Gurkhas generally aren’t - five foot five of nothing much, as a rule. But as the saying goes, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. ISTR hearing a story about the early days when the British were fighting against them and being given a hard time, but as it was out of kukri range the Brits were holding their own until they began to retire from the hill they were on in good order. The Gurkha leader asked why they were going, and received the reply that the British force was running low on ammunition - so he obligingly offered to lend us a few crates so we could finish the fight properly. 
When I read that story I kept thinking about that hammer-hallway scene in* Old Boy*.
here’s another Gurkha in the news - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12854492
In other words, he went pretty easy on them, by Gurkha standards.
My dad was in the forces in Malaya in the 60’s and worked alongside the Gurkhas.
Now he is a gent and an honourable man (I’m not just saying that) but he stood in awe of the Gurkhas.
Pretty much anyone who has seen them at close range really, really, REALLY wants to be on the same side.
My mother-in-law has said the same thing, minus the “frightening” bit. She’s a port agent for several cruise lines in a popular US tourist port, and has had the opportunity to meet many retired Gurkhas working as cruise ship security. Evidently it’s a very popular job: for the Gurkhas it’s relaxing, lucrative, and gives them a chance to see the world, while the cruise line has absolute confidence that any situation that could possibly come up will be taken care of.
MIL, being a generally sunny person, tends to make a lot of friends among the crew and security staff over the course of a season-- especially since she’ll do things like record cricket matches off satellite and bring them on board. One day she got called to one ship’s security office, to be informed that she was being made an honorary Gurkha in thanks for everything she had done for that particular crew. I don’t really know the details (I’m sure it was a fairly informal thing) but they did give her a kukri in the form of a pin.
So now we have the satisfaction of knowing that MIL is an honorary member of what is arguable the most badass fighting force on earth. 
We were told this story by more than one group of locals in Nepal. That’s not much of an argument in favor of the story, though, because locals never lie to Western tourists.
Oh sure, but they leave out the part about the bandits all being 80-year-old nuns from a local monastery.
Tueller Drill (I know this is from over a month ago, but y’know, still).
I always love the story told by a british soldier who trained with the gurkha regiment in jungle warfare. The brits had to hide in the jungle, and after a specified time, the gurkhas would search for and capture the british. The chap telling the story thought that he had done a pretty good job of hiding, as he heard his comrades being discovered while he still remained hidden. When the all clear was signalled for the end of the exercise, he proudly jumped to his feet…
and fell over, because his shoelaces were tied together.
Si