Sun. 

"We want taekwondo to be a fashionable game," he added. 

"We want superstars on this stage."

The Grand Slam Champions Series gets underway tomorrow and features the women’s over 67 kilograms and the men’s under 80kg Olympic weight categories. 

The remaining six Olympic weight categories will be contested over successive Saturdays.

The series is due to conclude on January 27 with a team championships.