The purpose of this review is to discuss the development and the state-of-the-art in dynamic testing methods and dynamic behaviour of rock materials in tension. Loading techniques commonly used for intermediate and high strain rate testing are pneumatic-hydraulic and the split Hopkinson pressure bar technique, respectively. An in-depth description and evaluation of various dynamic tensile strength are presented in Section 2. In Section 3, the response of rock materials to high strain rates is reviewed and discussed. It is found that Brazilian disc method provides a convenient alternative in terms of specimen manufacturing, experimental setup and data reduction, to calculate dynamic tensile strength.