The History of this belt comes from the Tracy's Kenpo Karate home page
This page contains a brief history of the Kenpo karate Dan ranking.
Shodan is the first black belt rank in Judo, Karate and Jiu-Jitsu. It means, literally, the "lowest rank". Karate divides ranks between Kyu for white and brown belt, and Dan for black belts. Traditionally a black belt was a Yudansha, meaning one who holds a Dan rank. However in 1962, Ed Parker broke from tradition when the Kenpo Yudansha refused to approve the promotion of Chuck Sullivan to Shodan.
Instead of promoting Sullivan to Shodan, as he had with his previous 8 black belts, and as he did with the next 20 black belts, he promoted Sullivan to First Degree Black Belt. The Yudansha never approved that rank, except for youth, and those who are promoted to first degree black belt are not accepted into ranks of the Yudanshai. Likewise, tradition only allows for a Dan ranking according to Japanese numbering, and there is no First Dan in Kenpo. One either earns Shodan, or he/she is not a Yudansha, and his/her rank, no matter from where it came is not recognized until the individual receives his/her certification from the Yudanshai.
There are 421 Kenpo karate techniques and variations of the techniques required for a Tracy's karate Shodan, First Degree Black Belt.